Sayre shows what it’s made of, eliminates three-time defending champion Pikeville

All kingdoms fall.

That was a rally call throughout the week for Sayre’s football team. On a cold, misty Friday night, one fell in Lexington.

The Spartans defeated three-time defending Class A champion Pikeville 21-6 to advance to the KHSAA state semifinals for the first time in their program’s seven-year history. They remained undefeated, and in 48 minutes flipped the script on their program’s perception across the commonwealth.

“We can play inside-run, mountain football,” Charlie Slabaugh said with a grin.

Three undefeated regular seasons in the last five years was impressive, but what Sayre hadn’t achieved began to define its program, at least among onlookers. The Spartans (13-0) couldn’t hang with Pikeville in three prior all-time meetings, nor have they ever beaten Hazard (0-2) or Raceland (0-1), Class A’s other mountain stalwarts.

Sayre’s prolific offense — its 47.1 points per game entering Friday night were the most in Class A by a wide margin and ranked fifth regardless of class — often precedes its defense, which leads the state in opponents’ scoring (4.9 ppg). That unit forced a three-and-out on Pikeville’s first drive. Then did it again. And again.

“That set the tone,” Slabaugh said. “We couldn’t punch it in in the first quarter, but then big (No.) 2 on special teams got it done for us.”

The Panthers didn’t advance the chains until their fourth drive, which led to their only touchdown, a run by Brenden Anthony in the second quarter. That answered a score just three minutes earlier by Sayre’s Brock Coffman, who secured a bouncing punt and returned it about 50 yards for the game’s first TD.

Pikeville failed to match Sayre’s PAT, however, and the Spartans’ subsequent scores. Quarterback Luke Pennington broke through on a 6-yard keeper late in the first half, and Slabaugh added insurance on a 1-yard run with 4:08 to play. The Panthers, meanwhile, after their TD drive struggled to cross midfield.

Sayre’s resolve was relentless.

“This was a game where we had to show who we were other than the high-flying offense,” Sayre coach Chad Pennington said. “We had to show that we could grind one out, that we could play tough defense, that we could run the ball when asked to.

“We talk about being built for five quarters and doing whatever is necessary to get the job done by the end. Our guys really embraced that.”

Up next in Class A

The top four teams according to the KHSAA’s RPI — No. 1 Kentucky Country Day, No. 2 Sayre, No. 3 Campbellsville and No. 4 Raceland — all advanced to the state semifinals.

That means the Spartans on Friday will host Campbellsville, which rallied from 13 down to avoid an upset bid by Newport Central Catholic in its region finals, 27-24. The Eagles (11-2) have lost to only one Class A team this year, KCD.

It’ll be a matchup of the top scoring teams and its leading defenses. Sayre’s continued advancement will be contingent on sticking to its principles amid the euphoria of its latest triumph. The outcome against Pikeville (7-6) was its most obvious evidence of progress, but how it achieved it was even more telling. The Spartans leaned on their defense and ball control to outwit the champs, but they also didn’t allow early missed opportunities to send them into a tailspin on offense.

Prior to Coffman’s punt return TD, Sayre had two drives stall inside the red zone. On the second one, Coffman had the ball in his hands, mid-air in the end zone. But it fell out of his hands and into those of Isaiah Hurt, who turned it into a healthy return for Pikeville.

“I told my guys, ‘That’s never happening again,’” said Coffman, who played most of the game on an ankle that got twisted in a scrum on Sayre’s opening drive. “I had to put us on the board.”

Resilience like that — mentally and physically — is as much a differentiator on football fields as anything, especially in November. For the first time, Sayre showed enough to be one of Kentucky’s last 24 teams standing.

It’ll need even more to make its first trip to Kroger Field on Dec. 6. And even more than that to build a kingdom of its own.

“There were a lot of plays out there that still need to be made if we’re going to become a championship team,” Chad Pennington said. “The great thing about that learning experience is we didn’t allow that to affect our mindset. We just kept playing.”

Class A state semifinals

▪ No. 3 Campbellsville (11-2) at No. 2 Sayre (13-0), 7 p.m. Friday.

▪ No. 4 Raceland (9-4) at No. 1 Kentucky Country Day (10-2), 7 p.m. Friday.

This story was originally published November 23, 2024 at 7:03 AM.