‘We knew we could get it.’ Pikeville dominates Class A state championship game.
In what could be considered the most dominant performance of Pikeville’s five state football titles, the Panthers rolled to a 43-0 win over Paintsville on Friday in the UK Orthopaedics/KHSAA Commonwealth Gridiron Bowl Class A championship at Kroger Field.
Brody Birchfield scooped up a fumble on their opponent’s first play from scrimmage and returned it 25 yards to make it 7-0 Panthers with just 16 seconds expired. From there, sophomore quarterback Isaac McNamee, the coach’s son, found Jackson Hensley twice and Zac Lockhart also in the clear, staking Pikeville to a 28-0 lead by halftime.
Hensley’s first reception, a quick slant he took 63 yards to the end zone, would set the tone for the rest of the game.
“We knew playing them earlier in the season, they leave the middle open a lot,” said McNamee, who was named the game’s most valuable player. “We just watched film. We repped it in practice a bunch and we knew we could get it.”
Earlier in the season, the Panthers squeaked out a 9-8 win in Paintsville in a game the Tigers had ample opportunities to win. Pikeville Coach Chris McNamee said he could never have expected the state finals to be a running-clock game.
“Never. Never. Because they’re so good defensively,” McNamee said of the Tigers. “We were able to get some things on them. … I think we calmed down a little bit (from the regular-season matchup), and offensively we had a lot of things we hadn’t worked on a whole lot, and we didn’t block well either the first game.
“I thought our guys came in focused and just did what they were asked to do and we were able to make some big plays on them.”
Hensley, a senior who committed to Harvard before the season, finished with 78 yards receiving, 49 yards rushing, two TDs and the two-point conversion that kicked in the state’s mercy rule when the Panthers went up 36-0.
“We were firing on all cylinders and giving everything we got,” Hensley said. “I expected another dogfight. For us to pull away like that — it was big and it just showed how hard we worked through the season.”
Last year, Pikeville came up one point short in the title game against Beechwood on this same field in a game that came down to a last-minute interception that sealed the loss.
Isaac McNamee, who still has two years to play, said he did feel the pressure all season. He doesn’t think his dad will let up on him now even though he’s got an MVP trophy.
“He will not let off me, no,” Isaac said, smiling. “It’s amazing I did not expect to get this. I have to thank my teammates, my line. Defense was huge these playoffs.”
Seniors Cody Raines and Jon Collum added short rushing TDs in the second half. As the game wound down, Pikeville subbed out its senior class for a round of applause from the stands.
“We’ve got 16 seniors,” Hensley said. “It means the world. Anytime you work for a goal and you achieve it, it means a lot, especially something I’ve been working for my entire life with my best friends.”
State championships
At Kroger Field in Lexington
Friday
Class A: Pikeville 43, Paintsville 0
Class 3A: Belfry (10-3) vs. Bell County (14-0), (late)
Saturday
Class 2A: Mayfield (13-1) vs. Somerset (13-1), 1 p.m.
Class 4A: Boyle County (14-0) vs. Johnson Central (14-0), 4:30 p.m.
Class 5A: Covington Catholic (14-0) vs. Frederick Douglass (14-0), 8 p.m.
Sunday
Class 6A: Male (14-0) vs. Trinity (12-2), 2 p.m.
This story was originally published December 6, 2019 at 6:09 PM.
