Raceland Closes Season as State Runner-up
James Collier
Ashland Beacon
LEXINGTON Raceland was as close as it has ever been to a Class A State Football Championship Friday when the Rams met the two-time defending champs, Pikeville.
Trailing 7-0 late in the third quarter, a Rams turnover led to the Panthers second rushing touchdown and a 14-0 lead. The score, however, turned out to be irrelevant as one score would have been all the Panthers needed as Pikeville won its eighth title with a 21-0 shutout of Raceland on a rainy afternoon at Kroger Field.
Raceland went three-and-out on its opening possession and Pikeville wasted little time cashing in for points with a two-play drive capped off by a Brenden Anthony 58-yard scamper and a 7-0 lead with 9:26 to play in the first. Raceland responded with a drive that took the Rams inside the Panthers 20, but an interception on a double-pass by the Rams negated the opportunity to even the contest.
Raceland moved the ball again to inside the Panther 20 to open the second quarter, but an incomplete pass on fourth down gave the ball back to Pikeville at their own 18 with 10:37 to play in the half.
Raceland earned its best starting position of the contest after Elias Jackson blocked the Pikeville punt as the Rams took over at the Pikeville 40 with 5:39 to play still only down, 7-0. Raceland converted a first down to the Pikeville 29 but could do no more on the drive as Logan Lundy would be sacked for a loss of 10. On the ensuing Pikeville drive, Brenden Anthony cashed in with another big run, this one rumbling 61 yards to paydirt for a 14-0 Panthers lead with 2:08 to play in the third. The Rams could not find an answer as Lundy was picked off on a deflected ball that handed the ball back to the Panthers.
The Rams once again marched the ball inside the Panthers 20, but Lundy would fumble on third-and-one as a 12-play, 77-yard drive ending with another empty trip to the red zone. Pikeville orchestrated its best drive of the game to close the contest with a 9-play, 82-yard drive that consumed 4:03 off the clock with a 26-yard halfback pass pushing the lead to 21-0.
Lundy finished with 101 yards in his final game with the Rams. Noah Wallace tallied 77 all-purpose yards while adding two tackles for loss. Jaxon Heighton led the Rams with seven tackles.
Raceland closes its season with an 11-4 mark with 16 departing seniors.