By Shane Shackleford

Sports Writer

The Pineville Mountain Lions have been true road warriors for most of their year.
Between multiple road games as part of their standard home-and-home schedule and waiting for renovations at Bill Adams Stadium to be completed, it was fitting that the Lions closed their 2024 campaign with another road trip.
Unfortunately for the Lions, that last trip saw the team travel to perennial state power Pikeville. The Panthers jumped out to an early 21-0 advantage and cruised to a 42-0 victory in the opening round of the Class A playoffs.
The Panthers got the scoring started after a punt by Zak Brown on a 55-yard scoring toss from Issac Duty to Kingston Braxton. The first of six Steven Sanchez’s extra point kicks was true and the Panthers led 7-0.
Pikeville turned another punt into a touchdown on a 4-yard Isaiah Stanley run to extend the lead to 14-0.
On their third possession of the quarter, the Panthers found pay dirt on a 3-yard toss from Duty to JJ Reynolds to make the score 21-0 at the end of the quarter.
The Panthers continued their scoring blitz on a 10-yard scoring pass from Reynolds to Stanley to extend the lead to 28-0.
Although the Lions trailed, the squad never quit playing tough. Senior running backs Kaiden Robbins and Nas Wilson made nice plays out of the backfield on runs and through the air on passes from Brown, who went seven of 14 for 65 yards.
Pikeville extended its lead to 42-0 in the third quarter on a 1-yard run by Jackson Castle and a 30-yard scamper by Cole Adams.
Pineville ended the season with a 1-9 record.

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Pikeville 42 Pineville 0
Pineville 0 0 0 0 — 0

Pikeville 21 7 14 0 — 42

Pike- Braxton 55 pass from Duty (Sanchez kick)

Pike- Stanley 4 run (Sanchez kick)

Pike- Reynolds 3 pass from Duty (Sanchez kick)

Pike- Stanley 10 pass from Reynolds (Sanchez kick)

Pike- Castle 1 run (Sanchez kick)

Pike- Adams 30 run (Sanchez kick)