Turnovers Galore

A fumbled punt in the first quarter proved to be a big play as the Pikeville Panthers defeated the Corbin Redhounds in the 11th Annual Cumberland Falls Pigskin Classic Saturday night at Campbell Field, 34-0.
After holding the Panthers on their first drive of the game, a punt to Corbin’s Eric Blackwood was mishandled and Pikeville recovered the ball the Corbin 27 yard line. Three plays later senior Weston Robinson was in the end zone with the first score of the game. Junior kicker Matt Pafunda sent the ball through the uprights for a 7-0 lead.
That was just the beginning of a night of turnovers…six in all, three interceptions and three fumbles…four which led to Pikeville touchdowns.
“Turnovers was a huge factor,” said Corbin coach Steve Jewell. “The first defensive series three plays and out…the kids played good and had great enthusiasm then we bobbled that punt…that’s an adversity situation, right now with the inexperience that we have they are not handling adversity very well. We are going to have to teach them to do that, they are going to have to fight through that and the coaching staff is going to have to fight through it with them.”
“The bottom line is…you’re going to have adversity always in games, especially as you get further down the road,” said Jewell. “Whoever handles the adverse situations is the ones who win.”
“There were several key plays,” added Jewell. “We had a lot of fumbles and turnovers and gave them the momentum swings. We gave them the short field with about 25 yards to go it was definitely a key thing. That’s when our seniors have got to step up and recognized this is a time when we have to dig our cleats in and make a stop and send them a message that’s how we are going to play too.”
The Redhounds tried to come back and mount a drive but came up one-yard shy of a first down at their own 30 yard line after Eric Blackwood started the series with a three yard run. Blake Freeman followed with three yards and a Lance Freeman pass looked to be enough for the first down but the Redhounds didn’t get the spot and had to punt the ball.
The Panthers took over from their own 43 yard line behind senior quarterback Chase Huffman. Huffman scrambled for a 13 yard gain on the first down to the Corbin 44. Having trouble getting through the Redhounds defense, Pikeville was faced with a third and eight when the Panthers’ QB got past the line and broke open for a 42 yard run into the end zone with 4:23 in the opening period. Pafunda added the PAT for a 14-0 lead.
The Redhounds looked ready to respond when they drove the ball from their own 38 yard line down to the 11. The drive ended with a loss of two yards by Blackwood, two incomplete passes and a quarterback sack of nine yards.
The Panthers took over but the Corbin defense forced a fumble by Tim Champlin at the 10:08 mark of the second period. Again the Redhounds drove down to the 15 yard line where Huffman intercepted a Freeman pass and returned the ball to midfield.
The Redhounds held once again and took over after a 12-yard punt by Pafunda to the Corbin 21 yard line.
Corbin had picked up five yards on a carry by Blake Freeman and a short pass to Blackwood and faced a third and five when Lance Freeman was hit in the backfield where he fumbled the ball. Will Lockhart picked up the loose ball and raced 45 yards into the end zone for the 20-0 lead with 3:34 left in the half. The PAT failed but the Panthers led at the break 20-0.
The Redhounds found the red zone once again to start the third quarter when they drove the ball from their own 21 yard line to the Panthers 16 before giving up the ball on downs. Corbin picked up four first downs on the drive with the big play going for 21 yards on a pass to Blackwood.
“We were in the red zones six times,” said Jewell. “You can get down there and move up and down the field, I think we had more first downs than they did but if you don’t get it in the end zone it doesn’t really matter.”
“Obviously, it’s a confidence factor,” said Jewell. “If we can ever get in that end zone and get those particular things right positive things will breed positive things.”
“I thought our kids stopped playing as hard as they are capable,” said Jewell, ” I saw them play hard all four quarters against Southwestern.”
The Panthers added two more scores in the fourth quarter to account for the final score. Huffman broke loose for a 54 yard run with 7:22 left in the game and Ted Honaker scored on a 91 yard run late in the game. Both touchdowns resulted from a Corbin fumble.
The Redhounds will hit the road this week and travel up to London where they will take on the South Laurel Cardinals.
The Cardinals are 2-0 after wins over Johnson Central (36-20) and Harrodsburg (51-6).
“We have to make them go a long field,” said Jewell. “They are the type team that has to put together several passes and do a lot of things right running the ball.”
“They try to spread you and still run the ball,” said Jewell. “We don’t need to give them the short field which turnovers did to us last week.”
“A team like South Laurel has experience even though they have a freshman quarterback,” Jewell said. “He is surrounded by a lot of experienced kids in his offensive line. They have six or seven kids that can go out there and catch the ball.”
“You’ve got to make them go the long field and beat you traveling the 60-70 yards each time,” he said. “You give them the short field, there’s fewer plays.”
“We are going to have to get ourselves clicking and get it in the red zone,” said Jewell.
“Hopefully getting (Clint) Cashen back this week will give us a boost.”

Pikeville 14 6 0 14-34
Corbin 0 0 0 0- 0
First Quarter
P-Weston Robinson, 2 run (Max Pafunda kick)
P-Chase Huffman, 42 run (Pafunda kick)
Second Quarter
P-Will Lockhart, 45 fumble recovery (kick failed)
Fourth Quarter
P-Huffman, 54 run (Pafunda kick)
P-Honaker, 91 run (Pafunda kick)