Kroger KSR Game of the Week: Brown’s 3 scores will LCA past Pikeville
“When we’ve got our full team, we’re something scary,” Mason Moore said about his LCA Eagles.
Lexington Christian Academy has once again defeated another ranked opponent — this time against 1A’s top-ranked team in Pikeville by a final score of 31-14 on Friday night in the Kroger KSR Game of the Week.
“We executed, we did our thing,” LCA quarterback Drew Nieves said. “But we do need to get better if we’re going to match Beechwood, but I think we did good today.”
First Quarter: LCA 14, Pikeville 7
The student section was loud and rowdy for the opening kickoff, but they were quickly silenced by an 80-yard rush for the score on the very first play from scrimmage.
“We didn’t start good at all,” LCA running back Xavier Brown said after the game. “The first play we gave up a huge run. We’ve got to clean some things up so it’s not like this in the future.”
LCA’s Jeremiah Riffle answered quickly with a 40-plus yard run, setting the Eagles up with first and goal. Two plays later Brown, a Virginia commit, punched it in for the quick tying score.
After a three-and-out forced by the Eagles defense, LCA drove down the field on their second possession that ended with a Drew Nieves connection to Miami (OH) commit Mason Moore on third and goal to put the Eagles up seven.
“I don’t fold under pressure,” Moore said post-game. Nieves reiterated Moore’s previous comment of “magic happens,” after the win. Moore finished the night with five receptions for 117 yards and the one score.
Second Quarter: LCA 17, Pikeville 14
If you thought Blake Birchfield was out of tricks, he scored the equalizer from 75 yards out for his second score of the game. Birchfield had 15 carries for 213 yards and two touchdowns at halftime, averaging 14.2 yards per carry.
LCA’s next drive took six minutes off the clock. The Panthers stopped Nieves and the Eagles just outside the red zone, forcing a field goal, which Andrew Dobbs nailed from 32-yards out.
A Pikeville punt with less than 30 seconds remaining in the half set the Eagles up inside the Panther’s 40. A flea-flicker on the final play of the half by Moore saw him pushed out-of-bounds around the 20. LCA headed into the locker room up three.
“It’s always going to be a dog fight,” Brown said about the close halftime score. “We’ve got to come out and execute and once we did that, you saw the score — we got the result we needed.”
Third Quarter: LCA 24, Pikeville 14
LCA struck first toward the end of the third quarter after dueling three-and-outs for both squads.
Brown rushed for his second score on fourth and one from the two-yard-line, giving LCA their first two possession lead of the night. The score was set up by Moore’s 34-yard reception that had the Eagles inside the red zone.
FINAL: LCA 31, Pikeville 14
The Eagles sealed the deal with a fourth down stuff on a McNamee quarterback keep. The LCA defense held McNamee to 3-14 passing and 41 yards on the night.
Three plays into the ensuing possession, Brown took the ball 66 yards to the house. “It feels good,” Brown said about his performance. “We just have to focus on the next thing and keep winning.”
Brown’s 15 rushing attempts took him 119 yards for three touchdowns, averaging 8.9 yards per carry. LCA had 259 yards overall on the ground.
“We can always make some improvements,” Moore said about defeating top-ranked teams week in and week out. “Beechwood and Mayfield are going to come out and other teams are going to come out bigger, better, stronger, faster, so we’ve got to make some adjustments and be ready come playoff time.”
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard