Published: November 07, 2009 12:41 am      

PikeView burns down Meadow Bridge

ATHENS — Friday morning, PikeView head football coach Jeff Damewood watched the school’s girls soccer team make history with their first appearance in the state tournament. That night, he presided over some more history for the school.

Ben Nester ran for 126 yards and four touchdowns and threw for another score as PikeView clinched their first playoff berth since 1996 with a resounding 68-14 win over Midland Trail Friday night at Callaghan Stadium.

"It feels great to finally know that we’re going instead of hoping and wishing and knowing we had to win tonight," Damewood said. "It’s been a long time. Most of the fans and most of the kids, I don’t know if any of them have been around or remember the old teams that went to the playoffs.

"We talked about the early teams at PikeView and how they’ve won and we wanted to get us back there. Now that we’re there, we’ve got to focus on next week and trying to get a win in the playoffs."

"They’re just a good football team," said Midland Trail head coach Joe Dean. "My hat’s off to them. I wish them well in the playoffs. They played a good, hard game. They’re a fine team."

All of Nester’s yardage and scoring including his eight-yard scoring pass to Brandon Flinchum took place in the first quarter and it allowed the Panthers to take a 35-0 lead after the opening period.

"He got sick today and had about a 101 temperature, 102 temperature. Probably about an hour before the game it hit him," Damewood said. "He came out and played like a champ. They had a hard time stopping him."

Nester left the game after that and it allowed David Keen to make his impact. First he got a trifecta with a sack, forced fumble and a 15-yard touchdown return on the same play. Then he dashed 26 yards for another second-quarter touchdown.

"David Keen plays solid defense for us," Damewood said. "That’s his second return touchdown fumble recovery. He’s a great player."

The Panthers gained 271 total yards in the first half and held the 0-10 Patriots to minus-3 and forced three turnovers. The performance meant the only real drama in the game was delivered by a joint performance by the PikeView band and JROTC of Michael Jackson’s "Thriller."

"Defense played tough," Damewood said. "We focus on that and I can’t say enough. All year defense has been our foundation. We hit people. We gang tackle well. Next week we’re going to have some competition. I hope we bring our A game."

Callaghan Stadium was still abuzz after the Lady Panthers’ state soccer tournament debut earlier in the day that resulted in a 2-0 overtime loss to Weir. Many of the gridiron Panthers were in attendance at the Beckley YMCA Soccer Complex and Damewood said they have garnered inspiration from their classmates’ achievements.

"We’ve always preached to our kids and to every kid that listens, we want PikeView to excel in everything we do whether it’s academics, sports, anything," Damewood said. "And if you go down to PikeView now, you’ll see that we’re wanting everybody to win and on the same page.

"It’s a great atmosphere now and we’ve just got to keep on continuing with that and hopefully keep on winning."

PikeView (7-3) now waits to see who they will play in the first round of the state playoffs.

"We’re going to go about it the same way we go about every week," Damewood said. "We’re going to get the film, review the film, practice is going to be the same. We don’t want to change things. We want to keep things the same routine and hopefully show up with an A game."

—Contact Jed Lockett

at jlockett@bdtonline.com



At Callaghan Stadium

Midland Trail.........0 0 14 0 — 14

PikeView................35 20 7 6 — 68

First Quarter

PV _ Ben Nester 75 run (Aaron Nash kick), 11:43

PV _ Nester 28 run (Nash kick), 9:54

PV _ Brandon Flinchum 8 pass from Nester (Nash kick), 7:19

PV _ Nester 1 run (Nash kick), 4:10

PV _ Nester 10 run (Nash kick), :14

Second Quarter

PV _ David Keen 15 fumble return (Nash kick), 11:51

PV _ Keen 26 run (Nash kick), 10:33

PV _ Josh Neal 2 run (Run failed), 3:27

Third Quarter

M.T. _ Hunter Scarbro 34 run (Kick failed), 9:24

PV _ Neal 69 kickoff return (Nash kick), 7:00

M.T. _ Casey Deskins 1 run (Jared George run), :19

Fourth Quarter

PV _ Tanner Ratcliff 25 run (Kick failed), 5:41

———

Team Statistics

First Downs: MT 7, PV 10. Rushes-Yards MT 37-103, PV 26-293. Passing Yards: MT 63, PV 8. Comp.-Att.-Int. MT 3-13-0, PV 1-2-0. Punts-Avg. MT 2-19, PV 0-0. Fumbles-Lost MT 3-3, PV 2-1. Penalties-Yards MT 3-13, PV 1-10.

———

___INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING— Midland Trail, Hunter Scarbro 7-61, Marshall Wood 6-56, Jordan Burdette 3-9, Jaymie Gray 3-8, James Brackens 2-5, Kelly Minter 2-4, Brandon Sims 1-1, Casey Kessler 1-(-1), Drew Keenan 2-(-9), Casey Deskins 9-(-11), No. 35 1-(-20). PikeView, Ben Nester 6-126, Tanner Ratcliff 4-85, Josh Neal 3-26, David Keen 1-26, Tommy Symns 1-16, Kevin Mills 1-7, Tyler Rose 7-3, Devante Green 1-3, Robbie Samosky 2-1.

PASSING—Midland Trail, Casey Deskins 2-9-0 53, Drew Kieenan 1-3-0 10, Jaymie Gray 0-1-0 0. PikeView, Ben Nester 1-2-0 8.

RECEIVING—Midland Trail, Keith Harper 1-40, Jake Grimmett 1-13, Kelly Minter 1-10. PikeView, Brandon Flinchum 1-8.