Williamsburg, KY – UC Football would score 30 straight points to take a fourth quarter lead, but the Bears of the University of Pikeville would use some savvy play to come away with a 46-32 victory over the Patriots on Saturday at James H. Taylor, II Stadium. The game, sponsored by Kentucky Farm Bureau and Donevon Storm, was a battle for sole possession of second place in the MSC Appalachian Division. The loss moves the Patriots to 4-3 overall on the season and 1-2 in MSC Appalachian Division play as they enter the final three weeks of the regular season.
 
Pikeville would open the game with possession and would not take long to put the first points of the game on the board. Xondre Willis would cap off the eight-play, 75 yard drive with a three yard TD run. The PAT by William Chandler was good, giving UPike an early 7-0 lead with 11:20 to play in the quarter. UC would go three-and-out before punting away, putting the Bears on their own 26 yard line. Unfortunately for UC, a big 64 yard pass from Sani Warren to Curtis Brown would set up a one yard TD run by Tony White, III with the point after by Chandler, pushing the lead to 14-0.
 
Hunter Miniard would have a great kick return on the ensuing kickoff for 42 yards to the UPike 49 yard line, but another three-and-out would put the UC defense back on the field at the Bears' 20 yard line. There, UPike would score on their third straight possession, this time on a 27 yard pass from Warren to Derrand Garrett. The PAT was good, putting the Patriots in an early 21-0 hole with 4:08 to play in the first. UC would finally answer though as Miniard would return another kick, this time for 51 yards to the UPike 39 yard line. The Patriots would put together an eight play drive capped by a fourth down, two yard TD run by Austin Hatfield to cut into the Bears' lead. The point after by Joe Rose was good, making it 21-7 entering the second quarter. UPike would drive it all the way to the UC 32 yard line before the Patriot defense would come up with a big stop on fourth down to regain possession.
 
The two teams would then see the next three possessions total go three-and-out as UPike would get the ball on their own 23 yard line with 8:03 to play in the half. Their drive would make it to their 45 yard line before a fake punt was snuffed out by UC, giving the Patriots short field with 4:47 to play in the half. There, Robbins would find Joronnie Hinton for 10 yards before hitting Shon Jones for a 35 yard TD pass. The PAT from Rose was good, making it 21-14 UPike. The teams would trade possessions before heading to halftime with UC trailing by a score.
 
The Patriots would start the second half with the ball after a pooch kick was fair caught by Carter Nelson on the UC 28 yard line. The Patriots continued with the momentum from the end of the first half, putting together a seven play drive ending with a 34 yard TD pass from Robbins to Hinton. Rose's PAT was good, tying the game at 21-21. After five scoreless possessions, UC would look to make something happen late in the third. After a 15 yard grab from Robbins to Miniard coupled with a 15 yard penalty against UPike, Robbins would find Miniard again, but while fighting for extra yardage to get into the end zone, he would fumble the ball away and would be recovered by UPike at their one yard line. A bad snap though would plagued the Bears as the ball would go out of the end zone for a safety, giving the Patriots a 23-21 lead and the ball entering the final quarter of play.
 
UC would capitalize again with another eight play scoring drive, this time capped by a 13 yard run from Milton Shelton for the touchdown. Rose would hammer the PAT through, giving UC a 30-21 lead. UPike would answer quickly on their next drive as on third and ten from their 24 yard line, Warren found Arites Clark on a 76 yard TD pass, making it 30-27 pending the extra point. The point after by Chandler was blocked though by Murphy Hagen as Jaelon Benjamin would scoop the ball and return it for a two-point conversion for UC, making it 32-27 Patriots with 11:55 to play.
 
UC would go three-and-out on their next possession before Devon McMillin punted it away, giving the Bears the ball on their 15 yard line. UPike would then complete an impressive drive over the next 11 plays, covering 85 yards concluding with a 10 yard pass from Warren to Duke Ferguson to make it 33-32. The two-point try was no good as UPike held a one point lead. UC's next drive was beginning to show life before Robbins fumbled the ball away and UPike's Paul Stokes recovered for the Bears on their 47 yard line. There, the Bears would capitalize on an eight play drive as Bowen Smith would carry it in from 26 yards out, giving UPike a 39-32 lead with under a minute to play. Trying to put the game out of reach, their two-point conversion was no good, giving UC an opportunity to possibly tie the game up on their next possession.
 
Dominique Joseph would recover the ensuing squib kick, but would do so with his knee down on the UC 29 yard line, giving UC 71 yards between themselves and the end zone. After picking up two first downs on a pair of 10 yard catches by Jalen Smith, Robbins' pass to Hunter Miniard was picked off by Romon Morris and returned for a game sealing TD, pushing the Bears over the Patriots 46-32.
 
Robbins would have possibly the best game of his young career on the evening, tying the school record for completions going 26-49 through the air for 299 yards and two touchdowns with the one interception. He also added 32 yards on the ground on nine carries. Milton Shelton added 35 yards rushing on seven carries with a TD. Seph Burke also tallied 30 yards rushing on nine carries. Shon Jones had a big game with five receptions for 101 yards and a TD while Hunter Miniard added 79 yards receiving on seven grabs. Hinton added 48 yards on three catches with a TD. Jalen Smith also snagged five passes for 45 yards.
 
Defensively, the Patriots were led Tyler Pendleton with 17 total tackles (five solo) with two tackles for loss. Jeremiah Baker followed with 11 tackles (three solo) and a pass breakup while Cameron Baxley chipped in with nine tackles (seven solo) and two pass breakups. As a unit, UC tallied six tackles for loss, one sack, six pass breakups, and a blocked extra point.
 
UC now turns their attention to next Saturday, October 21^st as they return to the road, this time in Bluefield, Virginia as they take on the Rams of Bluefield College in another MSC Appalachian Division matchup. Kickoff is slated for 6 pm.
 
The 2017 Patriot Football season is brought to you by Holston Gases, the official presenting corporate partner for UC Football.
 
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