Box Score COLUMBIA, Ky. – No. 24 Lindsey Wilson jumped out to a 28-3 lead in the first half that not even 17 straight third-quarter points by No. 25 Pikeville could overcome, as the Blue Raiders held on to win 35-26 on Saturday at Blue Raider Stadium.

It's the first loss of the season for UPIKE as it falls to 3-1 overall and an even 1-1 in the Mid-South Conference East Division. Lindsey Wilson moves to 4-0 for the first time in program history and is 1-0 in the MSC East.

The loss disrupted an otherwise stellar performance by Pikeville quarterback A.J. Graham, throwing 29 of 42 for 314 yards and one interception. Shawntez Johnson led all receivers with 108 yards on eight catches and Nu'Keese Richardson collected seven passes for 75 yards.

Graham also rushed for 53 yards, while Seth Millar led the Bears' ground attack with 79 yards and a touchdown.

Lindsey Wilson proved hard to beat with the rushing attack of Rome Cotton, finishing with a game-high 142 yards as he averaged over seven yards a carry. Branden Cresap took advantage of two blown coverages to rack up 271 yards on 15 of 26 passing, but matched his three touchdowns with three interceptions as well.

Pikeville led just once at 3-0 in the first quarter after turning Jade Haddix's pick of Cresap into a 33-yard Ryan Wilson field goal. In the next series, Cresap hit Cotton on a pass alone over the middle of the field for 6 and the Blue Raiders kept their foot on the pedal the rest of the half.

With long Bear drives coming up empty, including a missed 32-yard field goal by Wilson early in the second quarter, Lindsey Wilson made the Bears pay with a pair of long touchdown passes to open receivers to take a 28-3 lead at the break.

Pikeville started its quest to get back in the game on the first drive of the third quarter, using seven plays and two costly facemask penalties to put Millar into the end zone from two yards out.

After forcing a Lindsey Wilson punt, Graham scrambled away from pressure and found Avious Griffin downfield for a 43-yard gain that led to a Bryan Rankin touchdown from the one. Cresap threw his second interception early in the next drive which Pikeville turned into a field goal and suddenly it was a one-possession game at 28-20.

The good vibes continued for the Bear defense on the next possession as Cresap made it all the way to the UPIKE 35 before throwing another pick into the hands of Scott Accomando.

The teams traded punts before Graham and Johnson hooked up for gains of 11 and 17 yards through the air to set up Rankin for another short touchdown run. Down by two at 28-26, UPIKE went for two, but Graham was brought down in the backfield.

With under six minutes to play, Pikeville would need another stop to have a chance to win it, but Lindsey Wilson thought otherwise with a five play drive that ended with Jalen Sublett carrying the ball for a 23-yard score to make it 35-26 with 4:14 on the clock.

Looking for a miracle comeback, Graham never found an open receiver, being sacked twice and throwing for a loss. Given a 4th and 21 from his own 12-yard line, Graham muscled a pass to Johnson for 19 yards, which gave Lindsey Wilson the ball with under two minutes to go.

The Bears stopped the Blue Raiders on downs, but all Graham could manage was a pair of completions to midfield before time expired.

Pikeville dominated time of possession and picked up 30 first downs compared to 22 for Lindsey Wilson. The Bears also led in total yards gained 489-443, edging Lindsey Wilson 175-172 on the ground and 314-271 through the air.

Lindsey Wilson won the game by scoring on a three-play drive and a one-play drive to blow it open in the first half and by limiting UPIKE to just six points on a pair of field goals off turnovers.