PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- It was sloppy at times, with the teams combining for 10 turnovers, but the University of Pikeville football team made big plays when it mattered to get past Kentucky Christian 30-19 on senior day.

The Bears (5-5, 4-1 MSC East) now have a chance to win a share of the Mid-South Conference East Championship next Saturday with a trip to Georgetown which improved to 5-0 in the East with a win over Cumberlands on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. ET in Georgetown.

UPIKE outgained the Knights (2-8, 2-3 MSC East) 479-335 in total offense while hauling in four interceptions and recovering a pair of fumbles. The Bears scored their first two touchdowns after turnovers to take a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Derek Harris collected the most important of the picks, grabbing one at the 8:08 mark of the third quarter in the end zone to end a 13-0 KCU run and give the Bears a two-possession lead. Jack Hopkins led all players with 12 tackles, and five others had seven each.

Harris, Collie Taylor, Romon Morris and Tanner Fiser had the interceptions, while Harris, Chad Conway and Camron Parsley got in on sacks.

Shannon Patrick went 9-of-12 through the air for 179 yards and Jamar Kirksey ran for 104 yards on 16 carries. Braxton Whitmore led the UPIKE receivers with 75 yards on three catches. Willie McCloud scored two rushing touchdowns on his way to 78 yards and Russell Gordon added a touchdown as well to finish with 46 yards on the ground

KCU starter Robert Powell was 10-of-26 passing for 127 yards and a touchdown with four picks and Javin Harrison ran for 81 yards on 17 carries.

The Knights came out of the gate with a pass-heavy attack, but were picked off by Taylor who returned it 45 yards to the KCU 15-yard line. From there, UPIKE used three plays until Gordon rushed in from the one to make it 7-0. Just a minute out of halftime, the turnover bug struck again as Powell fumbled near his end zone and McCloud used one play to go 10 yards for six to take a 14-0 lead.

But the Bears couldn't make it the rest of the quarter without giving up a touchdown as KCU took over in good field position after a short kickoff and Powell connected with Dre Bledsoe in the corner of the end zone to make it 14-7 at halftime.

Things got interesting to start the second half when Patrick's pass was intercepted by Emmett Keyes and returned for a touchdown, but was called back 15 yards following a personal foul. The momentum still worked for KCU as it scored on a 24-yard rush by Sonny Smith two plays later. After a blocked extra point, it was 14-13.

UPIKE responded in a big way, putting together a five-play, 75-yard drive on its next possession to push the lead to eight points. Following a KCU fumble, the Bears had a drive stall on downs at the one, but it ended up working out as Harris picked off Powell in the end zone to make it a 14-point game after a missed extra point.

The lead ended up being enough for UPIKE to hold on as Karapandic made it 30-13 just before the end of the third quarter with a 22-yard field goal. The only score of the fourth quarter was a 20-yard pass from Jug Smith to Tyler Hadynski with 3:08 to play that got the Knights within 11 at 30-19.

The ensuing onside kick was recovered by the Bears, and facing a 3rd and 12, Patrick rushed 16 yards for a first down that sealed the win.

-UPIKE-