BLUEFIELD, Va. – The University of Pikeville football team needed a record-setting performance and got it on Saturday, knocking off Bluefield College 51-42 at Mitchell Stadium.
 
The Bears improved to 5-3 on the season and 3-1 in the AAC with the win in a game that saw the most combined points in league history.
 
Senior quarterback Lee Kirkland had another brilliant game, going 26-of-34 for 306 yards and four touchdowns. In a matchup of the league's top signal callers, he outdueled Bluefield junior Nathan Herstich, who was 25-for-47 for 408 yards and four touchdowns but also threw two costly interceptions.
 
The Bears took the opening kickoff and marched down the field into the end zone. They needed nine plays to cover 75 yards, with the last one being a 25-yard touchdown pass from Kirkland to junior Ben Henson.
 
Senior Jakob Headley split the uprights for the extra point with 12:03 left for a 7-0 lead.
 
The Rams responded with a nine-play drive of their own. Theirs covered 68 yards and ended on a nine-yard pass from Herstich to George Adjei. Riley Stubs hit the PAT with 8:21 left in the period to even the score.
 
UPike replied with another 75-yard drive, this time taking 10 plays and ending on Alex Sanders' first touchdown of the game. He covered the final 12 yards and Headley made it 14-7 with 4:17 left.
 
Before the period ended, however, the Rams had tied the game again. Herstich scored on a two-yard run with 1:03 left to tie the game at 14.
 
The Bears put together another scoring drive in the second frame, with Sanders going around the pile from a yard out with 8:54 to play in the half to make it 21-14.
 
Herstich tied the game in the closing minutes of the half when he hit Jewels Gray on a 27-yard scoring strike with 1:26 left, sending the teams to the break tied at 21.
 
After an action-packed first half, the third quarter saw only one score. It came when Kirkland again found Henson, this time on a 19-yard scoring pass. The extra-point failed, and the Bears held a 27-21 lead with 5:53 left in the period.
 
The Bears finally managed to pull ahead by more than a score when Headley connected on a 24-yard field goal with 13:44 left in the game to make the score 30-21.
 
The Rams were quick to strike back, as Herstich found freshman Dakii Chandler on the second play of the ensuing drive for the 27-yard touchdown. Stubs hit the extra point to draw the Rams within two, 30-28, with 12:59 left.
 
UPike wasted no time in getting those points back, going 75 yards on only seven plays and ending in pay dirt when Kirkland found Bralin Barton for the final 34 yards. Headley pushed the lead back to nine, 37-28, with 8:41 on the clock.
 
The Bears finally got some breathing room later in the period. Taking advantage of a turnover, Kirkland rolled to his right and looked back to his left where he found freshman tight end Grant Scott for the six-yard score.
 
Headley's extra point came with 4:55 left to make the score 44-28.
 
But the Rams were far from finished, needing only four plays to charge to the end zone when Herstich kept from the one. The Rams needed and converted the two-point play, as Gray made it a one-score game at 44-36.
 
The Bears were forced to punt, and Bluefield was moving the ball downfield when the UPike defense put the game away. Junior defensive back picked off a pass and bolted 56 yards for the touchdown.
 
Bluefield added a final touchdown with three seconds left when Herstich hit Adjei for the final 21 yards. The two-point conversion failed.
 
In addition to the air attack, the Bears ran for 228 yards. Senior Adrian Medacco had his first 100-yard rushing game this season, picking up 122 on 17 carries. Sanders finished with 85 yards and the two first-half touchdowns.
 
Nine different Bears caught passes, with Sanders being the favorite target. He hauled in eight covering 61 yards. Senior D'Andre Stafford had 73 yards on four catches.
 
Herstich led the Rams on the ground with 50 yards. He had two receivers surpass 100 yards in the game, as Gray finished with 115 on four catches while Adjei finished with eight for 105.
 
On the defensive side, sophomore linebacker Levi Evans had 10 tackles, six of them solos. Sophomore Chuck Moore followed with eight.
 
The Bears will return home for Senior Day next Saturday when they host Point (Ga.) University at 1:30 at the W.C. Hambley Athletics Complex.