Bears rally in 4th to win season opener
Rick Bentley
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Senior quarterback
Lee Kirkland scored on a one-yard keeper with 18 seconds left to lift the University of Pikeville to a 28-27 win over Campbellsville University in the season opener for both teams.
The Bears trailed 27-14 early in the fourth quarter after sophomore Jagger Gillis threw his fourth touchdown pass of the game before the Bears mounted the impressive comeback.
The win capped a memorable day for graduate student
Alex Sanders. The All-America from a season ago scored a career-best three rushing touchdowns and matched a school record with his 10
th 100-yard rushing day.
Gillis' fourth touchdown pass of the game went to Luke Shepherson and covered 22 yards with 12:27 left. The conversion, however, failed, leaving the lead at 13.
The Bears needed only 2:51 to cover 75 yards on nine plays, ending with Sanders' third score of the game. This one covered six yards to get UPike back within a score, 27-21, with 9:36 left.
The Bears got the ball back with 5:15 left at their own 20-yard line and relied on Sanders for most of the work. He touched the ball 11 times on the final drive, with nine rushes and a pair of passes accounting or 43 yards.
That, and a pair of costly Tiger penalties, helped move the ball to the one. After a timeout, the Bears allowed Kirkland to use his 6-foot-6, 255-pound frame to follow the offensive line to pay dirt and tie the game.
Senior
Jakob Headley booted his fourth extra-point in as many tries to give the Bears a one-point win.
Early on, the game was a battle between Sanders and the Tiger passing combination of Gillis and junior wideout Andre Siler.
A pair of Gillis-to-Siler touchdown passes, first for 13 yards and then 19, put the Tigers on top 14-0 with 7:39 left in the opening period.
Sanders got the Bears on the board from two yards out before Gillis again found Siler, this time from two yards away, to give Campbellsville another 14 point lead at 21-7 with 10:49 left in the first half.
It stayed that way until the fourth quarter, when Sanders found the end zone on a 29-yard run to end a seven-play, 87-yard drive with 13:34 left to pull the Bears within a score at 21-14 and set the stage for the furious finale.
Sanders finished with 137 yards rushing on 27 hauls. It was his 10
th career 100-plus yard game, matching former Bear Quan Weaver's total. His three rushing scores was his career best and left him one shy of matching the school record in that category.
In addition, he caught seven passes for 56 yards.
Kirkland finished the game 16-of-30 for 197 yards in the air, splitting time with junior
Xavier Malone, who was 11-for-14 for 107 yards. The favorite target was junior
Diego Soto, who hauled in 10 catches for 98 yards.
The loss spoiled a tremendous effort by Gillis, who finished 31-of-48 for 413 yards and the four scores. Siler led three Tigers with at least 80 receiving yards with 94 yards on seven catches.
Graduate student
Joe Timp and senior A.J. Jones led the Bears on defense with seven tackles. All of Timp's were solos while James had four on his own.
UPike will have its first home game of the season on Saturday when it hosts the University of the Cumberlands. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at the W.C. Hambley Athletics Complex.
Campbellsville will travel to Bluefield on Saturday in search of its first win. That game begins at 1:30 p.m.
--UPIKE—
