GRAYSON, Ky. – The University of Pikeville scored 29 unanswered points to turn a three-point lead into a rout on its way to a 66-34 win over Kentucky Christian University on Saturday night.
 
The win, combined with Reinhardt beating Point (Ga.) University this afternoon, means the Bears are alone atop the AAC standings at 2-0.
 
Among the enormous personal statistical performances were quarterback Lee Kirkland, who went 35-of-51 – for the second straight week – for 354 yards and three passing touchdowns to go along with two on the ground. Junior Jalen Royal-Eiland had his second 100-yard receiving game, hauling in six for 100 yards and a score.
 
And freshman tailback Amon Williams, who had 153 yards on 22 carries, became the 13^th back in school history with three rushing touchdowns, leaving him one shy of the school record.
 
He also caught a touchdown among his four catches for 30 yards, and as such, he tied the AAC record with four touchdowns in a single game.
 
Finally, the Bears set a program record with 40 first downs in the game.
 
The Knights won the toss and chose to take the football, but the drive ended when Kha'Ron Thrower intercepted a pass to give the Bears the ball. A 10-play drive ended in a 29-yard field goal by senior Austan Shuffler to give the Bears the early lead with 9:44 left in the first.
 
KCU's second drive also ended with an interception, this one by freshman linebacker Najmir Bellegarde. The drive ended with Williams' first rushing touchdown, from five yards out, making it 9-0 with 9:05 still to play.
 
The Bears threatened to blow the game open when an 11-play, 75-yard drive ended with a nine-yard scoring run by Williams. Shuffler's kick made it 16-0 with 10:47 left in the half.
 
The Knights, however, responded by going 76 yards on 10 plays, and Engle hit Eli Archer for the final three, KCU was in it. Alazai Gerling hit the PAT to make it 16-7 with 6:40 to play.
 
UPike was quick to respond, and again it was Williams scoring from 10 yards out. Shuffler nailed the extra point to push the lead to 23-7 with 5:11 left.
 
But KCU wasn't ready to give up, and Engle posted two quick scores. His first was a 54-yard pass to Derrell Simmons, followed by a 78-yard toss to Jovari Gamble. The PAT on the second made it 23-20 with 2:14 on the clock.
 
The Bears had the opportunity to have the ball to end the first half and begin the second, and they took advantage of both. Kirkland ended the half with a 10-yard pass to Williams, his fourth score of the first half. Shuffler hit the extra point with 31 seconds left.
 
Opening the second half, UPike needed nine plays to cover 72 yards. The biggest play was a 40-yard run by Williams, and the drive ended when Kirkland kept from the one.
 
The extra-point kick failed but was recovered by freshman lineman Zach Morris, who hustled into the end zone for the two-point conversion. The Bears had turned a three-point lead into a 38-20 advantage with 11:45 left in the third.
 
A punt pushed the Bears back to their own eight-yard line, but UPike began a methodical 17-play, 92-yard drive that took 7:41 off the third-quarter clock that ended with another Kirkland keeper for the one-yard score. The PAT by Shuffler made it 45-20.
 
UPike got a score early in the fourth when Kirkland hit U'kari Baker from six yards out, and Shuffler made it 52-20 with 14:11 left.
 
KCU ended the Bears' run when Engle found Simmons who sprinted 77 yards for the score. The kick was blocked, keeping the score 52-26 with 11:57 to play.
 
UPike followed with a big-play score of its own, as Kirkland hit freshman Jalen Royal-Eiland from 34 yards out, and when Shuffler made the kid, the lead was 59-26 with 9:06 left.
 
After forcing a punt, quarterback Tayden Carpenter became the first quarterback to see a snap other that Kirkland, and wasted no time in setting off a remarkable exclamation point on this game.
 
On his third pass, he found Hayden Russell for 40 yards before he handed to Baker, who ran the final 35 for the 75-yard touchdown pass. Shuffler's kick made it 66-26 with 6:52 to play.
 
Engle had one more big throw in him, finding Simmons once again for a 45 yard score. Jacob Cline carried for the conversion, which came with 3:54 on the clock.
 
Engle had an amazing evening for the Knights, completing 33-of-53 for 488 yards and five scores. His favorite target was Simmons, who hauled in 10 for 243 yards and three touchdowns.
 
Freshman linebacker Caleb Anderson led the Bears with 10 tackles. Thrower had two interceptions in the game, while Bellegrade had one as well.
 
Graduate student Ben Tate had 1.5 sacks, Tyler Carter had one and Myson Livingston had 0.5.
 
UPike remains on the road next week, traveling to Barbourville to play Union Commonwealth University. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.