The Paintsville Tigers scored on their first six possessions to defeat the Pineville Mountain Lions 55-14 in the first round of the Class A playoffs Saturday night in Paintsville.
As has been the case all season, the young Lions’ defense struggled against a talented and explosive Tiger offense.
Paintsville senior running back Cain Grim scored on the first two possessions for Paintsville from 4 and 5 yards away to stake Paintsville to an early 14-0 lead.
The first two Lion possessions were promising but unfortunately ended in turnovers that the Tigers exploited into scores. Freshman Alex Johnson scored from 21 yards out to go along with the Grim score to give Paintsville the early 21-0 lead after one quarter.
Three consecutive three-and-outs for the Lions were turned into scores by Paintsville on a 27-yard touchdown run by junior Lucas Johnson, an 11-yard scamper by Cedric Stewart, and a one-yard run by Anderson Lauffer to blow the game open by halftime at 41-0 Tigers.
On the first play of the third quarter, the Tigers increased their scoring on a pick-six interception return by senior Carson Holbrook from 35 yards away to increase the lead to 48-0.
To the youthful Lions’ credit, the team kept battling and found success on a five-play, 65-yard drive that ended with freshman quarterback Deakon Partin finding junior wide receiver Sawyer Thompson on a 26-yard strike to get the Lions on the board. The conversion by junior back Kaiden Robbins was true, and the Lions cut the lead to 48-8.
On the Tigers’ final drive, freshman William Helton scored from 25 yards away to close the Paintsville scoring at 55-8.
The Lions answered with another five-play 65-yard drive that ended with Junior Shawn Sinkhorn bulling his way in from one yard away to end the game at 55-14.
Coach Allen Harris had this to say about the Lions season.
“Obviously we are disappointed with our record. Any team would be. But I am so proud of my ‘young guns.’ We had every opportunity to fold the tents and call it a season early on. But to my kids’ credit, they kept coming to practice and games and worked to improve daily. I am proud of their fight through injuries, youth and inexperience,” Pineville coach Allen Harris said. “We will take some time to rest and recuperate and fix what needs to be fixed. We will be OK.”
The Lions season ends with a 2-9 record. The Tigers move to 6-5 and play at Middlesboro on Friday night in the second round of the state playoffs.