Patriots fall to Warriors
Published 3:00 am Saturday, November 5, 2016
The Pike Patriots fell to the Warriors 42-0 on Friday night in the opening round of the AISA Class 3A State playoffs.
“It didn’t start out too good,” said Patriots head coach Gene Allen. “We fumbled the ball twice and didn’t have good field position. They had the momentum early and we just couldn’t turn it around. I was proud they played and showed a lot of class. You have to give Lee Scott credit they came out and did a really good job.”
The first half was marred by turnovers and mistakes by the Patriots. Pike had the ball for a total of six possessions in the opening half and had two turnovers and two drives that started inside their own 15-yard line.
JT Ball turned the ball over on the first play from scrimmage to set the tone for the first half. The Warriors got on the board first when they capped off a five-play drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to give Lee Scott a 7-0 lead with 4:07 remaining in the opening quarter.
After another Patriots fumble gave the Warriors possession at the 4 yard line, Buck Dean finished took a handoff and scored from two yards out to give the Warriors a 13-0 lead.
Turk Pettit scored the Warriors third touchdown of the half on a 27-yard touchdown run and Hunter Harper caught a 51-yard touchdown pass giving Lee Scott a 28-0 lead at halftime.
The Warriors picked off right where they left off on the opening drive of the second half. They marched down the field in six plays and took a 35-0 lead when Dean ran one from four yards out with 8:36 remaining in the third.
Bo Dean punched in the Warriors six touchdown of the night from inside the five-yard line giving Lee Scott a 42-0 lead with 11:54 remaining in the game.
Lee Scott totaled 383 yards on Friday night compared to 159 by the Patriots. Quarterback Reed Jinright led Pike in rushing with 62 yards on 10 carries. Ball finished with 47 yards on 10 carries. Jinright finished 4-8 in passing for 36 yards and one interception. On the defensive side of the ball Tyler Hussey and Jackson Blair led the team in tackles with seven each.
The Patriots finished the season with an overall record of 6-5 and finished area play 3-2.
“It was a good year for the kids,” Allen said. “It’s disappointing losing this week and last week. It was tough playing them back-to-back. We got beat by two good teams in Monroe and Autauga and we thought we should have won a couple other games. The kids played hard and I am proud of the kids that we have.”