PIKEVILLE, Ky. – Faulkner fell to 0-2 Saturday with a 24-20 road loss against Appalachian Athletic Conference foe Pikeville. The Eagles scored the first points of the game and watched as the Bears reeled of 17 straight before answering to level things by halftime. An
Avian Morgan fumble recovery at the Eagle 37 with 4:01 remaining in the contest left Faulkner an opportunity to erase a 24-20 deficit. Three negative plays pushed the Eagles back 17 yards and resulted in a
Caden Davis punt that all but sealed it. The Eagles got the ball one more time and launched a desperation heave with four seconds left to end the game.
Faulkner got its first touchdown of the season with 8:24 to go in the opening quarter as
Nehemiah Broussard connected with
Malik Murray for a 24-yard pass play and the 6-0 lead. Jakob Headley got the Bears on the board with a 22-yard field goal at the 14:56 mark of the second quarter. Following a Faulkner punt, the Bears marched 71 yards in 94 seconds, using six plays to reach the end zone when Lee Kirkland hit Ben Henson for a 39-yard score. Kirkland later hit Bralin Barton on a 4-yard strike to move the advantage to 17-7.
The Eagles chipped away at the deficit with 1:18 left in the second quarter as
Caden Davis knocked in a 38-yard field goal to narrow it to 17-10. After Pikeville turned it over on downs with less than 30 seconds to go in the half, Broussard hit Murray for a 19-yard gain before connecting with
Daimon Hitchcock on a 26-yard touchdown throw, allowing Davis to tie the game with an extra point just before half.
Alex Sanders gave Pikeville the lead with 13:24 remaining in the third quarter as he broke a 44-yard run. Davis added a field goal for Faulkner with 14:13 left in the game to cut it to 24-20.
Faulkner rushed the ball 45 times for 98 yards while Pikeville had 28 carries for 145 yards. The Eagles tallied 168 yards passing as compared to 224 for Pikeville.
Jerrell Williamson and
Kylan Wimbish each totaled eight tackles to lead the Faulkner defense.
The loss drops the Eagles to 0-2 for the first time since 2010. Faulkner has its home opener next week against Southeastern.
