SHORT GAP, W.Va. — The Frankfort Falcons were all smiles after giving head coach Kevin Whiteman an icy shower from the water cooler late last night at Frankfort Stadium.
And why not? By tying a school record for wins with a 35-14 rout of PikeView, the fourth-seeded Falcons are just one win from the Class AA state championship game — a game no Frankfort team has ever reached.
Jeremy Miltenberger scored three touchdowns and James Jones threw a touchdown pass in the final minute of the second quarter to give the Falcons the momentum, and threw another to help Frankfort take control early in the third against PikeView.
The Falcons (11-1) will play the winner of today’s game between No. 8 Ravenswood and No. 1 Wayne. If Ravenswood wins, the game will be at Frankfort.
Jones finished 7-for-12 for 128 yards to lead the Frankfort offense. Miltenberger ran 11 times for 60 yards and Joey Luciw had three catches for 37 yards and two touchdowns. With five extra-points, place-kicker Logan Wolford extended his area record to 62 consecutive conversions.
Josh Neal ran 13 times for 100 yards and Robbie Samosky ran seven times for 66 yards for 12th-seeded Pikeview (8-4).
Frankfort wasted little time taking the lead, driving 53 yards in 13 plays on its first possession, with Miltenberger scoring on a 1-yard dive.
Pikeview, after gaining just 17 yards in the first quarter, got on the board early in the second on a 7-yard option keeper by Ben Nester, which capped a 69-yard, 4-play drive. Samosky had the biggest play of the series and the night with a 49-yard run up the gut on the first play.
But Frankfort’s Zack Nieberlein blocked the extra point, leaving the Falcons up 7-6 with 8:57 left in the half.
PikeView, with a fumble recovery by Joel Calfee and an interception by Tyler Farley near midfield, had chances to take the lead later in the period, but both times the Frankfort defense stiffened and forced punts.
After the second punt, which pinned Frankfort at their own 17 with 1:46 left in the half, the Falcons, clinging to the 7-6 lead, chose not to run out the clock.
Instead, they turned to Jones, the senior quarterback, who drove the Falcons 83 yard in eight plays. He accounted for all 83 yards, hitting 4 of 6 passes for 82 yards and getting the other yard on a sneak.
He hit Luciw for 13- and 9-yard gains, and Miltenberger for 14 more. After his short run, he dumped a pass along the sideline to Miltenberger, who split two Pikeview defenders at the 40 and got a final block from Nieberlein near the 10 on a 46-yard play. The touchdown, with just 41 seconds on the clock, gave Frankfort a 14-6 halftime edge.
“That was big. I felt like we needed to get that,’’ said Whiteman. “We were in our 2-minute offense and James made some nice reads moving the ball down the field. Jeremy made that out route, and when he broke that tackle I knew he was gone.
“It was big because it gave us the momentum going into halftime. Anytime you get a big score like that it’s demoralizing to the other team. I think it had an impact on them the whole second half.”
PikeView coach Jeff Damewood agreed.
“It kind of set us back. It was a bit emotionally draining going into the half and that’s always hard to overcome when somebody scores right at the half,’’ he said. “But we had opportunities to come back in the second half and do our thing. We just didn’t get it done.”
The Panthers received the second-half kickoff but Miltenberger recovered a Nester fumble on the second play. Nine plays later, Jones hit Luciw with a 15-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-6.
A high snap sailed over the head of PikeView punter Tommy Symms, and the 32-yard loss gave the Falcons the ball at the Panthers’ 9.
Miltenberger ran untouched for the touchdown on the next play, making it 28-6 with 5:24 left in the quarter.
Luciw had an 8-yard run for a touchdown with 4:11 left in the fourth quarter that made it 35-6.
Nester hit Joel Calfee on a 33-yard pass to complete the scoring for PikeView, with 44 seconds remaining.
Luciw had seven tackles, Dylan Wagoner had six and Wes Riden had five and 1 1/2 sacks to lead the Frankfort defense. Wolford and Ryan Bobo had interceptions.
“Our defense did a tremendous job all night,’’ said Whiteman. “They played smash-mouth football. I’m very proud of the whole team.”
Mike Mathews is a Cumberland Times-News sportswriter. Contact Mike Mathews at mmathews@times-news.com.
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Frankfort pounds PikeView
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