By Mike Mathews
SHORT GAP — A solid first half unraveled in the final minute of the second quarter Friday night for 12th-seeded PikeView.
And things got out of hand in a hurry early in the third as the underdog Panthers lost at fourth-seeded Frankfort, 35-14, in the Class AA state quarterfinals.
Quarterback James Jones capped a momentum-shifting drive in the final minutes of the first half with a touchdown pass, then threw another early in the second as the Falcons moved a tenuous 7-6 lead to 21-6 in a snap of just 5:19.
PikeView (8-4), after failing to capitalize on a fumble recovery by Joel Calfee and an interception near midfield by Tyler Farley, had Frankfort pinned at its own 17-yard line with 1:46 left in the first half.
But instead of running out the clock and heading to the locker room with a 7-6 lead, the Falcons went 83 yards in eight plays, with Jones accounting for all 83 yards. He completed 4 of 6 passes for 82 yards, and ran one time for the other yard. Jeremy Miltenberger caught a pass along the sideline, split two defenders and raced 46 yards for the touchdown with 41 seconds left in the half.
“It kind of set us back,’’ PikeView coach Jeff Damewood said of the touchdown. “It was a bit emotionally draining going into the half and that’s always hard to overcome when somebody scores right at the half.
“But we had opportunities to come back in the second half and do our thing. We just didn’t get it done.”
Frankfort coach Kevin Whiteman felt the late first-half touchdown was the turning point.
“It was big. 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 gave us the momentum going into halftime, and 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, which had a first-half drive halted by an interception in the end zone, lost a fumble on the second play of the second half, and Frankfort went 37 yards on nine plays, with Jones hitting Joey Luciw with a 15-yard pass for the touchdown for a 21-6 lead with 7:22 to go in the third quarter.
Jeremy Miltenberger, who scored three touchdowns, had a 9-yard run in the third quarter and Luciw an 8-yard run in the fourth as Frankfort stretched its lead to 35-6.
PikeView’s Ben Nester hit Calfee on a 33-yard touchdown pass for the final score with 44 seconds to go.
Nester scored on a 7-yard run in the second quarter for the Panthers, but the extra point was blocked, leaving the Falcons on top 7-6 with 8:57 left in the half.
Josh Neal ran 13 times for 100 yards and Robbie Samosky had seven carries for 66 yards for PikeView.
“We knew coming into the game that they were very well coached and a tough bunch of kids,’’ Damewood said. “They stopped us and were stronger than us up front. They just beat us tonight.
“We had a great season this year compared to the past. We’ve got to go forward after this, regroup in the locker room and prepare for next year.”
Jones finished 7-for-12 for 128 yards and Miltenberger had 11 carries for 60 yards for Frankfort (11-1), which will play today’s Wayne-Ravenswood winner next week in the semifinals.
