St. Andrews falls to 0-10 after experiencing myriad of difficulties against Pikeville

LAURINBURG — “Nothing went well.”

That was how St. Andrews Knights head coach Bob Curtin explained his team’s showing against the Pikeville Bears at Knights Field on Saturday.

The performance from the Knights was an ugly one as they failed to score for the third time this season and allowed their second-most points this season, both of which led to a 68-0 rout from Pikeville.

“We need a lot of work,” St. Andrews head coach Bob Curtin said. “We need to do a lot better. That’s a good football team, but we have good talent here. We didn’t execute in any of the three phases of football: offense, defense, special teams. We did very little right. We’ve got to catch the ball. You’ve got to run with the ball. You’ve got to block. When we look at the film, we’re going to see that we probably didn’t do a whole lot of that right. And just chalking it up to a good team, that’s not it. Certainly, I’ll take some of the blame for that.”

The long day for St. Andrews (0-10, 0-5 Appalachian Athletic Conference) started on the game’s first drive when Pikeville (7-3, 5-1 AAC) took the ball downfield in less than three-and-a-half minutes and capitalized with a 6-yard touchdown run by running back Alex Sanders. The extra point attempt went wide right, though, making it 6-0.

St. Andrews made it into Pikeville territory on its opening drive but was forced to punt. While trying to get the ball off, punter Diego Barahona had the kick blocked and returned by defensive back Obie Wilson for a 42-yard TD with 8:07 left in the first quarter. The try on the extra point again went wide right, putting Pikeville’s lead at 12-0.

The Knights’ ensuing drive ended on a fourth-and-1 from the Bears’ 34-yard line, which led to Pikeville taking over and finding paydirt in five plays on a 30-yard TD pass from quarterback Lee Kirkland to wide receiver Diego Soto, extending its lead to 19-0 with a little less than three minutes before the second quarter.

The poor start by St. Andrews was partially because they didn’t have some of their starters and usual backups in the game, according to Curtin.

“We didn’t start who we wanted,” Curtin said. “I benched six guys for not showing up (to practice). We benched our starting center because he showed up late. When the chips are down, you really get to see who’s standing in your corner.”

With 12:22 to go before halftime, Hardwick caught a 2-yard reception for a TD to put Pikeville up 26-0. QB Darius Holly was taken out of the game on St. Andrews’ following drive, and QB Jalen Dodd came in, leading the Knights down to the Pikeville 35-yard line. But Dodd threw an interception, and Pikeville DB George Burnette was tackled at the Bears’ 28-yard line. On the next play, Kirkland located WR Derrick Griffith II, who sprinted downfield and into the end zone for a 72-yard TD with 8:22 left on the second-quarter clock.

Just under five minutes later, after the Knights went three-and-out, WR D’Andre Stafford caught a 15-yard pass from Kirkland for a TD to put the score at 40-0. With 34 seconds to go in the first half, running back Adrian Medacco made it 47-0 with a 37-yard catch and run to the end zone.

To begin the third quarter, St. Andrews was stopped on their first set of downs and attempted to punt. But Barahona had trouble with the snap and never got the ball off, giving Pikeville the ball five yards away from the Knights’ end zone. The Bears scored on the next play, with tight end Keyshawn Croskey making the reception 1:55 into the second half.

Sanders caught a 10-yard TD on the Bears’ next drive with 7:14 remaining in the third, and with 8:55 left in the game, offensive lineman Elijah Stallard ran a yard for the game’s final score.

Holly was 3-of-7 passing for 20 yards for the Knights; Dodd went 4-of-12 passing for 23 yards; RB George Tharpe had seven rushes for 47 yards; RB Dalen Spruill had five carries for 22 yards; and WR Anthony Robinson had three receptions for 23 yards. Linebacker Nick Henderson had a team-high eight tackles (seven solo) for St. Andrews, and DBs Xzavion Simpson and Eduardo Turnbull Jr. each had an interception.

Kirkland finished the contest 22-of-35 passing for 379 yards for Pikeville; QB Xavier Malone was 8-of-11 through the air for 75 yards; Sanders had seven carries for 41 yards and four receptions for 38 yards; Griffith II had seven catches for 146 yards; Soto had eight receptions for 104 yards; and Medacco had three grabs for 48 yards. On defense, DBs Timothy Butler and Brett Coleman each had six tackles to lead the way for the Bears; and LB Michael Hobby had four tackles (three solo), 1 1/2 tackles for loss, and 1 1/2 sacks.

Saturday’s result didn’t take away from the fact that it was senior day for the Knights’ football players and cheerleaders. Holly, WR Tyquan Watson, TE Todgrick Walker, OL Marvin Farmer II and Tristan Brown, defensive lineman Logan Sage, LBs John Brown and Austin Hunt, and Turnbull Jr. were all honored during a pregame ceremony along with the senior cheerleaders.

“When you’re heavy with seniors, you have a great program,” Curtin said. “I need more of them. And I need them playing. I don’t need them academically ineligible. I don’t need them hurt. But the seniors we had … were amazing guys, amazing football players. I could go on. I’m just grateful to those core seniors (who) stuck it out. Last year was a year in turmoil, and I told them, this year, we’re going to bottom out. But I need you to stay. And those guys stayed. And they could have gone elsewhere. They’ve got great film. So, (I) love our seniors. They stuck it out through thick and thin. They’ve got one more game, and hopefully, they can be with us, and we can grab a win.”

St. Andrews’ final game is at Point next week in West Point, Ga.