The proud people from Pineville travel well for the local high school team; they always have and always will. This afternoon, around 3 p.m., it won’t be that strange to see a caravan of cars turning onto HWY 119. That caravan will be a strong show of support for a Pineville team that faces off against Paintsville tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the first round of the Class 1-A playoffs.
Pineville (3-7) has had every reason to give up this season, from losing tailback Cody Hendrickson before the season even started, losing star running back Alvin Smith three weeks ago for undisclosed reasons, a massive amount of injuries to other key positions, and early heartbreaking losses to Berea and Harlan.
Pineville head coach Bart Elam and his enthusiastic attitude and personality is a strong explanation as to why these kids haven’t given up.
If you asked any coach in the country about an upcoming game, and what the team’s mindset is, they would tell you that “the team is going into the game to win.”
Those were Elam’s words Thursday. There was a difference in his answer, however, and that difference makes you start to believe in what he was saying. There was a fire in his eyes when he said it, but it was more than that. There was an excitement in his voice about his team, his players, and their chances. It wasn’t just “coach speak.” Coach Elam genuinely believes in his players.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries this year, and it’s been hard to overcome those injuries. We were short handed at Williamsburg last week, because of injuries and suspensions.”
The Mountain Lions had three players ejected from a game two weeks ago against Walton-Verona.
“We get 5 or 6 of those players back this week, and we’re pretty excited about it,” Elam said.
Not having those players against Williamsburg drove down the confidence level of the team, but according to Coach Elam, “the team’s confidence level is high going into the Paintsville game. They aren’t real big up front, and we feel like that’s going to be an advantage for us.”
Although the box scores may not always show it, Pineville’s defense has been strong this year.
“When teams have put a bunch of points on us, it’s because we’ve turned the ball over and gave them good field position, or we haven’t moved the ball on offense and the defense is on the field too much,” said Elam.
Against Paintsville, the Mountain Lion’s defense needs to play one of its better games.
Versatile quarterback Tyler Deaton has thrown for nine touchdowns and rushed for seven more. Running back Nehemiah Doderer has rushed for over 1,000 yards and crossed the goal line 12 times.
At 5-5, Paintsville is no stranger to Pineville’s spread offense, facing both Raceland and Pike County Central with marginal success against it.
The Tigers will have to face that spread again against the Mountain Lions tonight. For the past couple of weeks, because of the injuries and suspensions, Coach Elam has been forced to stray from what the team is comfortable with.
“We’ve had to use a lot of I-formation stuff with play-action passing. Getting these players back this week, we’re going to Paintsville with a game plan we’re more comfortable with,” he said.
That should make a big difference, as Pineville tries to win its first playoff game in over 20 years.
The Mountain Lions are 2-5 against Paintsville all time, with the two teams tied in the playoffs at 1 win each. Pineville beat the Tigers in ’77 8-0, before Paintsville returned the favor the following year, taking out Pineville, 27-0. Both meetings occurred in the first round of the Class 1-A playoffs.
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