Tigers Handle Pikeville Under the Lights to Open the John Perin Era

The preseason 9th-ranked Georgetown College football team faced a significant number of challenges and questions heading into the 2025 season. The University of Pikeville, fresh off a 2024 Appalachian Athletic Conference championship and 2^nd Round NAIA Playoff appearance, ensured the Tigers would face a strong week one opponent. Adding to the challenge, the Tigers' depth chart showed a number of new faces expecting their first significant snaps at the college level. Finally, John Perin, who served as the Tigers' Defensive Coordinator over the last three seasons, was entering his first game as Head Coach of the Georgetown program. The Tigers worked together to overcome those obstacles on Saturday night at Toyota Stadium, coming away with a 34-17 win over the visiting Bears.

The first quarter was all Georgetown. After receiving the opening kickoff, the Tigers took just three plays to get on the board for the first time of the season. Senior QB Gehrig Slunaker hit Jamarcus Robinson down the visitors' sideline for a 45-yard touchdown pass just 48 seconds into the contest. After back-to-back defensive stands by the Tigers, the home team got on the board again on its third drive of the game. Freshman QB Justice Burnam saw the first action of his career, and on play one, hit Clayton Davis for a 41-yard pass to get the Tigers deep into the red zone. Those two hooked up again on the next play, as Clayton Davis made a spectacular catch on a fade route in the endzone, putting the Tigers up 14-0. After trading punts on the next two series, the Tiger defense came up with a stop on downs at midfield, setting up the third score of the game. This time it came off the foot of Nate Craft with a 26-yard field goal, putting the Tigers up 17-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Down three scores heading into the second quarter, the visiting Bears showed they wouldn't go away easily. UPike put together a 9-play, 76-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by Amon Williams, making the score 17-7. The two teams traded punts, with Tiger Drew Rader hitting a 61-yard punt that flipped the field. The senior punted seven times on the night for a gaudy 48.6-yard average, with four of those going inside the 20-yard line. After Rader's efforts to keep the Bears in poor field position, the Tigers got on the board again on a 3-yard touchdown run by redshirt freshman RB Guy Bailey. This gave Georgetown a 24-7 advantage, but the Bears answered right back with a 14-play drive that ended with a 21-yard field goal, making the score 24-10. After a short drive by the home team, the Bears got the ball back with just under a minute left in the half. UPike QB Xavier Malone led a 7-play, 79-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass to Brandon Newton with just six seconds left before half. The extra point was good, making the score 24-17 Georgetown heading into the break, with the visiting Bears carrying a significant amount of momentum.

Pikeville received the second-half kickoff and the two teams traded punts. The third series ended with one of the most pivotal plays of the game. UPike drove the ball deep into Georgetown territory, and on 2^nd and Goal from the 1-yard line, the Tigers forced a fumble that was recovered in the end zone by Jackson Geilear. The Georgetown offense proceeded to move the ball to midfield, and Drew Rader once again pinned the Bears deep with a punt down to the UPike 3-yard line. The Bears' offense roared right down the field, only to see the Georgetown defense come up with its second massive takeaway in short order. On 1^st and 10 from the Tigers' 44-yard line, Xavier Malone hit Brandon Newton down the seam for a big gain. Tigers' safety John Carter Myers hustled in pursuit of the play and stripped Newton of the ball, with teammate Javyn Martin falling on it at the Tigers' 5-yard line, once again thwarting a UPike scoring opportunity deep in the red zone.

The Tigers, who finished the game with a three-to-one advantage in turnovers, gave the ball back to the Bears when Marshawn Boyden picked off Justice Burnam on the following drive. Georgetown's defense was up to the challenge as they forced a turnover on downs to stop the visitors' momentum. Gehrig Slunaker led a solid drive back into UPike territory, aided by a 30-yard catch and run completion to Colin Bratcher. On 4^th and 10 from the Pikeville 23-yard line, Nate Craft drilled a 40-yard field goal to give the home team a 27-17 advantage and a critical two-score lead with 8:17 left in the game.

The next one minute of the game would see the Tigers put the Bears away for good. On the second play of the ensuing drive, Tiger safety Ethan Freeland undercut a Xavier Malone pass and intercepted the ball at midfield. Freeland finished with 14 tackles to go along with the critical interception. Gehrig Slunaker and the Tiger offense delivered the dagger on the next play. Slunaker found Clayton Davis down the seam for a beautiful 47-yard over-the-shoulder touchdown catch, giving the Tigers a 34-17 advantage with 7:29 to play and sending Toyota Stadium into a frenzy. Davis finished the game with 11 receptions for 174 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Slunaker finished 15 of 27 for 225 yards and two touchdown passes.

UPike drove the field once more and got into the Tiger red zone, but the Georgetown defense held yet again. On 4^th and Goal, Xavier Malone hit RB Amon Williams on a short pass to the flat, but Tiger CB Javyn Martin delivered the final blow on a big tackle at the 2-yard line to end the UPike scoring hopes once again. Despite finishing the game with a slight total yardage disadvantage, Georgetown's win was aided by its previously mentioned turnovers advantage and a strong special teams performance across the board.

The Tigers return to action on the road next Saturday against the University of Rio Grande (OH). The game will be played at Alumni Stadium in Jackson, OH. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 PM Eastern.