SOUTH DAYTON - Josh Kilburn scored an eye-popping five touchdowns to jolt Pine Valley to a 40-14 win over Forestville, Friday night in the Class DD Chuck Funke Memorial Bowl.
Kilburn finished with 28 carries for 309 yards. He scored twice in the second quarter, once in the third and twice more in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
"It all starts with the offensive line," Pine Valley coach Chris Buczek said of his team's rushing success. "Since Week 5 I've had nothing but good things to say about our offensive line and Josh is running the ball as hard and fast as he can."
Forestville opened the scoring when Jake Nosbisch ran into the end zone from 4 yards out. That score was the only tally of the first quarter, leaving the Hornets with a 6-0 lead.
The Panthers answered in a big way in the second quarter. Pine Valley scored 21 unanswered points to take control of the game.
Kilburn scored on runs of 1 and 18 yards before Dan Weaver found Nick Sandy for a 16-yard strike.
"It was huge for us," Buczek said of the scoring splurge. "Not that we were hanging our heads, but that was big. It kind of refocused them."
Pine Valley got the ball first in the second half, but the Forestville defense held firm and got the ball back for its offense.
The Hornets capitalized with a Nate Maines 4-yard touchdown run to pull the score to 21-14.
Maines finished with 106 yards on 20 carries.
"They just kind of walked down the field and scored on us," Buczek added.
The Forestville comeback was thwarted almost before it began as Pine Valley got the ball back and took just five plays to get into the end zone.
Kilburn scored from 39 yards out to once again make it a two-score game at 28-14.
The fourth quarter was more Kilburn. The running back, who also rushed for 301 yards last week, had scored of 87 and 3 yards to provide the final cushion for Pine Valley.
While Kilburn was pacing the offense, the Panthers also received a couple of dynamic performances out of the defense.
Lucas Trombley recorded 10 tackles and a sack while Mike Isula had five tackles to go with his fourth-quarter interception.
With the win, Pine Valley advances to the Chuck Funke Class DD final, Thursday at Southwestern.
