Tigers eyeing fourth-straight win; PB, TV hit the road

ELKINS – Elkins will be seeking a fourth-consecutive win when it travels to Grafton for a Big 10 Conference matchup tonight at McKinney Field.     

The Tigers (4-1, 4-0) have won three-straight games after dropping a 33-30 decision on the road at Moorefield in Week 2. Since then Elkins has cruised to victories over Lewis County (50-0), Buckhannon-Upshur (55-14), and Philip Barbour (48-14) last Friday night.  “Grafton is always a tough place to play and I don't like playing games when we don't have school, especially during Forest Festival week,” said Elkins coach Chad Ware. “In addition to coming off a couple wins over rivals, we really have to be focused on the task at hand.”     

Grafton enters the game with a 3-2 overall record and 2-1 league mark after dropping a 27-26 decision at Berkeley Spring last Friday. The Bearcats suffered a 35-7 loss at Elkins last season.   

“Grafton's kids play extremely hard and there's a lot of excitement with their program this year,” Ware said. “More wins and new coaches have made their kids and community believe, so we have to be dialed in and ready to play a physical football game.”    Philip Barbour (2-3) will look to rebound from last week’s loss at Elkins when it travels to Lost Creek to face Class AA, No. 6 South Harrison. The Hawks (4-1) rolled past Clay County for a 52-20 win last Friday.

The Colts defeated South Harrison 49-22 last season and are led by running back Landyn Carpenter, who is averaging 142 yards per game on the ground. South Harrison will counter with Shepard Paugh and his 185 yards rushing per game average. 

In Class A, Tygarts Valley (0-5) will be searching for its first win of the season when it travels to Richwood (1-3) for a non-conference matchup.

The Bulldogs are coming off a 54-6 home loss against Class A, No. 10 Pendleton County last week, while the Lumberjacks dropped a 28-14 decision against Pocahontas County.     

Tygarts Valley’s defeated Richwood in last season’s matchup 29-12. Isaac Maxwell is currently averaging 64 yards rushing per game and will look to pace the Bulldogs’ offense.

The Lumberjacks are powered by running back Fawkes O’dell and quarterback Grady Hall. O’dell leads the team in both rushing (119 ypg.) and receiving (44.3 yrg).   

Another Class A matchup this week will pit Tucker County against Pendleton County in Franklin. The Mountain Lions (2-3) suffered a 42-6 loss at the hands of No. 6 Cameron.    

Cade Rapp is averaging 94 yards rushing per game and will look to lead the Tucker County offense. Quarterback Branson Hyre will look to contribute, alongside receiver Evan Hexom.   

The Wildcats (2-2) will counter with quarterback Mason Miller and running back Braylon Willis, who ran for over 100 yards in last week’s win over Tygarts Valley. Miller threw for 214 yards against the Bulldogs. 

In Class AAAA, Buckhannon-Upshur will return to action after a bye week last Friday. The Bucs (1-3) lost to Elkins 55-14 back on Sept. 18 and will entertain Fairmont Senior (1-4). The Polar Bears were defeated by University High School 56-14 last week and claimed a 61-30 win over Buckhannon-Upshur in the two teams’ contest a year ago.   

Pocahontas County is idle this week. All of tonight’s games are scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m.