Tigers make first-ever home playoff game a memorable one
Will host Winfield in quarterfinals after 54-25 win over Keyser
Trending
ELKINS -- Elkins made sure its first-ever home playoff game was a memorable one, rolling to a 54-25 win over Keyser Friday night in Class AAA opening-round action at Tiger Stadium.
Jaden Hatfield fueled an explosive running attack for the Tigers (10-1), racking up 251 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Seth Robinson ran for over 100 and two scores for Elkins, which eclipse the 500-yard rushing mark for the contest.
The victory propels the third-seeded Tigers (10-1) into quarterfinal round play, where it will entertain sixth-seed Winfield (9-2), a 20-10 winner over Ripley on Friday, next weekend.
Elkins' quarterfinal contest will be played on Friday night or on Saturday at Tiger Stadium.
The 14th-seeded Golden Tornado (6-5) jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the opening possession of the game when Addison Brafford completed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Dominik Crawford at the 7:23 mark.
The Tigers answered and cut the deficit to 7-6 on their ensuing possession, going 80 yards in 7 plays. The drive was capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by Robinson at the 4:21 mark. Quarterback Cyrus Kump helped set up the score with runs of 12 and 30 yards on the march.
Keyser fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Elkins took the lead five plays later when Hatfield scored from 24 yards out. Hatfield ran in the two-point conversion to make it 14-7 with 1:51 left in the opening quarter.
The Tigers put together a 15-play, 85-yard drive early in the second quarter that pushed the advantage to 20-7 at intermission. Kump accounted for the score when he found the end zone on a 1-yard run with 3:30 remaining in the half.
Elkins wasted little time continuing its strong play to begin the third quarter, going 80-yards in three plays after receiving the second-half kickoff. Hatfield started the drive with a 6-yard run and Kump followed with a 37-yard pass to Xavier Workman that put the Tigers into Golden Tornado territory. Robinson then broke free for a 37-yard touchdown run that extended the lead to 26-7.
After forcing Keyser to a three-and-out on the ensuing drive, it took Elkins only three plays to find the end zone again when Hatfield raced in for a 50-yard touchdown, pushing the lead to 33-7.
The Golden Tornado cut the deficit to 33-13 at the 3:46 mark of the third quarter when Rio Simone capped off a 12-play, 80-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.
After a failed onside kick attempt by Keyser gave the ball back to the Tigers on their own 49-yard line, Hatfield scored his third touchdown of the game three plays later on a 20-yard scamper. The point-after kick from Dyer Barger made it 40-13 with 2:51 left in the third.
The Golden Tornado added another score late in the third quarter to cut Elkins' lead to 40-19 when Brafford scored a 5-yard touchdown with 1:13 remaining in the third stanza.
Elias Jones scored a 5-yard touchdown with 8:21 left in the contest to push the Tigers' lead to 47-19.
Keyser's Deacon Stanislawczyk cut the Elkins lead to 47-25 with a 9-yard score before Robinson capped off the scoring in the contest for the Tigers with an 8-yard touchdown late in regulation.