Football Game Preview: Preston Knights vs. Elkins Tigers

The Preston Knights will challenge the Elkins Tigers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

As a matter of fact, Preston put up the most points they have all season on Friday. They fell just short of Buckhannon-Upshur by a score of 60-57. The Knights' loss continues a trend for the squad, making it four in a row.

Defeat or not, Preston got some senior leadership from Slaton Manko and Aidan Schmidl. Manko threw for 603 yards and six touchdowns while completing 76.8% of his passes, while Schmidl picked up 421 receiving yards and six scores. Schmidl showed off some serious burst, cutting upfield on a catch for 68 yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Easton Hayes, who picked up 138 receiving yards.

Meanwhile, Elkins made easy work of Brooke last Friday and carried off a 31-7 victory. The result was nothing new for the Tigers, who have now won six matchups by 24 points or more so far this season.

This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Logan Beam and Seth Robinson. Beam rushed for 184 yards and a pair of TDs while picking up 9.7 yards per carry while Robinson rushed for 160 yards and a pair of touchdowns on only 15 carries. Beam also punched in two rushing touchdowns, which is notable because Elkins is 5-1 when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns, but 1-2 otherwise.

Elkins was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 344 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 171 rushing yards every time they've taken the field this season.

Elkins didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Silas Mustoe.

Preston's loss dropped their record down to 1-8. As for Elkins, their win bumped their record up to 6-3.

Preston was dealt a bruising 38-8 defeat at the hands of Elkins in their previous meeting back in September of 2016. Thankfully for the Knights, Cory Gillespie (who rushed for 116 yards and two scores while picking up 7.3 yards per carry) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.