Football Recap: Elijah Taft Key Part of Team Effort in Vikings Win

D.H. Conley hadn't done well against Northeastern recently (they were 0-3 in their previous three matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. The Vikings enjoyed a cozy 34-19 win over the Eagles. For the Vikings, this counts as revenge for the 16-8 victory the Eagles walked away with the last time they faced one another back in August of 2019.

Elijah Taft

Rushing Yards (Career)

08/29/25 @ Northeastern	124
10/11/24 @ J.H. Rose	89
08/22/25 vs Laney	76
11/01/24 @ South Central	62
08/30/24 vs Washington	47

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead D.H. Conley to victory, but perhaps none more so than Elijah Taft, who rushed for 124 yards and one TD on only ten carries. Those 124 rushing yards gave Taft a new career-high. Another back making a difference was Kalijah Booth, who rushed for 81 yards and a pair of scores.

They were just one part of a punishing run game: D.H. Conley was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 360 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Northeastern only rushed for 37 rushing yards.

On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to D.H. Conley's defense and their six sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Micah Moore and Caden LeNeave, who racked up four sacks between them. D.H. Conley got some further help from Bryson Roach: he picked up a sack and made nine total tackles (2.0 for loss).

Several Eagles players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Zak Ishman, who threw for 215 yards on 16 of 25 attempts, and also punched in one rushing score. Devon Shreaves also helped out with an impressive 102 receiving yards.

D.H. Conley has started the season off flawlessly and has a 2-0 record to show for it. Those wins came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered a grand total of 26 points this season. As for Northeastern, their record now sits at 1-1.

D.H. Conley and Northeastern should be looking forward to their upcoming games as both have a sizable advantage in the MaxPreps North Carolina Rankings. The Vikings (ranked 74th) will meet Farmville Central (ranked 200th) at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Meanwhile, Northeastern will square off against Holmes at 7:00 p.m. on Friday with a big rank advantage (92 vs. 250).