The Huntington Raiders will head out on the road to square off against the Airline Vikings at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Huntington has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the contest with three straight defeats, while Airline will come in with three straight victories.
Things were looking good for Huntington after they put the first points on the board on Thursday, but unfortunately for them things went downhill from there. They lost to Natchitoches Central at home by a 33-14 margin. Despite 62 more yards than the Chiefs, the Raiders couldn't convert that extra yardage to scores.
Huntington's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Justin Whitaker, who threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns, and Caiden Starks, who picked up 86 receiving yards and a pair of TDs.
Huntington 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 Nate Green.
Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Airline's strategy against Byrd on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that the Vikings blew the Yellow Jackets out of the water with a 48-17 final score. The result was nothing new for the Vikings, who have now won four games by 20 points or more so far this season.
Huntington better keep an eye on Kenny Darby. He was instrumental in Airline's win, rushing for 94 yards.
Airline was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 322 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in September.
Huntington's defeat dropped their record down to 3-6. As for Airline, their record is now 6-3.
Huntington came up short against Airline when the teams last played back in November of 2024, falling 59-54. Thankfully for the Raiders, Ben Taylor (who threw for 408 yards and six touchdowns while completing 72.7% of his passes, and also rushed for 50 yards and a pair of scores) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
