Football Game Preview: Byrd Yellow Jackets vs. Huntington Raiders

The Byrd Yellow Jackets will face off against the Huntington Raiders at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.

Byrd is headed into the contest out to prove that what happened against Parkway on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. The Yellow Jackets took a blow against the Panthers, falling 52-24. The Yellow Jackets were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 38-17.

Despite the defeat, Byrd got top-tier performance from Collin Deere, who rushed for 230 yards and a pair of touchdowns while picking up 7.2 yards per carry. Christian Maxie was another key rusher, rushing for 81 yards and one score.

Meanwhile, Huntington was beaten by Evangel Christian Academy 62-14 on Thursday. The matchup marked the Raiders' lowest-scoring game so far this season.

The match pitted two dominant signal callers against one another in Justin Whitaker and Peyton Houston. Houston had a great game and threw for 428 yards and six TDs while completing 76% of his passes. Meanwhile, Whitaker was balling out in the loss, throwing for 202 yards and a pair of touchdowns while completing 73.1% of his passes, and also rushing for 46 yards.

Huntington now has a losing record of 2-3. As for Byrd, their loss dropped their record down to 1-4.

Byrd didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Huntington in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, but they still walked away with a 24-20 victory. Will the Yellow Jackets repeat their success, or do the Raiders have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.