The Lyndon Tigers will face off against the West Elk Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Lyndon sitting on 13 straight wins dating back to last season and West Elk on seven.
With a playoff game on the line, Lyndon rose to the challenge on Friday. They blew past South Sumner [Caldwell/South Haven] 68-22 on the road. Lyndon might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won nine matches by 28 points or more this season.
Tanner Heckel got back to being his usual excellent self, as he rushed for 351 yards and seven touchdowns while picking up 20.6 yards per carry, and also threw for 76 yards and a touchdown on only seven passes. Heckel really tore up the turf during one magnificent 70-yard run. Another player making a difference was Jalen Massey, who rushed for 70 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, West Elk faced Little River in a battle between two of the state's top teams. West Elk walked away with a 72-60 win over Little River on Friday. Yes, you read that score correctly, and yes, they were playing football.
West Elk got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Creyo Koop out in front who rushed for 186 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 11.6 yards per carry, and also picked up 39 receiving yards. Koop is absolutely dominating the rushing touchdown category: he's posted at least two every time he's taken the field this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Trent Haag, who rushed for 80 yards and three touchdowns on only six carries.
Lyndon's win bumped their record up to 10-0. As for West Elk, they pushed their record up to 9-1 with that win, which was their sixth straight at home.
Lyndon didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against West Elk when the teams last played back in October of 2022, but they still walked away with a 42-38 win. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was West Elk's Dustin Montgomery, who picked up 101 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be that much easier for Lyndon to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
