The Churchill County Greenwave will head out on the road to challenge the Elko Indians at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Churchill County knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 31 points or more in their past eight contests -- so hopefully Elko likes a good challenge.
Churchill County is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nevada's top teams: Fernley, who was ranked 20th at the time (Churchill County was ranked sixth). The Greenwave breezed past the Vaqueros to the tune of 42-15 on Friday. Fans of the Greenwave have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season has ended in a blowout of 20+ points.
The match pitted two dominant backs against one another in Carson Melendy and Keeshawn Love. Melendy had a great game and rushed for 357 yards and four scores while picking up 15.5 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Love was balling out in the loss, rushing for 178 yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Churchill County's defense and their six sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Wyatt Dixon and Kacin Rogne, who racked up four sacks between them. Churchill County received some extra help from Alijah Juarez, whose fumble return for a touchdown made for one of the most unforgettable moments.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Elko). They took their matchup on Friday with ease, bagging a 55-7 win over Sparks. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 42-0.
Churchill County better focus on containing Ethan Kraintz and Hagen Robinson as the pair were huge in Elko's win. Kraintz threw for 135 yards and three touchdowns while completing 90% of his passes, while Robinson rushed for 39 yards and one TD. The dominant performance also gave Kraintz a new career-high in passer rating (168.8).
Special teams played a big role in the game for Elko, adding 13 points to the final score. The biggest highlight from special teams (and perhaps the team as a whole) came courtesy of Coy Jones, who ran a kickoff back for a touchdown.
Churchill County pushed their record up to 8-0 with the victory, which was their fourth straight on the road. The team's perfect season has a lot to do with their offensive performance: the team's won by an average of 40.5 points thus far. As for Elko, their record is now 6-1.
Churchill County skirted past Elko 24-21 in their previous matchup back in November of 2024. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Kraintz, who threw for 123 yards and three TDs, and also rushed for 60 yards. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will the Greenwave still be able to contain Kraintz? There's only one way to find out.
