Elks’ McClain celebrates birthday with 388 yards, 6 TDs
ELKINS 38, HUNTSVILLE 20
ELKINS — Quinn McClain celebrated his 17th birthday and the opening of a new stadium with six touchdowns to lead Elkins to a 38-20 victory against Huntsville on Friday night.
McClain, a junior quarterback, completed 12 of 14 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 81 yards and two touchdowns — and that was just in the first half as the Elks built a 30-7 lead. He rushed for two more touchdowns in the second half and finished with 388 total yards, including 133 yards rushing on 15 carries.
“We challenged him this year to use his legs a little bit more,” said Elkins Coach Bryan Hutson, whose team improved to 3-0. “He’s got a cannon for an arm and throws a good ball. He reads the field so well that when defenders drop back into coverage, he can do a lot of damage with his legs and that’s what he did tonight.”
Elkins has many more weapons to complement McClain.
Chad Graham intercepted a pass that was tipped by teammate Camren Dunn. Graham caught two firstdown passes during a 7-play, 53-yard drive that was capped by Dunn’s 8-yard touchdown reception. Graham, Dunn and tight end Jackson Bowman, a transfer from Fayetteville who also had a key third-quarter sack, give McClain plenty of options in the passing game while McClain and Chance Jones (21 carries, 136 yards) provide a 1-2 punch in the running game.
Graham, who had another interception in the end zone to help clinch the win late in the fourth quarter, had 6 receptions for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first half, including a play where he turned a short screen pass into a 42-yard touchdown. He had another long catch and run for a touchdown that was nullified by a penalty.
“You can’t say I did all of this on my own; my teammates saved my butt I don’t know how many times,” McClain said. “Our line did a great job blocking. We had wide open holes to run through all night. Chance runs the ball really, really hard. Chad makes everyone look good when he takes short passes and does what he does. Camren may be smaller, but he can really run and go up and get it, and Jackson is such a big target and makes plays for us, too.”
“It’s definitely a team effort and going into conference with three wins under our belt feels good.”
That echoed Hutson’s main message to his players after the game. The Elks travel to Waldron to open 4A-4 Conference play next Friday.
“I like what I see,” Hutson said. “They’re happy we won and we’re 3-0, but they’re not jumping around like we just won the Super Bowl even though we beat a very good 5A school in Huntsville that came in here 2-0.
“They’re not satisfied. They know we’ve got to stay the course and the real season begins next week.”