Elkins blanks West Fork in matchup of county rivals

WEST FORK — After ending a nine-game losing streak to Washington County rival West Fork three years ago, Elkins continued to exact its revenge against the Tigers on Friday night.

The Elks (2-0) showed their dominance early and often, rolling to a 54-0 victory. For the third straight year Elkins has beaten West Fork by at least 36 points.

“At this level of high school football, it just goes in cycles for most programs,” first-year Elkins coach Bryan Hutson said. “I think we have just been fortunate to have had some talented players come through our program the last few years.”

That talent showed up in Hutson’s first game last Friday in a 48-28 win at Greenland. This week was much the same as Elkins went on the road again and outgained the home team 364-64 in total

offense.

Junior quarterback Quinn McClain let the fuse for the Elks offense for the second straight week. The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder ran for a teamhigh 66 yards on six carries against the Tigers, while completing 13 of 20 passes for 187 yards and five touchdowns – despite not playing in the second half.

“I just try to watch as much film as I can to prepare, then read the defenses to see what we need to do,” the humble McClain said. “It’s nice to start 2-0, but now we have to come out next week and beat Huntsville. I think that will be a pretty good test for us.”

After both teams went three-and-out on their opening possessions, Elkins took advantage of a short field from the West Fork 32. Chance Jones capped a six-play drive with a 2-yard scamper, giving the Elks a 6-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

Another short punt later in the quarter allowed Elkins to set up shot at the West Fork 31. McClain completed three straight passes, capped by a 16-yard strike to Camren Dunn in the end zone. McClain then ran in the conversion to extend the lead to 14-0.

West Fork then failed to convert a fourth-down pass from its own 24 early in the second quarter. Elkins needed just two plays to find the end zone again, when Jones took in in from five yards out.

Then the game got quickly out of hand as Elkins scored four touchdowns in the final 4:22 of the half — all from the arm of McClain.

He finished off a 10-play drive with an 8-yard pass to Jones, then connected with Johnson from 30 yards out.

After he hit Chad Graham with a 34-yard TD pass with 31 second before halftime, West Fork muffed the kickoff return. McClain took advantage, hitting Graham for anther score of 23 yards.

“Quinn is a good, headsy ball player and just brings another dimension to the team that just creates more options for us,” Hutson said. “I’m just glad he’s on our team.”

With a running clock the entire second half, reserve quarterback Kain Johnson scored the game’s final touchdown in the fourth quarter with a 14-yard run.

“I think once we did start to click, it kind of snowballed for us right there in the second quarter,” Hutson said. “I was just proud of our kids for getting it going, and I thought our defense played really well tonight.

“I challenged our guys to try and shut them out, and they really stepped up.”

Elkins has their home opener next week against Huntsville. West Fork (0-2) travels to Green Forest.