No. 1 AAA Huntington (3-0) at No. 16 Parkersburg (1-2)

No Luke Zban, no problem for Huntington.

The Highlanders were without their quarterback, picking up a 24-18 win at home over George Washington as backup quarterback Brandt Adkins led a late scoring drive to propel Huntington to the victory.

“Brandt played within himself at quarterback which is all we ask him to do,” Huntington head coach Billy Seals said. “He did good job of running the offense and making good decisions with the football in the fourth quarter. He made some good reads and got some significant first downs for us.”

Adkins got help for his running back Jadon Hayes in the win as he scored the go-ahead touchdown for the Highlanders in the fourth quarter. Hayes also rushed for 131 yards in the win.

“We probably didn’t play our best football Friday night, but George Washington had a lot to do with that,” Seals said. “They are a really good football team. We are never going to apologize for winning a game. We really gutted one out against a good team.”

Now, comes a matchup with Parkersburg as Huntington tries to stay undefeated.

“They have great length on the outside with Easton Martin and Brenton Strange,” Seals said. “That’s our number one concern. We didn’t do a very good job of covering the pass on Friday night.”

However, some of Huntington’s issues were due to the talent of Grant Wells who threw for 310 yards against the Highlanders.

“I have to give some credit to Grant Wells for giving us trouble,” Seals said. “He’s darn near one of the best quarterbacks I’ve seen in coaching 17 years of high school football.

“Anytime you have to go to Parkersburg to play, it’s tough because of all the tradition,” he continued. “We know it’s homecoming for them, and they are going to be playing on a high. We just want to get out of there and be 4-0 Friday night.”