? Class 3A District VI Championship ?

?? East Carter (7-1, 3A #9)
vs.
? Russell (7-1)

? Raiders Make A Deal With The Devil To Settle District

The events that unfold at Henry R. Evans Stadium will broadcast the sound of inevitably throughout NEKY. There was no other district title showdown more predictable than this one.

The Raiders and Devils routed their way through the rest of the field, bringing us to the conclusion Grayson and Russell-Flatwoods have been eyeing since last season's Red Devil win at East.

Following a season opening loss to Belfry, the Raiders have run off seven straight wins, largely on the back of Landon Yoak. The bruising runner has put together a season worthy of a little Mr. Football shine.

Russell has sidestepped its ground oriented reputation in favor of quarterback Jayden Frasure, who's accounted for 19 touchdowns and just one interception. The defense has allowed 6 points per game outside of a no-show against Ashland. They'll be up against it this week trying to slow the runny Yoak.

East's successes against Russell have been few and far between over the years - the Devils hold a commanding 34-3 lead in the series - but Tim Champlin has instilled higher standards and expectations in the Raiders, who have made up acres of ground on Russell in recent years.

I think my Raiders have a real shot to win this game even through my blue colored glasses.

History says the Red Devils but I'm thinking the Raiders come rolling into Henry R. with pillaging on their minds. This should be an instant classic. They have both beat their common opponents with similar scores making it very hard for someone who has only seen Russell twice (once live) and East Carter zero times. So, I tossed a coin and East Carter won, I guess I'm rolling with the Raiders. 

It appears Yoak sat out last week's win over Lewis County. For East's sake, let's hope he was being held out as a precaution and resting up for Russell. 

If Yoak is not playing I'm getting a new coin and tossing again. 

This sounds like it should be a showdown. I’ll take the Raiders. Any live streams. 

4 hours ago, DRKARK said:

This sounds like it should be a showdown. I’ll take the Raiders. Any live streams. 

MyTown TV has it covered. I'll embed the YouTube stream in here when it becomes available.

This is one of our Pick 5 games:

Sorry DMC...

But self serving bias runs thicker than admiration!

 

Go Raiders! Go RPI points for Belfry! 

EC by 2. Landon Yoak falls forward into the endzone for the win.

5 hours ago, ATLCat said:

Sorry DMC...

But self serving bias runs thicker than admiration!

 

Go Raiders! Go RPI points for Belfry! 

EC by 2. Landon Yoak falls forward into the endzone for the win.

On 10/21/2025 at 10:11 AM, DevilMayCare said:

It appears Yoak sat out last week's win over Lewis County. For East's sake, let's hope he was being held out as a precaution and resting up for Russell. 

From what I am hearing it he was just resting up some from a long very good season. He should be rested and ready to go. I hope that info is correct as East will not have a shot without a full Yoak playing.

13 hours ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

From what I am hearing it he was just resting up some from a long very good season. He should be rested and ready to go. I hope that info is correct as East will not have a shot without a full Yoak playing.

Russell may have to sell out to slow East's ground game. Ashland had its way with the Devils, almost exclusively running the ball. The Raiders are going to bring that same level of physicality and commitment to winning the line of scrimmage. 

39 minutes ago, DevilMayCare said:

Russell may have to sell out to slow East's ground game. Ashland had its way with the Devils, almost exclusively running the ball. The Raiders are going to bring that same level of physicality and commitment to winning the line of scrimmage. 

I agree I have watched 5 or 6 of East's games online they will have to try and put East in throwing situations if not the Raiders will win I think and if Russell can force the Raiders to throw 15-20 times they will win.

Yoak is aptly named because he like yoaking up to an ox. He just wears you down and the second you miss an assignment he breaks a big one.

Russell is going to be RB by committee and lean into Benge when they need that key first down or need that goal line package. Has Benge been banged up this year? His usage numbers have been weird. What Russell does best though is mix in the pass with Frasure and the Pennington connection. 

I think both teams should be able to sustain success doing what works best, but to me the x-factor is going to be Beason. When you have to devote so much attention and bodies to Yoak, Beason is a dangerous threat to pop a couple big plays. I mentioned my surprise at Benge's usage rate this year... but the other stat that surprised me was the fact East Carter has yet to complete a pass to Yoak or Beason out of the backfield. This has been something EC has utilized a lot under Champlin... they don't really pass to their feature back much but they have always seemingly had that secondary threat who can pop some big plays in the passing game. 

I am going to make a bold prediction and say Beason hits a big play in the passing game.

 

4 hours ago, ATLCat said:

Russell is going to be RB by committee and lean into Benge when they need that key first down or need that goal line package. Has Benge been banged up this year? His usage numbers have been weird. What Russell does best though is mix in the pass with Frasure and the Pennington connection. 

He missed the first few games with a lower leg injury and he's struggling like every other back Russell feeds the ball to this year. They simply can't move people off the ball. There was zero push against Ashland, but they've found running room scarce against basically everyone this year. The top two rushers are averaging 4 yards per carry or less. 

I don't see them suddenly becoming Johnson Central overnight, so Frasure's arm will have to light the way, offensively.