PRESTON — For a minute it looked like the Indians were in for a game for their home opener, but then they took control and removed any doubt that the game was in jeopardy.

The Indians turned a 16-16 tie midway through the third quarter into a solid 35-16 win over the visiting Marsh Valley Eagles Friday night.

“Total team effort,” Preston head coach Shawn Marlow said. “I was really proud of our defense. I felt like we were bending but we never really broke. We never gave up anything big. That’s such a tough offense, it just beats you up and grinds you. They were exhausted but they kept it up.”

The Eagles (1-1) wore the Indians (1-1) down with a grinding double-wing offense, keeping the ball on the ground and running it up the gut nearly every play. They used run play after run play to eat up yards a couple at a time. They started the third quarter with a 14-play, seven minute drive to tie things up, but Preston answered with an 11-play drive of its own.

“I thought we played great offense,” Preston running back Tyson Lumbreras said. “Our offense had an amazing game. ... Our line is good this year. They are one of the best.”

Lumbreras, who was limited last week because of injury, came out and had a good game for the Indians. Lumbreras carried the ball 11 times for 155 yards and two scores.

“He’s been kind of hampered by a hamstring, and I think he showed tonight he is back,” Marlow said.

Lumbreras got things started early with a  51-yard scoring run on just the fourth play of the game. Getting a quick start was exactly what Marlow had been asking of his team all week long. A field goal later in the quarter put the Indians up 9-0.

Marsh Valley caught the Indians looking for the run and answered back with a 15-yard pass from Tyson Iverson to Zack Lee with just 43 seconds left in the first half. A two-point conversion put the score at 9-8 for Preston.

But the Indians weren’t satisfied.

Preston got the ball back and quarterback Baker Ward completed six-straight passes for 61 yards and another score with 1 second left.

“That was big. To go in up was huge,” Marlow said.

The Preston defense held Marsh Valley to just 41 yards in the final quarter, which is really good considering the Eagles had one run that went 47 yards. The other 12 plays they had in the quarter netted a total of -6 yards.

“I felt like we calmed down a lot more in the second half, really ran our stuff, and was effective,” Marlow said. “Very proud of our second half effort. Our kids stepped up. This offense is so confusng at times.”

Baker Ward, after an early interception, turned in a descent night with 118 yards on 11-18 passing. He also tossed two touchdown passes, both to Brennyn Dunn. Wyatt Christensen caught five passes for 65 yards. He also had an interception for the Indians.

“Baker did a great job of bouncing back from that,” Marlow said. “It’s good when your quarterback can struggle for a second but then bounce back and have a short memory.”

Preston continues its season next Friday by staying at home for a game against Shelley, a team that will test the Preston pass defense more so than their first two contests have.

“They’re very talented,” Marlow said. “I think they’re a little bit young this year. They have a junior quarterback that started last year as a sophomore. He is very talented. They’ll mix it up with the run and the pass.”