KINGWOOD — Homecoming night is always exciting, but for the Preston football team, the real excitement was tied to a surprisingly realistic scenario — halfway through the season, the 1-5 Knights still had a shot at the playoffs. And their opponent, 2-4 Washington, possessed the exact same shot. In a sense, the playoffs began for both teams Friday night, and in an exhilarating battle that wasn’t decided until the final 20 seconds, Preston earned its second win of the season in come-from-behind fashion, 21-14.
After stuffing Washington on its opening drive, Preston had a chance at a quick score when dynamic wide receiver Colten Rosenberger broke free on a crossing route, but he uncharacteristically dropped Trevor Thomas’ pass. On the next Patriots possession, behind their Single-T offense led by athletic quarterback Fransisco Amore, the Patriots put together a solid drive, but the Knights defense stiffened, and Griffen Price’s 37-yard field goal attempt drifted wide left.
An exchange of punts ran through the first quarter clock, and a series of penalties slowed both offenses until the first big play of the night came midway through the second quarter. Deep in their own territory, the Knights were intercepted by Terrance Jones, setting up WHS at the 13. In a curious move, PHS coach Jonathan Tennant declined a third down penalty that would’ve pushed the ball back to the 12, and instead challenged the Patriots to go for it on 4th-and-short.
Tennant’s faith in his defense was rewarded with a huge stop and a turnover on downs. But the subsequent punt to the WHS 31 was followed immediately by Amore’s sweep left that saw the speedy QB find the edge and out-sprint the secondary for a 69-yard score. The kick was missed, so the Knights, trailing 6-0 with 1:51 left in the half, needed an offensive splash play. They got one from a familiar duo, as Thomas found Rosenberger open on a skinny post. The sophomore put the ball on target and in stride, and this time the senior pulled it in, shrugged off a defender and waltzed into the end zone on a 70-yard score and a 7-6 halftime lead.
The second half opened with more offensive fireworks from the Knights, as junior tailback J.J. Townsend took a handoff out of the Power-I, sprinted untouched past a pair of blitzing linebackers and was off to the races. Although dragged down at the 2, the junior squeezed across from the 1 to extend the lead, although Timothy Wiles’ kick was blocked. Down by seven, Washington quickly responded with a 62-yard, six-play, blitzkrieg drive that featured power running back Jace Bradbury. An offsides call on the Knights convinced the Patriots to go for two, and Bradbury easily completed the try to vault WHS back into a 1-point lead.
PHS produced the go-ahead score when Rosenberger ran the flea-flicker to perfection, connecting with Jaxson Lewis on a 28-yard TD.
“We feel like our offseason work can give us an advantage, because of our conditioning,” Tennant said. “And we decided that we could trust the line and especially Townsend (who finished with 190 yards on 19 carries), who was so elusive and tough to tackle. And with this win, which we’ve been calling the first step, we know that if we can get to 5-5, we’re in the playoffs for sure, and we might even get in at 4-6. So this was real big for us.”
Preston hosts University at 7 p.m. next Friday.
