Sports@DominionPost.com
BUCKHANNON — Preston High and Woodrow Wilson met on neutral ground at Buckhannon-Upshur high school, both winless through the first few weeks knowing only one would stop their skid.
That win would go to the Flying Eagles (1-3) who edged Preston (0-5), 21-12 .
Junior quarterback Maddex McMillen was huge for Woodrow Wilson early in the game, throwing for two touchdowns in the first half. McMillen racked up 189 yards in the first half before the Flying Eagles came out in the second to put up one more score.
Despite the loss, Preston’s defense was keyed in, forcing six turnovers — three fumbles and three interceptions. They recovered all of the fumbles.
“We prepared well. a lot of focus [and] enthusiasm,” PHS coach Jonathan Tennant said. “We did get better but we’re not good enough right now. Offensively, we’ve got to execute better. When you force six turnovers you should be winning the football game.”
There were flashes of good things on offense for Preston despite not being able to convert turnovers into points. Zachary Riffle, typically a receiver, stepped into the pocket and threw a long ball that made it to the 2-yard line. That pass helped energize the Knights. Still, due to a lack of consistency in the run game the Knights were unable to tap into that energy for long.
“He’s our emergency quarterback, and he did an OK job,” Tennant said. “We’ve got to be able to run the ball when our starting quarterback is out. Somebody’s got to pick up the load. We were running it at times, but at [other] times we weren’t consistent — we’d get a penalty, bad snap, that just slowed down our offense.”
Preston returns to action Oct. 9 with a game against Bridgeport Senior. Currently, there is no word whether that game, which is scheduled for home, will be played in Kingwood due to the condition of the bleachers. A final determination is expected in the coming days.
TWEET @dompostsports
