KINGWOOD — Preston High got off to a fast start Friday night, and celebrated its Senior Night by dominating Buckhannon-Upshur in all phases on its way to a satisfyingly 47-7 victory at Knights Stadium.
Under the command of impressive junior quarterback Slaton Manko, the PHS offense started hot, quickly rolling out on a 10-play, 63-yard drive that culminated with Manko’s 8-yard off-tackle touchdown run. After Preston’s defense forced a near-instantaneous three-and-out from BU (0-10), the Knights (3-6) turned in several chunk plays on a 73-yard scoring drive capped by Manko’s pretty rainbow pass to Aiden Schmidle down the sideline just inside the pylon from the 30-yard line.
Down two scores, the Buccaneers responded nicely with a 13-play, 44-yard grinding drive, with quarterback Dawson Tenney powering in from the 2-yard line, but it was the only offense for Buckhannon on this night.
Preston fullback Ethan Likens pulled in a perfectly designed, perfectly executed screen pass and rumbled down the right sideline for a 34-yard score. Then it was Preston’s special team’s turn to shine, as senior Cole Turner blocked a punt, and fellow senior Shelden Miller scooped it up and ran it in from the 22 to stretch the Knights’ advantage to 27-7 at the break.
Hoping to get back into the game to start the second half, the Buccaneers instead served up an interception by PHS junior safety Easton Hayes, and the Knights offense picked up right where they left off, drilling through the B-U defense on an efficient 10-play drive that covered 76 yards and ate up most of the third quarter clock. Manko tossed another TD pass, this one to Selyden Greaser on a 9-yard corner route along the back line, boosting the lead to 34-7.
After coming up with a goal-line stop, the Knights came away with an impressive 97-yard scoring drive, punctuated by a mirror image TD pass from Manko to Schmidle from the 33-yard line. Preston’s final score came after Turner blocked his second punt of the game, and moments later Likens zoomed in from the 10 to punctuate the scoring and start the Preston celebration.
Afterwards, PHS head coach Mark Deep admitted that he really couldn’t have asked for a more complete performance from his group and pointed to their focus after a tough loss to powerful Bridgeport a few weeks ago.
“It started after that game,” he explained. “We knew we had a chance to finish the season strong, and although we came up just a little short last week at University (a narrow 42-35 defeat), everyone kept working hard and stayed upbeat. We knew that we were putting ourselves in position to win.
“Senior Night is really emotional, isn’t it?” he continued. “Well, I thought we brought that emotion and energy onto the field very effectively tonight. We wanted to set the tone early, play a complete four quarters of football, and finish strong. I think we’ve established a bit of an identity as a team, especially on offense, and that’s exactly what you hope to create and continue to build in your program. We have one more chance next week to get better and grow, but we are so proud and happy for our seniors (Kaden Hayes, Cole Turner, Likens, Miller, Jeremiah Calhoun, Smith, Greaser, Kaden Bachtel, Hunter Turner, Dylan Haskiell, and Sam Klimas) to go out winners in their last home game – just a great night for Preston football.”
Manko finished with 258 yards passing and four touchdowns. He also had 89 yards rushing and another TD. Schmidle added 115 yards receiving and two scores on five receptions.
The Knights close out their season at Philip Barbour next week.
