PHILLIPI—The Preston Knights entered Week 11 of the 2024 high school football season ranked 18th in the WVSSAC Class AAA football playoff rankings. They needed a win and maybe some help elsewhere to sneak into the playoffs.
Mark Deep and his squad hit the road to visit No. 5 Class AA Philip Barbour (7-3) in a must-win situation but fell short 49-28.
The Knights fought back to tie the game in the first half after falling behind 14-0, but Deep says his team came out a little flat in the second half, allowing the Colts to run away with the contest.
Preston ends the season 3-7.
“It was back and forth in the first half after they jumped out to a quick lead, and we came back and tied it,” Deep said. “They scored with about a minute left before halftime, and we had a nice drive from our own 30 to their one but couldn’t punch it in with about three seconds to go. We had an offside call that moved us back, and stuff like that all game. I thought we gave ourselves opportunities and played hard, but we didn’t capitalize when needed.”
Deep says part of his team’s growth has been trying to maintain the consistency week by week that’s needed to win games at a high level.
“We’ve played playoff football for the last three weeks,” he said. “We didn’t play our best game last night for one reason or another, but that’s football. No one is perfect; no one will be on every single night. But I think we are building towards that and have a great foundation for what that’s supposed to look like. It starts with our seniors.”
The Knights will say farewell to an impactful group of 10 seniors who, Deep says, helped pave the way for the program’s future.
“We have a foundation now to move us forward, and we owe it to these seniors,” he said. “I appreciate all the efforts from the coaches and players this year and every year they’ve been here. It’s cliche, but the foundation is there, so now we start building it brick by brick. Those guys have left it all out on the field every game, every year. I think we also have some guys that are going to put in some great work during the offseason who can come back and make a huge impact for us next year.”
