KINGWOOD — The Preston High football team needs a little push on offense heading into Thursday’s Buckwheat Bowl against No. 7 Hedgesville.
The Knights (1-4) have been slow to start — and finish — on the offensive end all season, tallying just 227 yards per game. According to head coach Jonathon Tennant, much of that starts up front with the offensive line. That’s where the push comes into play.
“Up front, we need to get a push. We’ve been pushed back the past couple of weeks,” he said. “We’ve been on the sleds all week.”
“We’re trying to get better at driving the ball down the field,” junior lineman Robbie Stinson added.
Tennant attributes the struggles along the Knights’ front five to many different factors, including inexperience, fatigue and lack of practice repetitions.
“We have four new starters out of five offensive linemen, and they’re going both ways. Three of them don’t come off the field,” Tennant said. “We’ve gotten away from fundamentals as the year goes on, like a lot of teams do. We only have 120 minutes of practice a day, so that limits how much we can do. We’re not getting enough reps in practice. They’re not getting enough individual time.”
Tennant is looking at ways to alleviate some of the pressure on the kids playing such old-school, iron-man style football. One solution was to divide the offensive and defensive lines into separate units; this has allowed for more reps in practice and, hopefully come game time, less wear and tear for the Knights in the trenches.
“We’re going to have two completely different personnel units. Now, they’ll get double the reps in practice,” Tennant said. “Now they’ll have time to come off the field, and they can rest and talk to their position coach in the game and make adjustments. I think that’ll be a big help down the road.”
Stinson said the new approach to line play at Preston made a noticeable difference after just a few practice sessions.
“It’s already improved our grit. We’re having constant battles, and we should be a lot fresher coming on the field,” he said. “It will help us be able to move the ball and stop the other team’s strategies like never before.”
The lack productivity certainly needs a quick fix, as it has resulted in lopsided time of possession favoring Preston’s opponents heavily thus far.
With the offense on the field so little and few yards being accumulated, the Knights have only managed to score 17 points per game this fall, as opposed to 45 points per game from their opponents.
“I think we just need to focus on the small things and everything will fall into place,” said senior receiver Monty Rebelo, who leads the Knights with eight receptions for 218 yards.
“If everyone wins those small one-on-one battles, we will be in good shape. We’ll get more first down, more points on the board, and have fewer turnovers as long as the focus is there.”
Tennant emphasized that the weapons Preston needs for a loaded offense are already present, provided they can finally develop protection and running lanes inside.
“Offensively, we just need to execute. We have speed and talent in the backfield — we just need a crease,” he said.
The Knights will be put to the toughest test against the Eagles (4-1), which is set for a 1 p.m. kickoff Thursday. Hedgesville enters averaging 46 points and 491 yards per game, which will prove a tall task for the floundering Preston offense to match.
“This could be a game where we earn a lot of respect,” Rebelo said. “The stadium is going to be packed, and we’re playing against one of the top teams in the state. It’s a perfect opportunity.”
