Local Sports, Preston, Sports

Preston will play at No. 1 Martinsburg at 1:30 p.m. Saturday to open playoffs

KINGWOOD, W.Va. — The Preston football team will open the playoffs at No. 1 Martinsburg at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, the WVSSAC announced. The road Knights are able to pick whether the game is played Friday night or Saturday afternoon.

Preston (4-6) finished the year as the 16th and final seed in the WVSSAC playoff ratings. The Knights lost 26-12 at Brooke last Friday, putting their playoff chances in peril, but were able to hang on to clinch a spot for the first time since 2008.

PHS won three of its final four games against Washington, University and Buckhannon-Upshur after starting the season 1-5, and it knew if it could win three games down the stretch, it would have a chance.

Martinsburg is clearly the top program in Class AAA, winners of 52 games in a row and the last three state championships. The Bulldogs (10-0) are beating teams by an average of 49.8 points per game this season.