Preston nearly pulls off upset of No. 1-ranked Robert C. Byrd, 35-28
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CLARKSBURG -- In an unexpected turn of events, the undefeated Robert C. Byrd Eagles partook in a dogfight against the winless Class A Preston Knights.
After a scoreless Eagles' first half saw the Knights go up by double digits on two 30-plus-yard scores, the Eagles hunkered down and scored every time they had the ball in the second half. Whether on special teams or long offensive drives, RCB answered with 21-point third and 14-point fourth quarters.
A last-gasp, game-tying drive from Preston stalled at their own 1-yard line, and RCB (4-0) secured a narrow 35-28 victory to stay unbeaten on the season.
Isaiah Heflin and Junior Smith each had multi-touchdown performances to spearhead a double-digit rally, and the Eagles' defense forced a four-and-out to shut down a Knights (0-4) game-tying drive.
Despite outscoring the opposition 35-14 in the second half, Eagles' head coach Austin Scott wasn't very impressed by his team's performance.
"I don't think we did anything right," Scott said. "We got some good players, and when they touch the ball, good things can happen, but offense, upfront, receivers, quarterback, running back, I don't think anyone did anything good, but we just have good players, and they made things happen.”
Preston started the game off with a lengthy 16-play drive that featured four first downs but yielded zero points after a fumble at the goal line on fourth-and-goal resulted in a turnover on downs. RCB went three-and-out on its first possession and watched its defense give up a 34-yard touchdown pass from Rowman Cramer to Kaleb Stone on 3rd-and-23 to go down 7-0.
The Eagles needed all four downs and the final seconds of the first quarter to get their first first down of the night on a 15-yard run by Heflin. Seven plays later, Heflin threw one of his two interceptions of the night at the 8-yard line on fourth down, squandering a promising drive.
Preston's third offensive possession saw them pick up three first downs before converting a third-and-11, which resulted in a 38-yard touchdown run by Zaden Peddicord that pushed the lead to 14-0 in the second quarter. RCB's response was a four-play drive that featured one first down and an interception at the one-yard line by Preston's Jake Gibson that stalled another potential scoring drive.
After both sides ended their first halves with scoreless possessions, RCB came out and scored two consecutive touchdowns. Smith took the opening kickoff 77 yards for a score to put the Eagles on the board, and Heflin recovered an RCB running back's fumble before returning it 64 yards for a score of his own to tie the game at 14.
After starting the second half with a special teams mishap, an offensive three-and-out and a forced fumble that the opposing offense recovered and scored on, Preston locked back in. He put together a 10-play drive littered with runs from Cramer, Peddicord, and Bubba Watson. Cramer punched it in for a 1-yard touchdown run to put the Knights up 21-14.
RCB and Preston traded scores near the end of the third and early in the fourth. Heflin responded with a 7-yard run while Cramer found Kaleb Stone for a 30-yard touchdown pass that put Preston back up 28-21.
After RCB responded with a 9-yard touchdown run by Junior Smith, Preston's offense started to unravel. Cramer's fourth-quarter pass was picked off by Eagles' Corbin Scheuvront. RCB responded with an eight-play drive, starting with Heflin converting a 4th-and-10 to Smith for 34 yards to get the drive going.
"It wasn't the right read; we didn't have good protection, but again 5 and 1 make things happen," Scott said about the fourth-down conversion from his two stars.
Two plays later, Heflin punched it in from 12 yards out to take a 35-28 lead that stood after Preston went four-and-out.
Despite the loss, Preston head coach Mark Deep felt like his team met the moment against RCB, including the second half when the Eagles scored touchdowns every time they touched the ball on offense (and once on special teams).
"Kids came and fought, and we're going to fight for four quarters," Deep said. 'I don't care who it is. We matched it (the Eagles' scoring); they just got the stop.
We couldn't get the stop on that 4th down pass play. They just came down with the ball. We'll learn from it and move on."
RCB embarks on its biggest test of the season when it heads to Bridgeport to play the Indians next week. Preston heads back home looking for its first win as it welcomes East Fairmont to town next Friday.