Buckhannon-Upshur scores 30-28 win over Preston on final play of the game
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BY MARK SCHRAF
For The Dominion Post
KINGWOOD - At the beginning of every season, every coach in every sport at every level hopes for at least one thing - to be playing meaningful games down the stretch.
For the Preston High football team, its Senior Night and Homecoming on Friday against Buckhannon-Upshur was just about as meaningful as a regular season game could be. A PHS win, and the Knights would make the Class AAAA playoffs. Lose, and they're likely on the outside looking in.
And in a thrilling, offense-dominated see-saw affair, in which practically every play was meaningful, the game came down to the final play.
The Buccaneers drove 43 yards in 54 seconds and scored as time expired on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Brody McDaniels to Jacob Frye to devastate the Knights, 30-28.
After the Knights went three-and-out on their opening drive, B-U (4-5) drove 75 yards on 11 plays - aided by multiple PHS penalties - and scored the opening touchdown on a 4-yard pass from McDaniels to Frye. But Preston (2-7) roared back with the next two scores from senior QB Rowan Cramer. The first, a beautifully executed square-off corner route 22-yard rainbow to fellow senior Kaleb Stone, knotted the score at 7-7, and then Cramer used his legs and power to rip off a 47-yard run to the BU 3, then buck in from there for the go-ahead score. The Buccaneers answered back with another McDaniels to Frye TD connection, this time from the PHS 8. At the end of the eventful, offense-dominated first half, the Knights drove all the way to the B-U 1, but couldn't score, then watched B-U drive all the way to the Preston 9 before time ran out.
The second half featured two long scoring drives, the first from the Knights of 92 yards, capped by Crosby Taft's 22-yard scoring pass from Cramer, answered by B-U's 18-play, 83-yard TD drive to tie the score at 21-all early in the fourth. Jimmie Green's 25-yard field goal gave the Bucs the lead, and then Preston's defense turned in a critical stop after a turnover to give the offense a chance with 4:38 to go, and after converting on a crucial 4th down play at the B-U 37, Cramer powered his way into the end zone from the 2 with 1:02 to play.
But a strong B-U kickoff return from Kadeen Edwards shortened the field, and a series of intermediate passes set the Bucs up at Preston's 5-yard line with six ticks left. McDaniels was pressured out of the pocket to the right, escaped the grasp of rushing linemen twice, then found Frye at the right front pylon for his third score of the game that proved to be the game winner. As he sprinted with the ball toward his sideline in jubilation, most of the Knights remained in the end zone on their knees in disappointment and disbelief after the bitter loss.
"Maybe I should've taken a shot at three points at the end of the first half," lamented PHS head coach Mark Deep, still recovering from the unreal ending. "You never want to be chasing points, and we might still be playing if we make the chip shot there. But they didn't put anything on the board, either. It's easy to second-guess yourself, I guess."
"I thought we were really balanced on offense," he said. "On the late go-ahead score, we went with our bread-and-butter, Rowan on the Q Iso, and he said let's put our two senior linemen together (Max Huggins and Jayden Livengood) and run behind them. Sure, it would've been nice to have maybe taken more time off the clock there, but you can't assume you're going to score whenever you want. Call the best play you can to get into the end zone, and we did that. They just made one more play than we did.
"I told them I was proud of the way they came back," he continued, "and proud of the way they never quit battling. I can't say enough about all our seniors this year - they played with heart all year. And I let them know we cannot and should not let this game define us as a team, or each of us as individuals. We'll learn from this, buckle up, and get ready for Elkins next week."
"But," he smiled, "this one hurts. Hurts us all."
For Deep and his Knights, the next step might be as close as making just one more play.
Preston closes out its season on the road at Elkins next Friday at 7:00 p.m.
BOX SCORE
Buckhannon-Upshur 7 7 0 16-30
Preston 7 7 7 7-28
SCORING SUMMARY
B-U-Jacob Frye 4 pass from Brody McDaniels (Jimmie Green kick)
PHS-Kaleb Stone 22 pass from Rowan Cramer (Brady Taylor kick)
PHS-Cramer 3 run (Taylor kick)
B-U-Frye 8 pass from McDaniels (Green kick)
PHS-Crosby Taft 22 pass from Cramer (Taylor kick)
B-U-Kadeen Edwards 4 run (Green kick)
B-U-Green 25 FG
PHS-Cramer 2 run (Taylor kick)
B-U-Frye 5 pass from McDaniels
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
PASSING: Buckhannon-Upshur-McDaniels 16-42 204 3 TD. Preston-Cramer 12-18-1 214 2 TD.
RUSHING: Buckhannon-Upshur-Edwards 15-123 TD, Alex Wamsley 15-107, McDaniels 1-(-13), Kadyn Baisden 1-0. Preston-Cramer 24-117 2 TD, Bubba Watson 3-10, Kaleb Stone 2-15, Jake Gibson 1-1.
RECEIVING: Buckhannon-Upshur-Frye 11-97 3 TD, Levi Cook 3-53, Baisden 1-53, Edwards 1-1. Preston-Stone 8-121 TD, Taft 2-33 TD, Malik Powell 2-60.