Football Recap: Slaton Manko Leads a Balanced Attack to Beat East Fairmont + How To Watch

After having lost a blowout in their previous game against Robert C. Byrd, Preston was happy to have turned things around on Friday. They strolled past the East Fairmont Bees with points to spare, taking the game 49-31. That's more bragging rights for the Knights, who also won the pair's last head-to-head.

Slaton Manko

Passer Rating (Career)

09/26/25 @ East Fairmont	153.3
09/26/24 vs East Fairmont	144.7
11/01/24 vs Buckhannon-Upshur	139.8
09/20/24 @ Robert C. Byrd	126.7
08/30/24 vs Hampshire	105.1

Preston's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Slaton Manko, who threw for 382 yards and five TDs while completing 71.4% of his passes, and also rushed for 68 yards and one touchdown. The dominant performance also gave Manko a new career-high in passer rating (153.3). Another receiver making a difference was Aidan Schmidl, who picked up 249 receiving yards and three scores.

Preston didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Kaleb Stone and Ryder Kilkenny.

Preston's first win this season bumped their record up to 1-4. As for East Fairmont, they are on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 1-4.

Looking ahead, Preston will square off against Woodrow Wilson at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. As for East Fairmont, they will challenge Robert C. Byrd at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The Bees will be up against the Eagles' rather soft defense (which has allowed 37.4 points per contest), so fans could be in store for a big offensive performance.