Buckingham County High School’s varsity football team made impressive progress this year in its quest to return to its glory days, and Friday night’s Region 2C playoff game simply showed the Knights the next obstacle to overcome in that journey.

After returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2015, Buckingham, holding the region’s seventh seed, struggled against host No. 2 Glenvar High School, which had been the top team in the region for most of the year, and the Highlanders defeated the Knights 41-0 in the first round of the playoffs.

“They’re just a fundamentally sound, disciplined team, and they beat us up front on both sides of the ball, offensive line and defensive line,” Buckingham Head Coach Seth Wilkerson said. “We just couldn’t get much of a push and couldn’t get much going.”

He noted the Highlanders featured probably the best offensive line he has seen since viewing defending Virginia High School League Class 2 state champion Appomattox County High School.

Glenvar also proved impressive on defense, halting Buckingham’s own remarkable run game.

“That all-state defensive lineman, they put him at nose,” Wilkerson said, referring to senior Maxx Philpott. “They’ve got another defensive tackle, he’s about 350 (pounds) that moves pretty well.”

Wilkerson, in his first year as head coach, said he thought his players adapted well to the change in leadership.

The Knights finished the 2018 season with an overall winning record of 6-5, successfully achieving their goal of returning to the postseason.

“We’re losing four seniors, and we’re looking to build for next year and get these guys in the weight room and improve on that record,” Wilkerson said. “That’s the main thing I told them after the game.”