Hall of Fame
Preston Peterson was a part of many “firsts” for the Bethune-Cookman football program.
A native of nearby New Smyrna Beach, he was an original Wildcat, playing on the first team formed in 1923 after the merger of the Cookman Institute and Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune’s Daytona Normal school.
He played in the program’s first game, a 56-6 loss to Lincoln HS of Gainesville, and made history when he intercepted a late pass and returned it 58 yards for the first touchdown in school history.
The following year, Peterson was a part of the school’s first championship season as the Wildcats won the Florida Interscholastic Athletic Association state title.
Peterson matriculated to Fisk University, but returned to the area first as a coach at Campbell High School, then at Bethune-Cookman in in 1940. His 1942 Wildcats won the Southeastern Athletic Conference championship.
He retired and moved to Jacksonville, where he died in 1995.
