Nov 11, 2022 3 min read

NEW CASTLE – It was a game better suited to fog than football.

The fog from the rain produced by Hurricane Nicole didn’t stop and neither did Neshannock’s offense as the Lancers pulled out a 30-27 victory Friday night in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class 2A at Neshannock High School.

The 12th-seeded Prexies got here by eliminating No. 5 Serra Catholic, 49-21, in the first round of the playoffs. The fourth-seeded Lancers cruised to a 48-6 decision over Burrell.

Neshannock will face Steel Valley in the semifnals next week at a site and time to be determined.

There was enough room for complaint over the officiating but Washington head coach Mike Bosnic and Neshannock head Fred Mozzocio chose to take the high road.

“No, we didn’t get any favors from the officials.” Bosnic said. “The mistakes we made cost us the game. There were just too many mistakes.”

“I thought there were calls both ways,” said Mozzocio. “There were things that happened both ways. I thought they made calls on both sides of the football.”

Defensive mistakes gave Neshannock’s Jackson Billyk a 44-yard touchdown run with 9:19 to play and a 23-13 lead over the Prexies.

A fourth-down gamble by Washington failed and gave Neshannock a first-and-10 at the Prexies’ 24-yard-line. From there, Matthew Ioanilla would score his third touchdown of the game, this time from three yards out to give the Lancers a 30-13 lead.

“We didn’t quit,” Bosmic said. “We scratched and clawed. There were just too many self-inflicted wounds.”

Quarterback Devoun Fuse scored on a 12-yard run but the extra-point attempt was no good, leaving the score 30-19 in Neshannock’s favor.

Wash High’s defense held and the Prexies got the ball back with a little over four minutes remaining to play. That’s when, following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that drove the Wash High assistant coaches mad, Fuse completed his only pass of the game, an 89-yard bomb to Ruben Gordon, then Fuse ran for the two-point conversion to cut Neshannock’s lead to three points.

But quarterback Jonny Huff broke through the middle of the defense for a 46-yard gain. That pushed his rushing total to 126 yards on 18 carries and allowed the Lancers to run out the clock.

“Give (Washington) credit,” Mozzocio said. “They got the ball back a couple of time (in the fourth quarter) and scored.”

Neshannock took a 16-7 lead at halftime, taking advantage of Washington mistakes.

The Lancers took advantage of a Fuse interception by Ryan Huff, who returned it to the Wash High 20. Six plays later, Matt Ioanilla scored the first of two touchdowns on a two-yard run.

A facemask penalty on Wash High during Neshannock’s next possession helped set up another touchdown. Ioanilla again went over from the two to make it 14-0.

Washington cut the lead in half after Neshannock lost a fumble at its own 37. Six plays later, Eddie Lewis brought it over from the two to make it 14-7.

Washington held Neshannock on its next possession and Carter Devito punted the ball down to the Washington two-yard line. Fuse dropped back to pass and was pressured by the Neshanock defense. Fuse threw the ball at the feet of his lineman for an intentional grounding penalty and a safety.

Fuse threw four times in the first half with two incompletions and two interceptions.