Sep 26, 2013 4 min read

JEANNETTE – If Mike Bosnic ever decides to give up his head coaching job, then he might want to try prognosticating. His prediction on what would be the winning formula in Thursday night’s game between Washington, the team he coaches, and Jeannette, the team he wanted to beat, was spot on.

Bosnic said the game would be decided by the play of the line, not the countless talented skilled players on both sides of the filed, and he was right.

Washington’s line mauled Jeannette’s defensive front and the Prexies’ stable of running backs ran over the Jawhawks.

The result was a surprisingly easy 48-14 rout of the Jayhawks at McKee Stadium in Jeannette.

The win keeps Wash High atop the WPIAL CLass AA Interstate Conference with a 5-0 record. Jeannette fell to 4-1.

“We talked about it all week, about coming off the ball,” said Bosnic. “We wanted to be physical. Our kids stepped up.”

Jordon West scored three first-half touchdowns and nearly had a fourth in the second half. West rushed for 114 yards on 12 carries.

Chase Caldwell tossed a touchdown off a reverse, Arthur Long bulled over for a score, and Malik Wells ran hard all game and had it pay off with a touchdown in the third quarter that made it 34-7.

“Not only did they come in here and kick our butts, we helped them a lot,” said Jeannette head coach Roy Hall. “We just couldn’t stop them.”

West scored on runs of 26, 10 and 26 yards on the best night of his scholastic career.

“It was easy to run against them,” West said. “Our line just did a great job. They dominated.”

West and the rest of the Prexies’ running backs know they have to continue to perform because Shai McKenzie is lost for the season with a torn knee ligament. McKenzie was on the sideline for the game, wearing a leg brace and getting around on crutches.

“This is the second week we were without Shai,” said West. “The first week, we were nervous. The second week, I wasn’t. When they call on me, I know I have to come through for them.”

Long had 40 yards on seven carries, Wells had 59 on 11 and Caldwell added 52 on 11. Kurt Adkins scored the final TD on a 15-yard run and finished with 64 yards on three carries.

“We still have a long way to go,” Bosnic said. “And we still have to make a lot of improvements. Every week is going to be a big one.”

Wash High built a 28-7 lead by riddling the Jeannette secondary, and catching them unaware with quick hitters from Wise.

Wise scored two touchdowns on what looked like identical inside handoffs. He took the first one and scampered 21 yards to give the Prexies a 7-0 lead 4:10 into the game. The second one came seven minutes late and covered 20 yards to give the Prexies a 14-0 lead.

Jeannette, which didn’t have a first down until the last play of the first quarter, cut the Washington lead in half three minutes into the second quarter when Michael Wise caught a 10-yard pass from Julian Batts.

Just as quickly, Wash High scored on its next offensive play, when Chase Caldwell took a handoff around right end, stopped and found a wide open Quorteze Levy for a 55-yard touchdown pass that gave the Prexies a 21-7 lead. It was a similar play Wash High scored on Yough last week.

Washington made it a three-touchdown lead when West scored his third TD on a straight dive off the left side and went untouched into the end zone with 1:10 to go.

Nothing exemplified the frustration of Jeannette than a play in the second quarter. The snap from center went over Batts’ head and rolled back, was kicked farther back by Caldwell and recovered by Jeannette for a 58-yard loss. Batts picked it up and could have tossed it out of bounds for an incompletion but held onto the ball and was tackled.