Oct 19, 2018 4 min read

The offenses for the Wash High Little Prexies and Southmoreland Scotties had to feel confident heading into Friday night’s Interstate Conference matchup.

Both offenses kept the scoreboard operator busy a week ago as each scored more points than most high school basketball teams, 70, in their respective wins.

Wash High came back to beat Beth-Center 70-36, scoring 40 points in the fourth quarter, and Southmoreland routed Shenango, 72-28.

The scoreboard operator was very busy again Friday night at Wash High.

Last week, the Prexies used a 40-point fourth quarter to turn a deficit into a big lead. This week, they used a 30-point third quarter to cruise to a 58-35 victory over Southmoreland.

The win sets up a showdown against McGuffey next week with the winner gaining a home playoff game.

“We have a lot to clean up in all facets,” Wash High head coach Mike Bosnic said. “We have to improve in all areas. We must have a great week of practice and play with more emotion. We can’t make the mistakes we are making.”

One thingWash High (5-1,8-1) has had to do more often than recent Prexies teams is play from behind.

After the comeback win against Beth-Center, the Prexies showed no panic when they trailed for the first half or when they lost leading rusher Dylan Asbury.

“I thought we kept our composure,” said Bosnic. “We made a lot of mistakes early, but we cleaned things up in the second half and made some adjustments and played better. It’s not our first time in that position where we are trailing. The kids did a good job of staying composed and executing in the second half.”

Trailing 20-14 heading into the second half, the Prexies score four touchdowns to put the game away.

Fullback Isaiah Edwards scored on the Prexies opening drive of the half from six yards out to tie the game at 20. On Wash High’s next drive, Tayshawn Levy took a pitch eight yards for a touchdown to give the Prexies their first lead of the game at 28-26.

Wash High lost Asbury early in the first quarter with an apparent knee injury and Edwards and Levy picked up the slack. Edwards finished with 85 yards on 10 carries with a pair of touchdowns. He also ran in three two-point conversions. Levy gained 131 yards on nine carries with three touchdowns.

“We have guys who are capable in Levy and Dan Ethridge,” Bosnic said. “They did a nice job tonight. Edwards is turning into a nice fullback. The offensive line was great, too. They were getting great push.”

Edwards and Levy were so effective that it turned into an old school Wash High football game as the quarterback lined up under center and handed the ball off a lot. The Prexies did not attempt a pass in the third quarter.

“They were having a hard time stopping us on the ground and we were able to exploit that,” said Bosnic.

After a sluggish start, the Prexies defense made an impact in the third quarter when Casimuir Johnson returned an interception 54 yards for a score.

Wash High put the finishing touches on the big quarter when Levy broke loose for a 23-yard touchdown run to make it, 42-29.

Southmoreland (2-5, 4-5) didn’t go away, but at the end of the day, Wash High had too much firepower for the Scotties.

Wash High quarterback Zach Swartz got into the action in the fourth quarter when he hit Zahmere Robinson with a 25-yard scoring pass. Swartz went 7 of 12 for 109 yards and a touchdown.

Levy capped the scoring with a 36-yard touchdown run.

Southmoreland got on the board first with a five-play, 83-yard scoring drive that saw Ronnie Robinson score from six yards out.

All five plays on the drive were on the ground as Robinson and fullback Colt Harper chewed up the Wash High defense to make it a 7-0 game.

Robinson finished with 174 yards on 28 carriers, and Harper added 88 on 10.

After the Asbury injury, Ethridge got the call to replace Asbury and fumbled on the very next play. Southmoreland’s Zach Cernuto recovered to set the Scotties up at the Prexies’ 15-yard line.

Four plays later Cernuto hit Harper with a six-yard touchdown pass to give the Scotties a 14-0 first-quarter lead.

The Prexies answered with an 11-play scoring drive when Ethridge punched it in from nine yards to make it a 14-6 game.

Cernuto completed 15 of 36 pass attempts for 192 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.

“We were flat and sloppy early,” Bosnic said. “We won’t be able to get away with that next week.”