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KO gets physical, stops Wash High

4 min read
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DORMONT – Washington’s trip north to venerable Dormont Memorial Stadium held some promise for the Prexies as they sought to gain the driver’s seat for second place in the Class 2A Century Conference.

Unfortunately the host Golden Eagles did not cooperate and pounded their way to a 35-21 win over the Prexies. Keystone Oaks (4-1, 7-2) now holds the cards for second place in the conference while Washington (3-2, 6-3) faces McGuffey next week at Wash High Stadium.

Shawn Reick was the bell cow for the Eagles, rushing 28 times for 203 yards. Four of those carries netted touchdowns. He added two receptions for 34 yards and one score.

Washington’s Zach Welsh rushed for 85 yards on 10 carries. One of those carries found the end zone.

“We felt coming in that we had the better of the matchup between our offensive line and their defensive line,” Keystone Oaks coach Steve McCormick noted. “We knew we could do some damage running the ball at them. Credit to Shawn too, he ran hard tonight.”

Reick’s four-yard touchdown run capped a 60-yard drive to start the second half and gave the Eagles a 28-14 lead early in the third.

The Prexies showed some moxie when Logan Carlisle (nine completions in 16 attempts for 138 yards) zipped a 55-yard touchdown pass too Zxavian Willis, pulling the Prexies to within 28-21 less than a minute following Reick’s score.

Washington then forced a punt on the Eagles’ next possession, setting the stage for a potential drive that would tie the game. But the Eagles’ defense rose up and stopped Welsh short on fourth-and-two from the Keystone Oaks 47 when Anthony Stribling busted through and stuffed the play.

Quarterback Nick Buckley’s one-yard sneak pushed the score to 35-21, where it would stay but not before the Prexies made one final push.

Washington drove to the Keystone Oaks 35 on the next possession. Davoun Fuse’s pass was intercepted by DiMajio Locante, who returned it into Washington real estate before he was stripped by Willis, who recovered the ball and gave it back to the Prexies.

The Prexies then proceeded to march to the Eagles’ 9 before Fuse was sacked for a 17-yard loss by a host of Eagles defenders. On fourth down from the 13, Carlisle came on to try and keep the game alive, but he was sacked by Ben Hrivnak with a little more than two minutes remaining.

“We didn’t play our best game and we made a lot of mistakes, but I was proud of them, they played hard tonight,” Washington coach Mike Bosnic noted. “But the good news, we can play a lot better. Right now, I don’t think people are expecting a lot out of us, which may be a good thing.”

Bosnic said the play in the trenches was a huge factor.

“They did a good job up front and beat us physically tonight. On top of that, we made a lot of mistakes,” he added.

The first half was filled with big plays, a multitude of turnovers and swings of momentum as the Eagles appeared to grasp firm control only for the Prexies to fight back.

Keystone Oaks scored first when it moved 77 yards in eight plays. Reick capped the drive with a 26-yard rip through the middle of the defense that ended in the end zone, giving the Eagles a 7-0 six minutes into the contest.

The hosts stretched the lead to 14-0 when Reick scampered in from five yards on their next drive. At this point, it appeared Keystone Oaks was simply bullying Washington and doing what it pleased on both sides of the ball.

But the Prexies got up off the mat. A 60-yard drive was punctuated by Carlisle’s four-yard plunge up the middle. The drive was highlighted by Welsh runs of 10 and 17 yards. Carlisle’s score cut the Eagles lead in half early in the second quarter.

Keystone Oaks regained a 14-point lead courtesy of Reick’s third touchdown, this one a 15-yard swing pass from Buckley, pushing the Eagles lead to 21-7.

Undaunted, Washington responded after an exchange of fumbles. Brayce Patterson recovered for the Prexies, giving the visitors new life.

Welsh took advantage of the gift and rumbled in for a 25-yard TD that cut the lead to 21-14 with a little more than a minute remaining in the half.

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