Aug 17, 2025 By Jerin Steele 4 min read

Sometimes short-term pain can lead to long-term gain.

Wash High experienced some of the former last year.

Injuries piled up, especially on the offensive line, and the Prexies ended up with a fifth-place finish in the Class 2A Century Conference, a 5-6 record and a first-round playoff exit.

Plenty of young players learned on the fly and now that they’re fully healthy again they’re aiming to return to the Class 3A elite after being a WPIAL semifinalist in 2023.

“We dealt with a lot of injuries,” Washington coach Mike Bosnic said. “We didn’t have two of our best offensive linemen all year. Joe (Wilson) got hurt in the first game and Jayden (Nemeth) was hurt most of the year. With those injuries we were inexperienced. There were a lot of times last year we looked out on the field and five or six freshmen were playing.”

Bosnic said that nine starters return on both offense and defense. Some are two-way starters.

Having Wilson and Nemeth healthy is a big boost for Wash High.

Wilson went down with a knee injury in the season opener against McGuffey, but is back to full strength.

He was all smiles while taking part in day two of heat acclimatization Aug. 6.

“It feels good to be back,” Wilson said. “It was tough being out last year, but now that I’m healthy I want to make my senior season count.”

Like Wilson, Nemeth is happy to be back. He isn’t taking anything for granted when it comes to getting to play football this year. The two are good friends and happy to be back together on the offensive line.

“I’m looking forward to having a good season this year. After last year I need a good one,” Nemeth said.

Wilson is a right guard and Nemeth is the left tackle. Both of them play in the defensive tackle as well.

They join a lineman unit that includes Oscar Fregoso-Morgan, Nyjah Dudley, Jamarion Fitzgerald and Eric Everett.

Someone who’s extremely happy to see all the linemen back on the field is Prexies quarterback Tristan Reed.

Reed, a senior, is a dual-threat quarterback that can do damage with his legs and having the big guys up front paving the way makes him even more dangerous.

“It’s definitely great to have my guys back blocking for me this year,” Reed said. There’s a lot of team chemistry with those guys. They’re familiar with the offense, defense, everything. I think it’ll be better for us in the trenches and that sets up the skill players for success.”

Reed is a Miami (Ohio) commit. He’ll make the transition to wide receiver in college. There may be some packages where Reed lines up as a wide receiver this year, but Bosnic said that’ll depend on the development of the two other quarterbacks, Noah Patton and Travon Moore.

“(Reed) ran the ball a lot the last couple years and he’s gotten better as a quarterback,” Bosnic said. “We’d love to be able to line him up at receiver sometimes, because with his size he can create some mismatches.”

Reed is open to whatever the coaches have in store for him.

“I feel like with my athletic ability I can play anywhere on the field,” Reed said. “I’m fine with moving around wherever Coach Bosnic needs me. That’s what I want to do as a leader of this team. Wherever and whenever he needs me I’m ready to be there to make a play.”

Reed has plenty of weapons at the skill positions.

Cayden Cook, Caleb Patton, Trenton Grooms, Tyler Crawford, Isaiah Watson and Jahvon Woods are some of the returning skill players with experience.

“Last year was a little awkward with everyone moving around to different positions, but it’s nice to have everyone back to where they are supposed to be,” Reed said. “It’s definitely great to be able to connect with those guys out wide and having them on my team as athletes that can make plays.”

Wash High is again in the Century Conference with Seton LaSalle, Keystone Oaks, Waynesburg, Charleroi Sto-Rox and Carlynton.

Reed has set the goals for the team high and feels they have the right ingredients for a special season.

“We’re going to bring back the winning culture to Wash High and hope to keep it going for many years after this,” Reed said. “We want to bring back a championship and not just a WPIAL, but we’re aiming for a state championship too. A lot of guys want it bad on this team.”