Playmakers shine for Prexies in win over South Allegheny
Call it what you will.
Speed and power.
Thunder and lightning.
Well … maybe not that considering the weather lately, but regardless, Wash High has a variety of weapons.
A punishing runner in Trenton Grooms. Speed demons Ameer Nelson and JaQuay Heyman. And an all-purpose back in Jamarie Walker that has a little bit of both.
Add in quarterback Travon Moye to distribute the ball around and it was a recipe for success.
Each one of them made multiple plays to help the Prexies 55-20 in a nonconference football game at Wash High Stadium Friday night.
Grooms and Walker had two touchdowns apiece and Heyman and Nelson scored once. Moye threw three touchdown passes.
“I felt good about what we did,” Wash High coach Mike Bosnic said. “We were pretty diversified. We did a lot of different things and got a lot of different guys involved. We ran power, we ran sweeps and reverses. We did a lot of good things and still there’s a lot we can work on.”
The Prexies beat South Allegheny, 31-7, in the WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinals last season and they made sure the Gladiators didn’t get any revenge Friday night.
Wash High outscored South Allegheny, 25-6, in the second quarter to take a 32-12 lead into the locker room.
Grooms caught a screen pass from Moye and rumbled his way into the end zone from 23-yards out to give Washington a 14-6 lead early in the second quarter.
Following a South Allegheny punt, the Prexies got right back to work on offense.
They marched right down the field, capping an eight-play, 54-yard drive with a Walker touchdown run from five yards out.
On South Allegheny’s next possession, Ameer Nelson picked off an Alijah Cook pass giving the Prexies the ball at their own 15.
Walker broke a run from Washington’s own 22 down to the South Allegheny 22, which set up a Moye touchdown pass to Nelson on the next play.
That gave Washington a 26-6 lead.
South Allegheny stopped the bleeding momentarily when Cook connected with Derrick Pace for a 26-yard touchdown, but Wash High got another one on the board just before halftime.
Moye threw a dart to a wide open Heyman for a 30-yard score with 11 seconds remaining before the break.
“Travon has been improving every week,” Bosnic said. “That’s what he needs to do. Just keep getting better every week.”
Washington led 7-6 at the end of the first quarter.
The Prexies got the ultra rare benefit of a running into the kicker penalty on a punt on South Allegheny’s first possession.
Instead of taking a punt down to the Washington 30, South Allegheny decided to accept the penalty and go for it on a fourth and short near midfield.
Miscommunication on a pass attempt led to an incompletion and a turnover on downs.
Washington took over at the South Allegheny 49 and immediately went down the field. Heyman had a 16-yard run and then caught a 32-yard pass from Moye that set up first and goal at the one.
Grooms plunged across the goal line from there to give Washington a 7-0 lead.
South Allegheny looked like it would respond right away, getting down to the Washington 6 yard line in four plays, but a fumble by Marcel Boxley was recovered by Grooms, ending the threat.
The Gladiators did get on the board on their next drive on a bizarre play.
Following a short Washington punt that set up South Allegheny at the Prexies 37, Cook threw a completion to Malakai Myers, who fumbled the ball while running, but it went right into the hands of his teammate Chance Cole.
Cole took the ball the rest of the way 14 yards for a touchdown.
South Allegheny got a little closer after a successful first drive of the second half ended with a 1-yard plunge into the end zone by Cook.
The Gladiators successfully converted a two-point attempt to cut the lead to 32-20 with 8:23 remaining in the third quarter.
Heyman snuffed out any thoughts of a comeback, however, when he busted through the Gladiators defense for a 65-yard touchdown run with 5:45 remaining in the third quarter. Walker ran in a two-point try and the lead went to 40-20.
Washington had a one-play drive on its next possession with Walker scoring on a 45-yard run.
Alex Naraskivitch added another touchdown on a 40-yard run with 36 seconds remaining.
South Allegheny 6 6 8 0 – 20
Washington 7 25 15 8 – 55
W: Trenton Grooms 1-yard run, Noah Patton kick; 6:38 1st
SA: Chance Cole 14-yard run, pass failed; 1:04 1st
W: Grooms 23-yard pass from Travon Moye, Patton kick; 10:41 2nd
W: Jamarie Walker 5-yard run, kick failed; 5:36 2nd
W: Ameer Nelson 22-yard pass from Moye, pass failed; 3:26 2nd
SA: Derrick Pace 26-yard pass from Alijah Cook, run failed; 2:28 2nd
W: JaQuay Heyman 30-yard pass from Moye, pass failed; :11 2nd
SA: Cook 1-yard run, Pace pass from Cook; 8:23 3rd
W: JaQuay Heyman 65-yard run, Walker run, 5:45 3rd
W: Walker 45-yard run, Patton kick, 5:13 3rd
W: Alex Naraskivitch 40-yard run, two-point successful, :36 4th