Balanced attack leads Wash High to victory
By Joe Tuscano
For the Observer-Reporter
newsroom@observer-reporter.com
Opposing defensive coordinators have a problem when scheming for Washington High School.
Do you commit to stopping quarterback Tristan Reed or pay more attention to the stable of running backs Wash High seems to have every season?
Turns out, Union didn’t have to choose. Wash High players all did their part in a 35-6 rout of Union in a nonconference game Friday at Wash High Stadium.
The victory moves Wash High to 2-1 while Union fell to 0-3.
Quarterback Tristan Reed broke off two long second-half touchdown runs and running back Trenton Grooms scored twice on runs as the Prexies outscored Union 225-6 in the second half.
“I think we’ve gotten better with it,” Reed said of the plays that produced his touchdowns. “We’ve gotten better at making big plays and doing what we need to do.”
Reed gave a tip of the hat to the blocking of his teammate for the TD runs.
“The first touchdown, I rolled out and saw green grass so I just ran with it,” Reed said. “We had great blocking there. The second touchdown was the same play. Coach told me to just keep it. And we had some great blocks on that one too.”
Reed’s TD runs blew open a first half that saw Washington take a 10-6 lead.
“You try to go with your fundamentals,” said Union head coach Kim Niedbala. “It’s a nonconference game and we came up short. We gave up two long runs. You never know. You have to play four strong quarters and we played a half a quarter.”
Union opened the scoring with a nine-play, 64-yard drive, all of it coming on the ground. Quarterback Maddox Thompson ran the ball seven of those times, the final one for a 7-yard touchdown. The extra-point attempt failed and Union led 6-0.
Washington came back on its next possession and took a 7-6 lead over Union when running back Jahvon Woods ripped off an 11-yard run for a touchdown. Tyler Crawford’s extra point was good and the Prexies held a one-point lead.
Union coughed up the football near the end of the half. Thompson completed a short pass to the flat to Gianni Million, who lost the handle on the ball, and Woods picked it out of the air and returned it to the 19.
Crawford hit a 29-yard field goal as the half ended with Wash High leading Union, 10-6.
Thompson rushed for 84 yards on 15 carries in the half.
Washington quarterback Tristan Reed completed 6 of 11 passes for 56 yards in the half. He also had two sure touchdown passes dropped.
Play was stopped twice in the second quarter, once when a problem occurred with the play clock and the second when a linesman was run over along the sidelines.
A bank of lights in one of the end zones went out and efforts were made to get them working again. Play was not affected.
Washington opens Century Conference action next week against Waynesburg.