Oct 4, 2009 3 min read

REPUBLIC – The Brownsville band played “Splish Spash, I Was Taking A Bath,” and although it wasn’t on a Saturday night, the tune was fitting for the intermittent showers throughout Friday’s home game against Washington. The visiting Prexies put a damper on the Falcons’ Homecoming night by scoring in every quarter on their way to a 31-14 Interstate Conference win.

Washington (3-2, 3-2) scored on its second play from scrimmage when Zach Barnes rambled 68 yards to score and Daron Whitacre added the two-point conversion run for an 8-0 lead.

Brownsville (1-4, 1-4) responded by driving 65 yards to score in five plays. The drive included two of the game’s 20 total penalties, and was capped by quarterback Brandon DeCarlo’s 19-yard keeper that caught the Prexies off guard. The missed conversion kick left Washington with an 8-6 edge.

The teams traded fumbles and endured five more penalties until Washington drove 51 yards in three plays to score with 42 seconds left in the half. Quarterback Marquis Brown capped the drive with a 34-yard scoring pass to Ethan Gordon. Barnes’ two-point run gave the Prexies a 16-6 halftime lead.

Whitacre added a 28-yard touchdown run to cap a three-play drive with 3:33 left in the third quarter and William Powell’s kick increased the lead to 23-6.

Jaylin Kelly’s 10-yard run ended a 53-yard Washington drive early in the fourth quarter. Jordan Ribel passed to Barnes or the conversion, and a 31-6 lead.

DeCarlo led the Falcons on a 56-yard scoring drive with 29 yards on two carries. Zach Patterson scored from six yards out, and then ran for the conversion to set the final score at 31-14.

The game ended with Brownsville driving 27 yards to the Prexies’ 32 yard line as time expired.

Barnes led Brownsville with 110 yards rushing on nine carries, while DeCarlo ran for 70 yards on 10 carries.

Afterwards, Washington coach Mike Bosnic and Brownsville coach Von Braddock agreed that the Prexies’ late first half touchdown was a key turning point.

“Brownsville played tough and gave us a real good game,” Bosnic said. “We definitely wanted to stay on the ground and establish the run with conditions that were wet and slippery.”

Braddock said the Falcons’ youth contributed to some of the Falcons’ problems.

“We’re young and start seven freshmen,” he said.

DeCarlo is one of those freshmen, and Braddock said his quarterback “does a nice job. We played (Washington) tough in the first half.”

He said the mental mistakes of youth hurt the Falcons in the second half.

Friday night, Brownsville has the tough assignment of visiting Interstate Conference leader Mount Pleasant, while Washington will host winless South Allegheny.