Prexies hand Waynesburg second loss in a row
Waynesburg Central’s Jacob Stephenson brings down Washington’s Treyshawn Porter during the fourth quarter of Friday night’s game in Waynesburg. (Photo by Mark Marietta)
Mark Marietta
Washington running back Eddie Lewis (7) tries to break out of the grasp of Waynesburg Central’s Ross Tennant (26) on a first-quarter run Friday night at Bill George Stadium.
Mark Marietta
Washington running back Eddie Lewis gives the Prexies good field position with a late second-quarter run before being pushed out of bounds by Waynesburg Central’s Breydon Woods.
WAYNESBURG – It’s been a tough two weeks for the Waynesburg Central football team.
The Raiders began the season undefeated but ran into problems last week at McGuffey.
On Friday evening, Washington came to town and distributed a second straight loss to the Raiders, 48-14, in Class 2A Century Conference action.
Washington is 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the conference. Waynesburg falls to 1-2 in the conference and 4-2 overall.
Washington built a 28-7 halftime lead and invoked the Mercy Rule in the third quarter after a 7-yard touchdown pass by Tristan Reed to Zxavian Willis and a 7-yard touchdown run by Eddie Lewis.
“There were a couple things I was happy about tonight,” said Washington head coach Mike Bosnic. “We played really physical. We did some really good things up front and we didn’t make many mistakes. That’s real important for us. If we take care of the ball, we can compete with anyone.”
Bosnic will not get caught looking ahead.
“Next week, we have Sto-Rox,” he said. “That’s it. One at a time.”
It’s been a formula that has worked well this season.
“We’ll forget about this one,” Bosnic said, “then get ready for Sto.”
Lewis finished the game with 172 rushing yards.
“We know the ability he has,” said Bosnic. “I feel he gets started a little bit slow but he keeps getting better every week.”
“That was the plan for this game,” Lewis said of his running. “We did our job. We just have to do the same thing next week. I think they need my running to win games.”
Waynesburg went 0-10 last season but head coach Aaron Giorgi said there will be no going back.
“It’s been a rough two weeks,” Giorgi said. “Our spirits aren’t broken. We knew that those two games were going to be tough on our schedule. We have to regroup. We have a nice stretch coming up where we can get back into the section race.”
Giorgi said the whole game was difficult.
“We didn’t execute well on offense,” he said. “Our defense is making too many mistakes. These young men have shown a lot of resolve over the past couple years, especially coming back from that 0-10 season. I trust that these seniors will get the team back on the right track.”
Washington took control of the ballgame with a powerful performance in the first half, scoring on four of its six possessions.
The Prexies scored on their first possession, marching 79 yards on seven plays, The big play was the first pass completion by Reed to Ruben Gordon that covered 44 yards. Two plays later, Lewis burst over from 19 yards to make it 6-0.
The extra-point kick failed.
Wash High’s second possession turned into a touchdown for Waynesburg. Reed got picked off at the Waynesburg 10 by linebacker Colby Pauley and he returned it to the one. Quarterback Jacob Stephenson scored on a sneak to give Waynesburg a 7-6 lead as Dalton Taylor’s extra-point attempt was good.
Gordon and Reed connected again on the next possession for a 24-yard touchdown. Lewis made a 22-yard run in the four-play drive. The run for the two-point conversion failed.
Following a Waynesburg punt, Washington needed five plays before Lewis scored again, going over from seven yards to make it 20-7.
Jahvon Woods finished the scoring in the half with a four-yard touchdown run. Gordon caught the pass for the two-point conversion to make it 28-7.
Waynesburg had four first downs, two of them by penalty.
Lewis rushed for 138 yards in the half. Reed completed three passes for 72 yards.
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George Gilbert, the umpire for last night’s game, officiated his 1,000th game of his career. … Waynesburg travels to Brentwood next week while Washington will entertain Sto-Rox.