Aug 24, 2018 4 min read

Washington High School football coach Mike Bosnic was certainly looking for a stern test for his team in the 2018 season opener. So what better way than to fight up in weight class?

Fresh off their Class AA WPIAL title last year, the Prexies welcomed their coach’s alma mater, Laurel Highlands from Class AAAA, Friday night. Although the number of players advantage was with the Mustangs, the Prexies simply shrugged their shoulders and went to work.

The result was a 59-25 win for Washington that demonstrated the Prexies might be even more explosive on offense than last year’s squad that featured the Isaiah Schoonmaker and Nick Welsh.

“It was nice to see some familiar faces on the other side,” Bosnic said in reference to coaching against his high school. “Tonight was a good test for us, for sure.”

Washington’s perennially powerful offense got in gear early and rolled smoothly much of the evening, although the defense did surrender some real estate, they made plays when necessary.

“Well, we did not have a preseason scrimmage coming into this one, so we have quite a few things to clean up,” Bosnic noted. “Our conditioning is not near what it needs to be, but we think it will be in time.”

The Prexies’ ground game was led by quarterback Zack Swartz’s 131 yards in 11 carries. Dylan Asbury toted the ball 12 times for 112 yards.

Swartz added 212 passing yards. His favorite target was Dan Walker, who snagged four passes for 107 yards.

“Zach did a nice job running the offense and finding open receivers,” Bosnic added. “Dan is one of the more explosive guys we have on the perimeter and is a special talent.”

Mustangs quarterback Conner Basinger gave the Prexies fits by rushing for 132 yards and throwing for 113 yards. His option runs in the first half especially created headaches for the Prexies’ defense.

“We had some issues early stopping them,” Bosnic said. “It’s always hard in the first game, especially against a Quad-A program that has some players like they do.”

But the stars of the contest that shone the brightest were Asbury, Swartz, Walker and Zahmere Robinson, whose 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown effectively put the contest out of reach midway through the third quarter. Walker’s acrobatic catch of a two-point pass attempt extended the Prexies’ lead to 39-19.

The return came after Cheikh Dossou’s punishing 12-yard touchdown run that sliced the Washington lead to 31-19 and seemingly breathed life into the Mustangs.

But Prexies simply had too much the rest of the way as Asbury added second-half scoring runs of one, five and 27 yards. Amari Miller closed the scoring for Washington with an eight-yard scoring scamper late in the fourth.

“Dylan also is a special player,” Bosnic said. “The only thing with him is that he tries to get an 80 yard run on every play. We need him to get the first four yards then we worry about what comes after.”

Laurel Highlands stunned the home crowd with a three-play 72 yard drive on the game’s opening possession that climaxed with Basinger’s 60-yard scoring dash just 1:42 into the contest.

Washington responded on their first possession when Robinson took a flip pass and raced 62 yards untouched for the touchdown. Lily Christy knocked home the extra point, knotting the score at seven.

Undaunted, Laurel Highlands moved smart and fast on their next drive. Although they appeared to be stopped near midfield, Dossou took the snap on fourth and 6 and scampered 19 yards for a first down. Four plays later, Basinger found Daniel Izzi in the middle of the end zone from 21 yards out, giving the Mustangs a 13-7 lead midway through the first quarter.

Washington got back into the contest when Robinson took a swing pass from Swartz following the Walker stop and streaked 74 yards for the tying score. Christy’s kick was blocked, leaving the score tied at 13 at the end of the first quarter.

Washington took the lead for the first time when Swartz found Walker streaking down the sideline for a 28-yard TD connection to make it 19-13.

After forcing a punt, Washington took over on its own 11. The Prexies proceeded to go 89 yards for another score. Asbury scampered into the end zone from eight yards to give the Prexies a 25-13 lead late in the half.