Oct 27, 2012 4 min read

In its history, Washington High School’s football team has been blessed with great running backs, and most conversations about who was the best usually begins with the name Brian Davis. Now, they might want to begin with the name Shai McKenzie. McKenzie put the finishing touches on the greatest rushing season in Prexies history with an 11 carry, 323-yard, six-touchdown performance in Wash High’s 69-6 Interstate Conference victory over Waynesburg. That’s a great season for some backs. McKenzie did that in the first half. McKenzie broke the single-season record of Davis, who rushed for 1,703 yards during the 1983 season. McKenzie now has 1,895 yards rushing in nine games. “It’s an honor,” said Mc-Kenzie, a junior. “We have had some great backs come through here and to even be mentioned with them is an honor. When I started the season, I didn’t have my eye on breaking any records. I just wanted to keep getting better and help us win games.” The win gave Wash High (8-0, 9-0) an undefeated regular season record for the first time since 2001 and continued a hot streak in which they have won 20 of their past 23 games. The Prexies are expected to be eight a No. 2 or 3 seed in the Class AA playoffs. “This team is special,” said Washington head coach Mike Bosnic. “They should be very proud of what they accomplished. An undefeated regular season isn’t easy to do, but hopefully we aren’t done yet. We still have some work to do.” This one wasn’t in doubt for long as McKenzie took the football on the Prexies’ first play from scrimmage and went 80 yards for a touchdown. Waynesburg (1-7, 1-8) followed that with a methodical, 16-play drive that featured 14 runs. But Josh Wise intercepted Raiders’ quarterback Colby Collins and returned it for a 96-yard touchdown to give the Prexies a 14-0 lead. “It’s been like that all season,” said Waynesburg head coach Russ Moore. “We do some things well, and then we do some things to blow it up. We will get better, though.” McKenzie reeled off touchdown runs on five consecutive drives, scoring from five, 54, 59, two and 52 yards. “The offensive line played great, and I’m always looking to break a big run,” said Mc-Kenzie. “I got a lot of opportunities.” Tempers flared on Mc-Kenzie’s sixth touchdown run of the half as both benches emptied, but calmer heads finally prevailed. “They were some extra-curricular things going on after the play on both sides,” said Bosnic. “We just made sure to get our kids out of there before something more happened.” Waynesburg got on the board on the last play of the first half, scoring on a 20-yard pass from Bo Hampson to Colby Collins to make it 47-6. The 47 points the Prexies scored were impressive enough. Considering they ran only 13 offensive plays – 11 of them were McKenzie runs – and didn’t attempt a pass, it was even more impressive. The Wash High defense struck again on the opening drive of the second half when DeQuay Isabell picked off a pass and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown. “Our defense has played well all season,” said Bosnic. “They might not get much recognition but they tackle well, and we have some guys that can make big plays.” The Prexies added another touchdown in the third quarter on a 10-yard run from Daron Whitaker and added a fourth quarter 17-yard touchdown run from Kahari Dates. However, the story of the night was McKenzie’s record-setting performance. “He is so talented,” said Bosnic. “He’s a Division I-type of back who is still in high school. He’s got the complete package of speed and size, and he works extremely hard to be great. I couldn’t be happier for him.” With the win, Wash High assures themselves of a home playoff game next week. They won’t know their opponent until Monday night when the WPIAL announces the pairings, but Bosnic and company has their eyes set on a bigger goal, no matter who they open up with. “I just told them to be proud of what they accomplished tonight, but our second season starts next week and they should want to finish that one the same way they finished this one,” Bosnic said. For Waynesburg, it was a rough season, but one Moore thinks his team could learn from. “I told them to look at the scoreboard and remember 69-6,” said Moore. “Hopefully, we use that as motivation to get in the weight room and try to make ourselves a better football team. We have some talent, but we have to push ourselves to make us better next season.”