Oct 18, 2014 4 min read

They will be selling “Border War” T-shirts at Washington High School leading up to next weekend’s football showdown at rival McGuffey.

They probably could have increased the price after Friday night’s results.

Washington assured itself of at least a share of the Interstate Conference championship by ho-humming its way past Southmoreland, 41-7, on Senior Night at Wash High Stadium.

The Prexies (7-0, 8-0) will play for an outright conference title and its second undefeated regular season in three years against McGuffey. The Highlanders, meanwhile, will be trying to gain a share of the conference title after their big win over Waynesburg.

The games don’t get much bigger in Washington County during the final week of the regular season than the one in Claysville, and Wash High coach Mike Bosnic gave a warning for his team following its 34-point victory over Southmoreland.

“We need to get a better effort next week than we got tonight,” said Bosnic, who admitted his team had a letdown against the Scotties.

“I didn’t like our intensity. We’ve played a lot of big, emotional games recently, and the kids were a little flat tonight.”

What Bosnic did like was the running of senior tailback Malik Wells, who had one of the most productive games of his career. How productive? Count along with us:

195 rushing yards.

Three touchdowns.

Only 16 carries.

One quarterback sack and forced fumble.

And one still-woozy Southmoreland defensive back.

Wells scored on runs of 72 and five yards in the first half, and seven yards in the third quarter, while eclipsing 900 rushing yards for the season.

The most impressive TD was the 72-yarder that gave Wash High a 7-0 lead less than five minutes into the game. Wells took a pitch and headed for the right end, broke a tackle and cut back toward the middle of the field. He lowered his shoulder and ran over Southmoreland’s free safety at the 40-yard line, then raced 60 yards to end zone.

“The biggest difference in Malik this year is his running style,” Bosnic said. “In past years, he tried to make the big play on every carry. This year, he hits the holes and puts his shoulder pads down to get the tough yards.”

Southmoreland coach Mark Adams also noticed the change in the 5-9, 175-pound Wells.

“He’s grown up. He’s a hard runner now,” Adams said. “He has that hard-nosed mentality when he runs. He dips inside and outside and follows his blockers.”

Wells went off right tackle for his second touchdown, a five-yarder that gave Wash High a 13-0 lead late in the first quarter. He finally went outside for his third score, going untouched for seven yards to make the score 27-7.

Fullback Jordan West scored on a 25-yard dive play early in the second quarter to give the Prexies a 19-0 lead.

Southmoreland (4-3, 4-4), which is still clinging to playoff hopes, started to get its running game going in the second quarter, but the Scotties had two drives stall in Wash High territory.

On its first possession of the third quarter, Southmoreland drove 70 yards in 14 running plays with Jake Pisula scoring on a four-yard run to cut Wash High’s lead to 19-7. Pisula rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. The Scotties hurt the Prexies with traps and counters.

“There were a lot of things we didn’t do well. We had to too many guys looking in the backfield and not doing what they were supposed to be doing,” Bosnic said.

Southmoreland, however, couldn’t generate a passing attack or match Wash High’s quick-strike ability. Scotties quarterback Jaden Datz was sacked six times in the first half, including two each by Nate Swart and Zack Blystone.

Six plays after Southmoreland pulled to within 19-7, Wells scored his third TD. On the first play of Wash High’s next possession, quarterback Jonathan Spina passed to a wide-open DeQuay Isbell for a 64-yard touchdown.

Spina, who was eight of 13 for 110 yards, passed to Swart for a 12-yard score with 1:08 remaining.

“We have to score on long drives, methodically chugging inch by inch. Wash High can be in the end zone in three or four plays,” Adams said. “They can score so quickly. It just kills you.”