Sep 16, 2016 3 min read

SOUTH PARK – Washington High School’s offense set the bar the highest it could go a week ago by scoring on its first play from scrimmage.

On Friday against South Park, points didn’t come quite that quickly, but they came often.

The Prexies’ offense struggled to establish a rhythm either passing or running early int he game, going three-and-out after receiving the opening kickoff and then failing to convert on fourth down on the next drive.

Points had to come from elsewhere, so they did.

A dynamic special-teams play swung momentum to the Prexies a third of the way through the first quarter and sent them on the way to a 34-7 non-conference win.

South Park coach Marty Rieck said his team was very happy with how they played in the beginning of the game, but after Washington (2-0, 3-0) forced the Eagles (1-1, 1-2) into the first of their many three-and outs, Washington blocked the punt, the ball rolling back towards the goal line. Washington’s Andre Jennings scooped up the loose ball before continuing the short distance into the end zone for the game’s first score.

“It gave us a boost,” Washington coach Mike Bosnic said. “We’ve been making plays on special teams all year.”

Though both teams’ attacks continued to stop and start without much progress for the next quarter, that initial lead and offense afterward helped the Prexies go up 21-0 by halftime.

At the break, the teams had combined for only 231 yards of offense.

“Right now, we’re not very consistent offensively. ,” Bosnic said. ” We make some good plays. We do a lot of good things Then we have moments in the game where we have breakdowns.”

Washington managed to work around its difficulties extending drives by turning South Park over twice and generally creating short fields that its offense capitalized on.

Running back Lyle Webb scored from two yards to cap a drive that began at the South Park 31-yard line after Jackson interval fell on a fumbled handoff to give his team possession. Webb scored his second rushing touchdown, this one from six yards, less than a minute into the third quarter after Chance Hightower brought in a tipped pass for an interception at the South Park 25.

“There weren’t many times where we were in good positions. It was always short situations,” Rieck said. “You can only sustain that for so long until they’re going to score.”

South Park did not find a solution to its offensive woes. Beyond failing to score in the first half, the Eagles never really threatened until they ended the shutout bid in the fourth quarter on a 25-yard pass from Jordan Kmonk to Devin Turner.

In one telling sequence, South Park failed to salvage points after driving past midfield with less than a minute to go in the first half. Also failing, crucially it turned out, to kill any opportunity for the guests to score. Washington took over on downs and instead of running out the clock, senior quarterback Connor Bedillion found Isaiah Robinson streaking down the right sideline for a 38-yard play.

“We knew that the particular route would be there,” Bosnic said.

A few snaps after, Bedillion stayed upright and escaped a defender’s wrapup attempt, scrambling to the 11. After Washington killed the clock, Bedillion located Robinson in the middle of the end zone as time expired for a touchdown.

“Our kids didn’t quit,” Rieck said. “It got to a point where their physicality, it wore us down a little bit,especially inside.”