Never gets old: Wash High unbeaten again after topping B-C
FREDERICKTOWN – The “uh-oh” moments for the Washington High School football team have been few and far between throughout its regular-season winning streak that spans four seasons.
One of those moments came on the last play of the first quarter Friday night, when Beth-Center quarterback Bailey Lincoski faked a screen pass and ran up the middle for a 62-yard touchdown to put the Bulldogs up 12-7.
“I wasn’t very happy,” Washington head coach Mike Bosnic admitted. “I knew we would overtake the game, though. You have to keep your cool and just keep playing.”
The Prexies regrouped in a hurry, scoring 28 second-quarter points, including interception and punt returns for touchdowns as they extended their regular-season winning streak to 38 games with a 49-20 victory in the Century Conference finale.
It is the fourth consecutive regular season that Washington (7-0, 9-0) has gone undefeated.
After blocking a rare 25-yard field goal attempt by Beth-Center, Washington scored 21 points in the final three minutes before halftime.
Prexies sophomore quarterback Zack Swartz found running back Nick Welsh behind the Beth-Center defense for an 80-yard touchdown pass to give Wash High a 21-12 lead with 2:42 left in the half.
Things went from bad to worse for the Bulldogs less thn a minute later, when a pass was thrown beyond the extended arm of J.J. Green and instead found the waiting hands of Washington’s Ronnie Paith, who returned it for a 22-yard touchdown.
The late onslaught culminated when sophomore Zahmere Robinson returned a Beth-Center (4-3, 7-3) punt 54 yards down the sideline for a touchdown to give the Prexies a 35-12 lead with only 34 seconds remaining in the first half.
“When we were down nine points we should have just ran the ball and taken it into halftime,” Beth-Center head coach Joe Kuhns admitted. “I think the pick-six was what lit the fuse for (Washington). It got the pep back in their step. I could see a change in the game right there and that is 150 percent on me not being patient.”
The three late first-half touchdowns erased a good start for the Bulldogs, who had 174 yards of offense in the first quarter.
“We saw a couple of holes when other teams would use motion and (Washington) didn’t always pay attention,” Kuhns said. “We knew we might find some early, and then they would end up fixing it.”
Any problems the Prexies had offensively disappeared on the first play from scrimmage in the second half when Welsh went 69 yards for a touchdown. The only player in close was 6-3, 260-pound offensive lineman Myckel Brown, who nearly beat the speedy running back in a foot race to the end zone.
Washington outscored Beth-Center 42-8 over the second and third quarters.
“They can go the distance at any time,” Kuhns said. “If you make a mistake they are going to take advantage of it. You have to play mistake-free football to beat a team like that. We showed for 22 minutes that we could go toe-to-toe. We are going into the playoffs not afraid of anybody in the bracket.”
Washington padded its lead when Welsh finished his four-touchdown night – three rushing and one receiving – with an eight-yard score to make it 49-12 midway through the third quarter.
Welsh finished with 201 yards on 10 carries.
Lincoski had 19 carries for 131 yards and two touchdowns.
“It never gets old,” Bosnic said about Washington’s streak.
“Thirty-eight in a row and four undefeated seasons has been a great run. Hopefully this year we can take the next step. This group of seniors, and this team as a whole, seem hungry to keep it going.”