Nov 8, 2014 5 min read

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Entering Friday night’s WPIAL Class AA quarterfinal game against Apollo-Ridge, the talk surrounding Wash High was the play of five new starters on the offensive line.

Senior quarterback Jonathan Spina has not been sacked this season and the running game has been close to unstoppable. It was more of the same against the Vikings.

Justin Blussick, Keirs Gloady, Zack Blystone, Thomas Cherry and Khalid Blount controlled the line of scrimmage. They were a major part of the offense’s 551 total yards, which included 439 rushing yards.

That group allowed senior running back Malik Wells to reach the second level of the defense. Wells took care of the rest. He shed tacklers, wove through defenders and was the workhorse for an offense that lost junior fullback Jordan West to a broken left ankle on the first drive of the game.

Wells finished with 202 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Junior Kurt Adkins added 126 yards and two touchdowns.

“That offensive line is massive and dominant,” Apollo-Ridge head coach John Skiba said. “We’re not built for it. We’re not built to stop a team like that.”

Bosnic was also impressed with his guys up front.

“I thought our linemen played great. I thought we played physical and really established ourselves,” Bosnic said. “I thought we not only blocked great in the running game, but when we had to, we blocked really well and protected our quarterback great tonight too.”

That is a fair assessment by Skiba. The Vikings were outweighed up front, but I did think his linemen played a great game, especially juniors Eric Moran and Maurice Stankus. Both players got a great push on the offensive side and created some room for the skill players.

The Prexies’ defense was opportunistic. They stopped Tre Tipton and Duane Brown on the perimeter. Those two have dominated opponents all season, but Wash High’s outside defenders took great angles and kept them from big plays.

In the first half, Apollo-Ridge’s field position on its six first-half drives was the 50-yard line, Wash High’s 49, the Prexies’ 10-yard line, the Vikings’ 40-yard line, Wash High’s 45 and the Prexies’ 40-yard line. That’s just one drive where they started in their own end and Wash High held them to just 14 points.

From what I have seen of Wash High this season, Adkins and Spina played their best games defensively. They tackled well and did well in pass coverage. Apollo-Ridge has done its most damage this season when it can pass the football. Junior tight end Nate Swart had three big catches for the Prexies. He finished with 70 yards, including the incredible touchdown to finish the second quarter.

Although the Vikings regularly lined up three receivers to the outside against just two Wash High defensive backs, the pass rush forced Tipton and Brown into mistakes. The defensive backs also made several nice plays on the football.

“I thought our guys tackled well, we got to the football and I thought we hit tonight too,” Bosnic said. “I don’t think we made them quit, but we definitely slowed them down.”

Not only was the running game gaining chunks of yards, but Spina continued to play extremely well. Isbell beat Tipton in man coverage late in the second quarter and Spina made a perfect throw to connect with him for a 39-yard touchdown.

Like Spina’s second touchdown pass to junior Swart as time expired in the first half, an Apollo-Ridge defender went for the interception, but misplayed the ball. On Isbell’s touchdown, it was Tipton.

“They are very good. I think Malik Wells is a hell of a running back, the quarterback runs the show very well and DeQuay is a very good player,” Skiba said. “He beat Tre, turned him around out of position and we misplayed the ball.”

Isbell continued his strong play and is reinforcing why he is a Division I-caliber player. When college coaches see the film from this game, offers will start coming. I doubt many players beat Tipton like that this season.

Like the Prexies’ previous games, it was a total team effort. There are so many athletes to account for. I was curious to see how the team would respond when West went down, but Kenya Davis stepped in nicely on offense and Adkins is tough to stop with his speed and vision.

Next up is No. 2 Aliquippa (11-0). Led by a plethora of Division I talent, the Quips have not had a close game all season. The lowest margin of victory was 34 points, which came against Laurel in Week 2.

It is a rematch of the 2012 WPIAL Class AA title game, which Aliquippa won, 34-7.

“It’s a great team. We’re one win away,” Spina said. “We just have to go out and do it.”