No. 1 Washington gets 6 interceptions in rout of Southmoreland

By: Jason Black
Friday, October 18, 2019 | 10:10 PM

The Southmoreland football team couldn’t have asked for a better start to Friday’s home finale against high-powered Washington.

However, it wasn’t enough to overcome a six-pack of interceptions in a 44-16 loss to the top-ranked Prexies.

Washington (9-0, 6-0) will play at McGuffey for the Century Conference title next week. Following a season-opening five-game win streak, the Scotties have dropped four in a row. But coach Dave Keefer certainly wasn’t disappointed with his playoff-bound team’s effort.

“We played hard, and I thought we were more physical than them,” Keefer said. “That’s the hardest we’ve played all year, but against the No. 1-ranked team in the WPIAL, you can’t turn the ball over that many times.”

The Scotties (5-4, 4-3) played an inspired first quarter. A strong defensive effort by Southmoreland, coupled with some costly Washington penalties combined to keep the Prexies pinned back.

Southmoreland stopped Washington’s opening drive, then followed with their own drive, which culminated in a 22-yard field goal from Andrew Rodriguez.

Southmoreland increased its lead as Brandon Peterson recovered a Washington fumble, and the Scotties turned the turnover into a touchdown as Anthony Govern hauled in a 14-yard pass from Zach Cernuto to give the home team a 9-0 advantage early in the second quarter.

But Washington responded.

The Prexies bounced back with a nice drive that ended with a Zachary Swartz 1-yard touchdown run. Then the Prexies took the lead thanks to a pair of Southmoreland turnovers.

Caleb Jackson picked off a Cernuto pass before hauling in a 42-yard touchdown strike from Swartz. Then with Southmoreland driving deep in Washington territory, Zahmere Robinson came up with an interception. And on the next play, Robinson went deep for an 84-yard touchdown pass from Swartz, giving Washington a 19-9 lead at the half.

“When they scored right before the half, I thought that was a big turning point,” Keefer said.

Robinson was just getting started.

On Southmoreland’s opening drive of the second half, Robinson picked off a pass and returned it untouched 70 yards for another Washington score.

The Scotties came right back with a long drive that ended with Colt Harper scoring on a 1-yard plunge, helping to pull Southhmoreland to within 25-16 late in the third.

But another interception by Robinson helped set up a Washington score as Robinson took a pitch and scored on a 39-yard run to make it 31-16 heading to the fourth.

In the fourth, Washington salted it away with two more scores off Southmoreland turnovers. Swartz scored on a 47-yard interception return. Then Shaliek Cox scored on a 1-yard run following a Southmoreland fumble.

“Our defense made some big plays,” Washington coach Mike Bosnic said. “We made some plays, but we have to be better. We’ll work to be more focused and clean up our mistakes.”

Cernuto threw for 214 yards and a score for Southmoreland. Peterson was the top receiver for the Scotties, finishing with six catches for 119 yards. Harper notched 122 yards rushing.

Swartz rushed for 102 yards and threw for 148 for the Prexies.

The Scotties will close the regular season with a nonconference game at Greensburg Central Catholic before making their first appearance in the WPIAL playoffs since 1979.

Tags: Southmoreland, Washington