Washington rolls past Steel Valley to win WPIAL Class 2A championship

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, November 25, 2017 | 8:54 PM

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Washington’s Isaiah Schoonmaker might measure a half-inch too short or maybe a half-second too slow in the eyes of some critics, his coach figured.

If so, it surely didn’t show Saturday.

“Out here on the football field, he’s just as big as anybody and just as fast as anybody,” said coach Mike Bosnic, after No. 2 seed Washington celebrated a 37-10 victory over No. 1 Steel Valley in the WPIAL Class 2A championship at Robert Morris.

This was Washington’s seventh WPIAL title, its first since 2001, and a championship Schoonmaker had dreamed about since he watched the Prexies finish as runners-up in 2012.

“I’ve been thinking about this since I was little,” said Schoonmaker, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound Miami of Ohio linebacker recruit, who made a crucial goal-line tackle in the first quarter Saturday, blocked a punt that was returned for a touchdown in the third, ran 68 yards for a touchdown later in the third and caught a 4-yard touchdown in the fourth.

“He was terrific tonight,” Bosnic said. “Offensively, he made some big plays for us tonight, busted the game open. Defensively, he was just a stud.”

Schoonmaker also led Washington (13-0) with 91⁄2 tackles and completed a two-point conversion pass.

“Schoon is a freak of nature,” said running back Nick Welsh, who also scored twice. “He works hard for what he’s got. He deserves every little bit of it.”

Welsh and Schoonmaker are part of a senior class that lost in the semifinals last season. The Prexies reached the quarterfinals in 2015 and the semifinals in 2014.

“This is a whole ‘nother level of excitement for me because I’ve been here three years in a row and got stopped,” Schoonmaker said. “This year we won. I’m so excited.”

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Washington (13-0) will face District 10 champion Wilmington in the state semifinals at a site and time to be determined.

The loss was the first in two seasons for No. 1 Steel Valley (11-1), the WPIAL and PIAA champion last season. The Ironmen had a 26-game winning streak that covered two seasons, but they lost one of their top two-way talents, senior Trevon Adams, to a badly broken arm 6 minutes into the first quarter.

Without Adams, Steel Valley’s second possession stalled at the 1-yard line when Schoonmaker made a third-down tackle and Daniel Walker pulled down Amonte Strothers on fourth.

“When you lose a kid like Adams, you take a big element out of the game,” Steel Valley coach Rod Steele said. “At this level, you just can’t lose players like that. I’m not saying that was the reason, but we were limited in what we could do and what we could call at that point.”

Tied 10-10 at halftime, Washington surged ahead in the third when Schoonmaker blocked a punt and Walker returned it 40 yards for a touchdown. Less than 3 minutes later, Schoonmaker broke free for a 68-yard touchdown run to lead 24-10.

Washington didn’t have a first down in the first quarter and reached halftime with just 57 yards rushing. But the Prexies relied on their big-play abilities.

Curtis Garner had 109 yards on two carries, and Schoonmaker had 65 yards on three. Welsh rushed for 104 yards on 13 carries with touchdown runs of 10 and 30 yards.

“The big plays definitely helped,” Schoonmaker said. “When we put in our different stuff, I don’t think they were ready for all the different things we had in our playbook.”

As a team, the Prexies rushed for 339 yards.

“We added a lot of stuff,” Schoonmaker said, “and we still have stuff we haven’t brought out yet.”

After a scoreless first quarter, the teams combined for 20 points in the second. Welsh’s 10-yard touchdown run gave Washington a 7-0 lead in the second quarter. Strothers tied it 7-7 with a 70-yard touchdown run on a fake punt.

Steel Valley’s Brady Miller made a 20-yard field goal and Lilly Christy made a 27-yarder for a 10-10 halftime tie.

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Tags: Steel Valley, Washington