Washington wins at McGuffey 13-7

Tagged under: District 7, Game Photos, Gameday Hub, News

David Burnworth | October 28, 2023

Friday night I made the drive from Worthington, Ohio to Claysville to watch McGuffey host rival Washington. This was the first time I have got to see this matchup along with my first time seeing Washington play.

Washington wasted no time in taking a 7-0 when Tristian Reed found Zxavian Willis for the 72-yard touchdown with Bodie Cumer making good on his point-after kick with 10:12 left on the first quarter clock. The drive went for 80 yards taking just three plays.

McGuffey tried to convert a fourth down on the ensuing drive but a bad pitch led to Charles Wagers being stuffed behind the line of scrimmage resulting in a turnover on downs. Washington would not be able to do much on their next drive due to Reed being tackled behind the line of scrimmage by Evan Brookman and Dylan Droboj. The final big play of the opening quarter came on a Connor Crowe to Malachi Ealy pass for 19 yards on third and nineteen.

With 11:28 remaining in the half McGuffey converted a third and seventeen when Crowe broke a tackle cut back across the field to pick up the first down. The 16-play, 69-yard drive came to a close with Crowe pounding the ball into the end zone aided by some nasty work from his offensive line, After Dylan Stewart nailed his point after kick we had a 7-7 game with 4:47 left in the half.

Eddie Lewis was hit for a 4-yard loss by Brookman and Aiden O’Dell but the Prexies offense came right back with Reed hitting Elijah Thomas for 20 yards at the 4:08 mark of the quarter. After Lewis was taken down by Reid Teagarden for a short loss Reed and the offense converted a fourth and goal from the nine with a 9-yard touchdown catch by Thomas. The point-after kick was blocked by Teagarden to keep this a 13-7 game with 0;52 seconds left in the half.

Twenty seconds into the third quarter Crowe used his feet to pick up 23 yards but the drive came to a screeching halt when Crowe threw a pick to Willis. Washington would do little on their next drive largely due to Reed taking a 11-yard sack from Reno Presto. The Highlanders would get a 12-yard gut run by Wagers who used the magnificent work from his line to pick up the yards. With forty-two seconds left in the quarter, the Highlanders faced a fourth and goal from the five and they elected to go for it, with the result being just a one-yard run by Wagers as the Washington defense seemed to know another gut run was coming. The quarter had one more big defensive play left and that came with Reed being taken down by Droboj and O’Dell.

McGuffey would try to score on a 52-yard field goal that had 60-plus distance but was wide left in the final frame. Other big plays in the quarter were Crowe being thrown down for a short loss by Josh McKinney and Elijah Swan. Then we had a 12-yard completion by Reed to Treshawn Porter, and the same combo connected again for a 16-yard gain. McGuffey was driving the ball and it looked like they were headed for the go-ahead score but a reception was negated when the receiver went out of bounds and came back in to make what would have been a nice catch but ended with a 15-yard illegal touching penalty called. The Highlanders defense gave its offense one final chance but the Washington defense held tough to force a turnover on downs to preserve the big road win.

My Stats

Washington

37 plays

177 yards

Passing, 10-18 2 TDs

McGuffey

64 plays

211 yards

Passing 2-11 1 Int

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews