Hounds routed by Prexies in Brown’s coaching debut
By Adam Brewer
MVI Sports
Monessen and Washington entered their Week Zero matchup as two of the most storied football programs in WPIAL history, combining for 1,383 wins.
But the teams couldn’t be more different to start the 2021 season. Washington is a perennial contender in its conference and one of the top teams in Class 2A. Monessen is coming off a winless season, has a new coach and only dressed 19 players Friday night.
The Greyhounds trimmed the deficit to 14 points midway through the second quarter, but couldn’t keep up with the Little Prexies the remainder of the game, falling 42-7 to open up the season at Canon-Mac stadium.
“We knew this was going to be a challenge tonight,” Monessen coach Wade Brown said. “Our guys didn’t quit and Wash High is a quality program with a great coaching staff. We take a lot of positives out of tonight, but we know we have to fix some things. This is a new program, and you can’t look to build it overnight. It’s going to take time.”
After Washington failed to score on its opening drive after a fourth-down tackle by Monessen’s Jamar Bethea, the Greyhounds (0-1) started the game with a three-and-out and punted the ball back to the home team.
Two plays later, the Little Prexies (1-0) cracked the scoreboard when Tayshawn Levy raced for a 37-yard touchdown.
Monessen committed its first of four turnovers on its second drive, as Washington converted the short field into a 4-yard quarterback keeper by Davoun Fuse to make it 13-0.
Fuse sparked the Prexies again on the last play of the first quarter with a 41-yard punt return to paydirt. A two-point run by Levy made it 21-0 at the end of one.
“I was happy to get this game in and I thought our defense really took over the game,” Washington coach Mike Bosnic said. “It was important to get that early lead, but of course we are not happy with the finished product. We have a lot of work to be done, but it feels good to be 1-0.”
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