TriStateFootball.com
Home / Cincinnati / Wyoming escapes Mount Healthy with win

Wyoming escapes Mount Healthy with win

MOUNT HEALTHY, Ohio – On a night where the high powered Wyoming offense seemed to be stuck in neutral thanks to a stout Mount Healthy defense, it was the Cowboys kicker that walked it off for the 10-7 win.

Wyoming was driving in the late moments of the game with the score tied 7-7. With the ball on the 15-yard line, instead of asking all-everything quarterback Evan Prater to make one more play, head coach Aaron Hancock turned to A.J. Washienko. 

The senior kicker setup with just four seconds remaining in the game attempting to make his first ever varsity field goal. He calmly booted the 32-yard attempt between the uprights as time expired for Wyoming’s 18th consecutive victory dating back to last year’s undefeated season. 

It was Friday the 13th and there was a full noon so it was destined that the events of the evening would be out of the ordinary. That would included Wyoming’s offense to be mistake prone and ineffective for much of the game.

The Cowboys offense was held to just 187 total yards and turned the ball over three times. Prater, who announced earlier in the week that he would be playing in the Army All-American All-Star game, went just 4-for-13 passing for 37 yards. However, he did gain 121 yards win the running game on 26 carries.

Mount Healthy dominated the time of possession thanks to a patient running attack led by quarterback Brandon Lainer. Lainer was a workhorse for the Owls carrying the ball 30 times and gaining 111 yards.

Prater struggled in the passing game thanks to a relentless Mount Healthy pass rush. The Owls sacked Prater twice and intercepted him three times.

Prater did not complete his first pass until just before halftime with a six-yard touchdown pass to Elijah McGee for the game’s first score.

Wyoming got the ball first to begin the second half with a 7-0 lead but could not take advantage of the good fortune. Prater was picked off by Trey Cornist on his own 22-yard line giving the Owls great field possession.

Lanier, the leading rusher in the Southwest Ohio Conference, engineered a seven-play drive for Mount Healthy. He capped it off by crossing the goal line for a five-yard touchdown run tying the score 7-7 halfway through the third quarter.

Mount Healthy put together another drive in an attempt to take the lead. An incomplete pass on fourth down turned it over on downs to Wyoming on its own 28-yard line with 2:29 left in the game.

Prater calmly marched the Cowboys down the field. He completed a 20-yard pass to Pagan on the seventh play of the drive giving Washienko the opportunity to be the hero and escape with the victory.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Wyoming 0-7-0-3 – 10

Mount Healthy 0-0-7-0 – 7

SCORING PLAYS

W – Evan Prater 6-yard TD pass to Elijah McGee (AJ Washienko kick)

MH – Brandon Lainer 5-yard TD run (#99 kick)

W – A.J. Washienko 32-yard field goal

RECORDS: Wyoming (3-0); Mount Healthy (1-2)

UP NEXT: Wyoming @ Reading (CHL); Mount Healthy vs. Little Miami (SWOC) 

You must be logged in to post a comment Login