MT. ORAB — The Blue Lions took advantage of turnovers and big plays on their way to defeating Western Brown 39-20 on Friday, Aug. 25.

Both teams traded turnovers on downs in the opening quarter and the game remained scoreless heading into the second quarter. Early in the second quarter, the Broncos were driving when Blue Lion senior Mason Coffman intercepted a pass and raced 53 yards into the end zone for a touchdown. The two-point attempt was no good, giving Washington a 6-0 lead.

During the very next series for Western Brown, Blue Lion senior Logan Presley made an unbelievable one-handed interception to give the ball back to Washington.

Moments later, junior Rocky Jones broke free for a 47-yard touchdown run. The two-point try was no good again and the Blue Lions enjoyed a 12-0 lead nearing halftime.

Western Brown responded quickly with a touchdown of their own, but the extra point was blocked to keep the score 12-6 which would ultimately be the halftime score.

Washington had the ball with a chance to score late in the half after Rocky Jones took the ball out of a Bronco running back’s hands and pitched it back to Mason Coffman for a big gain, putting the team in scoring position with time for one final play. The Blue Lions were unable to make anything happen on the final play and headed to the locker room up six points.

Western Brown began the third quarter with the ball and their drive ended after a second Mason Coffman interception. The first offensive play for Washington was a huge gain by Jones who took the ball to the Bronco 15-yard line. Two plays later, Blue Lion quarterback Gavin Coffman found senior Gabe Tayese in the corner of the endzone from eight yards out for the touchdown. The two-point attempt was no good making the score 18-6 in favor of Washington.

The Broncos responded rather quickly with a touchdown and converted the two-point try to make it 18-14 in favor of Washington.

On the ensuing kickoff, Jones broke free and returned the kick to the Bronco 36-yard line, putting the Blue Lions in business. The drive would come up empty just a few plays later as Washington fumbled the ball after getting into the red zone.

Luckily the Blue Lion defense forced a stop after just three plays to get the ball back to the offense. The Coffman-to-Coffman connection on a deep pass got the offense inside the five-yard line as time expired in the third quarter.

Jones added a touchdown on a three-yard run moments later, and the extra point by Gavin Coffman gave Washington a 25-14 lead early in the fourth quarter.

The Broncos had a nice return on the kickoff and then a big play had them inside the 15-yard line. Mason Coffman secured the hat trick a few plays later as he intercepted his third Western Brown pass and returned it 98 yards for a touchdown to seemingly put the game out of reach. The extra point by Gavin Coffman was good, making it 32-14 with under eight minutes remaining in the game.

After forcing a Bronco turnover on downs, Washington looked to score again. With just over four minutes to play and an 18-point lead, the Blue Lions dug into their bag of tricks and ran a wide receiver reverse to Mason Coffman who scampered 18 yards into the endzone for his third touchdown of the evening. The extra point was good to make it 39-14.

Western Brown added a late touchdown to make it 39-20 after the two-point attempt was no good. Washington got the ball with around a minute remaining and ran a few plays to run out the clock and secure the victory.

Unnoficially, the Blue Lion defense forced six turnovers (four interceptions, two fumble recoveries) along with several turnovers on downs.

Washington (1-1) will travel to Marion-Franklin next on Friday, Aug. 25 with kickoff set for 7 p.m.

In scores of other games involving Frontier Athletic Conference teams Friday, Hillsboro (1-1) pummeled Goshen, 56-14; McClain improved to 2-0 with a 14-13 win over Northwest and Chillicothe fell to 0-2 with a 21-0 loss at London.

On Saturday, Aug. 26, Ironton defeated Jackson, 35-14. The Tigers are now 2-0 and the Ironmen are 1-1.

Sept. 2 Games

Logan Elm (2-0) at Miami Trace (1-1)

Washington (1-1) at Marion-Franklin (0-2)

McClain (2-0) at Paint Valley (1-1)

Chillicothe (0-2) at Westerville North (2-0)

Hillsboro (1-1) at Portsmouth West (1-1)

Wheelersburg (1-1) at Jackson (1-1)