Prex, Mohney share honor
Leaders, major scoring threats, record-breakers, WPIAL co-Players of the Year and All-State honorees — Butler's Landon Mohney and Seneca Valley's Nathan Prex had a lot in common during the 2021 high school soccer season and one more title can be added to that list.
Both forwards have been named Butler Eagle Boys Soccer co-Players of the Year after superb senior campaigns.
Mohney, a four-year starter, scored 36 goals and added 11 assists and ended his scholastic career as the Golden Tornado's all-time scoring leader with 69 markers.Prex topped SV's single-season scoring standard by scoring 37 times and also added 11 assists, helping the Raiders win a second straight WPIAL championship and reach the state title game in back-to-back years.Prior to this year, Mohney was a dangerous scoring threat, but also spent a good amount of time focusing on playing defense in the midfield. This season, finding the net was his main objective.“As he was growing up, I put him at multiple positions and he excelled at all of them,” said Troy Mohney, Landon's father as well as his high school and club coach. “If you understand what it takes to play each position, it makes the team better.“He did a lot more than score goals for us. He kept possession and a lot of the other guys looked up to him.”This is the second straight season Landon was named All-State. He was also recently named to the United Soccer Coaches East Region Team.“Those are pretty cool honors,” he said. “I worked harder this year than any other. I had a lot of fun playing with this senior class. I grew up with a lot of them.“My main goal this season was for us to win a WPIAL title and that didn't happen, but we were pretty decent all four years.”Aside from his physical skills, Landon also provided the Golden Tornado with valuable intangibles.“He's a very intelligent player and always gave everything he had,” Troy Mohney said.
Prex was one of the top reserves on last year's team, scoring seven goals and adding five assists to help SV win its first-ever state title in soccer. With 10 starters graduating from that squad, he knew he'd have more opportunities to score as a senior.“I didn't know how many goals I would score, but I had four goals in two games against Baldwin and Norwin at the start of the season,” he said. “That's when I knew I could have a pretty big year.”But Prex's impact on this year's 21-1-1 season began long before he scored any goals.“We played in the state title game (in 2020) on a Saturday and the following Monday, I got some of the other guys from the team together and we started training and stayed with it through the summer. We had a good time pushing each other.”Breaking a single-season scoring record for a program as strong as Seneca Valley requires not just a talented, but also a truly special player.Prex proved this season that he fit the bill.“He sees the game so well,” said SV coach George Williams. “He can pop the ball to a spot before you even realize it's there. He's a strong leader on and off the field.”Mohney and Prex both faced man-marking, double- and triple-teams this season.“It was nice getting that respect from other teams, but it became a pain sometimes,” Landon said.During his junior and senior seasons, Prex was part of a Seneca Valley team that went a combined 38-2-2, won two district titles, one state title and made another appearance in the PIAA championship game. The Raiders fell just short of back-to-back state crowns, falling to Conestoga, 1-0, last month.“Getting to play in Hershey again is something I'll always remember,” Prex said. “Win or lose, it's an amazing atmosphere.”
