For a second straight season, the Washington Demons (6-1 overall; 4-0 Class 3A District 5) starting quarterback stole the homecoming spotlight. As heard on FM 106.1 and KCIIRadio.com, the Demons hosted the Keokuk Chiefs for the school’s annual homecoming game. Washington’s offense scored six first half touchdowns, five courtesy of sophomore Ryan Reighard, as the Demons cruised to a 50-7 victory over the Chiefs.

The game was scoreless for all of 46 seconds as Washington senior Jack Giardino ran the ball eight yards for a touchdown on the second play from scrimmage, securing an early 7-0 lead for the Demons. Washington got on the scoreboard again with 5:55 remaining in the first quarter on Reighard’s first touchdown run, a three yard scamper, extending the lead to 14-0.

The Demons were back on the scoreboard seconds into second quarter on a Reighard one yard run, pushing the Washington lead to 21-0.

Keokuk scored their lone touchdown with 8:15 remaining before halftime on a 53-yard pass from quarterback Damon Wolter to Kolton Marlin, cutting the lead to 21-7.

The rest of the game belonged to Washington. Reighard scored a eight yard touchdown run with 6:15 left in the first half, extending the lead to 28-7. Reighard found the endzone again with 2:45 remaining before halftime, running in from 13 yards out to push the lead to 34-7. The sophomore quarterback’s final touchdown of the game came right with less than a second remaining before halftime. Reighard connected with classmate Javionn Willis for a 15 yard touchdown reception, and the two point conversion was good to make the halftime score 42-7.

The only scoring in the second half came in the middle of the third quarter. Giardino cut through the Chief defense and ran 47-yards for a touchdown, enhancing the lead to 50-0 on a successful two point conversion attempt. With the running clock rule in affect with a 35-point halftime lead, the final 19 minutes evaporated quickly, giving Washington a 50-7 victory over the Chiefs.

Reighard earned the Washington County Hospital and Clinics player of the game after rushing for 227 yards on 17 carries, completing nine of 15 passes for 106 yards, scoring five touchdowns and throwing no interceptions in the victory. With the performance, Reighard became the fourth Washington athlete in the last three seasons to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season. He joins Alex Coker, Daryn Sebelius, and Jacob Hennigan in the 1,000 yard rushing club since 2013.

Reighard’s homecoming performance comes a year after Sebelius totaled 439 yards of total offense and scored six touchdowns in a 65-20 victory over the Fort Madison Bloodhounds. Five of Sebelius’s six touchdowns were on passes, amassing 242 yards through the air.

The win extends the Demons’ current winning streak to six game, improving their overall record to 6-1. Washington is back at Case Field next Friday, celebrating senior night versus the Mount Pleasant Panthers (0-7 overall). Mount Pleasant lost their seventh straight game to start the season, falling 43-33 to the Fairfield Trojans last night.