Washington quarterback Ryan Reighard (black No. 1) runs through a crease on the left side of his offensive line during last Friday’s scrimmage versus the Muscatine Muskies. Photo courtesy of Susan Harshman, Washington Demon Football.
A new chapter of Washington Demon football begins tonight in Monroe County. The Demons are set to travel to Albia for a season-opening clash versus the Class 2A Blue Demons. These two teams combined to win 19 games last season and both qualified for the postseason.
Washington rattled off seven wins in their first eight games last season. The Demons lost their final two games of the 2015 campaign, including a 17-14 overtime defeat to the Solon Spartans in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs. Returning 14 starters from last year’s team, the Demons have garnered multiple preseason top 10 rankings, including the Des Moines Register picking Washington as the preseason No. 1 team in Class 3A.
Highlighting Washington’s returners are five athletes along the offensive line who started four or more games last season. Senior Seth Townsen is among the returners on the O-Line, earning third team all-state and first team all-district honors as a junior. Seniors Aaron Vittetoe and Gabe Greiner and juniors Mark Engelken and Mitchell Huisenga round out Washington’s offensive line starters.
Junior Ryan Reighard returns for his second season as the Demons’ starting quarterback. Reighard, who converted from freshman running back to varsity quarterback 16 months ago, rushed for a program-best 1,579 yards last season. He scored 21 touchdowns with his legs, throwing for an additional 12 touchdowns.
Reighard’s top target in the passing game, junior Javionn Willis, returns after he amassed 796 receiving yards and scored 10 touchdowns. Willis was named a first-team all-state cornerback, recording four interceptions.
Junior Tanner Murphy returns to help lead the Demons’ defensive unit at inside linebacker. Murphy’s 64.5 total tackles and four sacks were the most on the team.
The Blue Demons are coming off three straight trips to the Class 2A state semifinals, and finished last season with a 12-1 overall record. Albia is filling multiple holes left by 23 graduating seniors, including seven all-state players. First team all-state performers Carter Isley (running back) and Blake Bayer (quarterback) accounted 2,108 yards of total offense and scored 53 touchdowns.
Albia does return a pair of upperclassmen who made contributions to last year’s team. Senior Tony Leshen is the team’s top returning wide receiver, making eight catches for 155 yards and three touchdowns. He also recorded 44.5 total tackles and made four interceptions, returning two for touchdowns. Senior Kyle Sinnott rushed for 209 yards and four touchdowns.
The Washington Demons and the Albia Blue Demons will kick off the new season at 7:30 p.m. KCII Sports will have live play-by-play coverage from Albia High School beginning with the Washington Hy-Vee Pregame Show at 7 p.m. on FM 106.1 and KCIIRadio.com.