You can’t have a Friday the 13th without having some craziness along the way. The theme was carried out on the gridiron at Case Field on Friday night as Washington prevailed over Oskaloosa in a wild 51-42 win to clinch a playoff berth.
On a night where the Demons recognized their 22 seniors and both teams were battling for the last playoff spot, the game lived up to the hype. After both offenses had to punt in their first possession the Demons got on the board when the Indians’ Seth Howard bobbled the shut gun snap and Cale Hobscheidt scooped up the ball and marched 40 yards in for the score. The next Demon possession they orchestrated an eight-play 91-yard drive capped off by a 19-yard touchdown run by Jack Redlinger. After a failed PAT the Demons led 13-0 late in the first. The Indians got on the board on a 19-yard touchdown run by Howard, but the Demons followed with an answer of their own on another 25-yard rushing touchdown by Redlinger. Oskaloosa took a brief lead 21-19 after a pair of scores but with under a minute left in the half Washington marched down the field and scored on a two-yard touchdown run by Redlinger. The Demons led 25-21 at the break.
Out of the break Friday the 13th kicked in. Before you could blink the Indians scored a pair of touchdowns without running a play from scrimmage. They took the opening kick off back to the house and then the Demons botched the ensuing kickoff where the Indians scooped it up and ran in for the score. Just like that, the Demons trailed 35-26. In true Demon fashion they would not go away however, as they cut into the lead on a perfectly thrown fade ball by Luke Turner to Jaivonn Willis for the 35 yard strike. After both teams traded blows the Demons took the lead for good on a 19-yard touchdown run by Turner early in the fourth quarter. The defense did the rest of the work as Jacob Hall, Cade Hennigan, and Tristin Westphal-Edwards picked off Howard in the final period to seal the win. The final blow was a one-yard touchdown run by Redlinger and the Demons came out victorious 51-42. The senior runningback was a workhorse for the Demons racking up four rushing touchdowns on the day.
With the win the Demons move to 7-1 and go back to the playoffs after missing the postseason a year ago. The final tune-up before the playoffs is Friday when they face off with Fort Madison.