The last chance to shore things up before district play is tonight for the Washington Demon football team when they welcome Class 4A foe Fort Madison to Case Field.

The orange and black have dominated the Southeast Conference rivalry winning the last nine meetings by at least three scores. Those seasons however, were full of losing football in Bloodhound country and that appears to be a thing of the past. Fort Madison is coming off of their first winning season in a decade and they have hit the ground running in 2021 with a 3-0 start. Landes Williams has been a big reason why, as the dual-threat quarterback nearly has 1,000 total yards in three games including connecting on 13 of 14 passes for 270 yards and being responsible for six touchdowns in last week’s 55-14 win over Fairfield. The defense has allowed just 14 points this season. While the Bloodhounds are riding the momentum train, the Demons will try to right the ship after a 48-14 loss to Clear Creek-Amana last week to fall to 1-2. Injuries and giving up big plays have been a bugaboo for a defense that surrendered 287 rushing yards last week. Quarterback Ethan Patterson has accounted for 586 total yards and six touchdowns for the Demons. 

Despite the tough loss in week three, head coach Nick Ehret thinks his team is poised to bounce back. “The boys understand that the talent we have is way better than what we have shown. The good thing is we have everything still in front of us. We haven’t started district play yet and all of our goals are still out there. If you are going to have bumps in the road you want to have them early, get them fixed, and peak at the right time. We are happy to be back at home and I think the team has responded well in this week of practice.”

The non-district showdown gets underway at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Case Field. Listen to the game on FM 106.1 KCII starting at 7 p.m. and the Football Friday Preview Show will air from 6-7 p.m.