In a pivotal class 3A district 5 football matchup in Grinnell, the home Tigers had every answer for Washington last night and it resulted in a 35-14 victory in week five.
As heard on KCII, big plays once again hurt the Demon defense early with a 58 yard touchdown run from Alex Smith and 25 yard scoring strike from Colin Gibson to Calvin Jaworski. The score was 14-0 Grinnell in the early part of the second with Washington desperate for a spark. They got that on a fake punt in the ensuing drive when Lucas Kroll picked up the first down that set up a 39 yard pass completion to Kasen Bailey and capped off by a one-yard scamper from Ethan Patterson to the end zone. They found the equalizer four minutes later when Patterson found John Prochaska down the middle for a 43 yard pitch and catch that reached paydirt. Another 50 yard rush by the Tigers two minutes before the break made the tally 21-14 at half. With the game up in the air at intermission, the Tigers made sure their homecoming would not be spoiled by shutting down the Demon offense in the final 24 minutes and adding insurance with a rushing and passing touchdown. The biggest disparity came in the rushing department with Grinnell putting up 247 yards to Washington’s 61. The Demons coughed the ball up twice while the Tigers never lost possession. Smith and Colin Johnson combined for 248 yards on the ground and three scores for Grinnell. Patterson was nine of 19 passing for 144 yards and the one touchdown. Prochaska hauled in two receptions for 46 yards.
Demon Head Coach Nick Ehret tells KCII Sports it has been a struggle getting out of the gates fast. “We dug ourselves a hole and it seems like we are constantly digging ourselves out. It is hard to play from behind and that makes your margin of error so small. I was proud how we put together a nice run in the second quarter, but we need to find a way to start out faster and get a lead.”
Grinnell is now 3-2 overall, 1-0 in district play. Washington drops to 1-4, 0-1 and return home Friday hosting Solon (5-0).