Not giving up the big play is something Washington head football coach Nick Ehret preached all preseason heading into 2022. The defense followed that similar bend, but don’t break formula last night and was able to weather an early storm to fend off a physical Burlington bunch 21-14 at Case Field in a week one showdown.
As heard on KCII, Burlington dominated the first 12 minutes of play by methodically driving the ball down the field on their opening drive and punching it in for an early 6-0 advantage. After a quick three and out for Washington, the Grayhounds were marching again, but coughed it up right before the end of the quarter. That proved to be the turning point of the night, as Washington put together a promising drive themselves that was capped off by a 24 yard touchdown run by senior running back Tayven Stuart. Washington made it 14 points off turnovers when Burlington fumbled again and the ensuing Demon drive finished with a five yard Stuart score to take a 14-6 lead into the break. Stuart, who toted the rock 20 times for 120 yards, put the finishing touches on his night with his third trip to pay dirt late in the third quarter. The Grayhounds made it interesting late with a score and they were driving with a minute left for a chance to tie it when the Demon defense forced a turnover on downs.
Coach Ehret said his boys showed some grit last night. “The big plays really hurt us all of last year, but our defense really stood tall tonight. We were rotating a lot of guys to try and keep them fresh and we controlled the line of scrimmage as the game went on. We have a lot of inexperience on the defense and at times we showed our youth, but I was really proud with their resolve and grit. They got stops when we needed them and that is important.”
Burlington put up 300 yards of offense to the Demon’s 269, but Washington was plus one in the turnover margin. Jude Brown complimented Stuart’s big night with 61 rushing yards on seven carries and Ethan Patterson ran eight times for 52 yards.
Washington starts up the fall 1-0 and they hit the road Friday in week two at Mount Pleasant.