The hope was bleak, but that didn’t stop the Washington Demon football team from pulling off one of the top comeback’s that Case Field has ever seen on Friday when they erased a 20 point deficit to stun visiting Fairfield 35-28 to keep the postseason hopes alive.
As heard on KCII, everything that could go the Trojans’ (4-4, 2-2) way in the first 22 minutes of play did and they built a 20-0 advantage in large part by the deadly quarterback and wide receiver combo of Tate Allen and Max Weaton with a pair of touchdown connections. In danger of being ran off their own field, the Demons completely changed the tide of the game in the final minute of the half when James Strabala got them on the board with a six yard touchdown run. Fairfield immediately turned around and went for the home run ball that ended up being picked off by Ethan Patterson at midfield and the senior took it back to the 10 yard line. The next play Patterson found Clayton Streeter for the senior’s first touchdown grab of the season and Washington seized all the momentum trailing just 20-14 at the break. Answering the bell continued to be the trend for the Demons the rest of the game, as Fairfield scored right out of half only to have Washington come right back with a one play 80 yard touchdown run from Patterson. Trailing 28-20 with five minutes left, the work horse that is Tayven Stuart took over with the senior getting the bulk of the carries capped off by a one yard touchdown run and the successful two point conversion scamper with 4:03 to go. Head Coach Nick Ehret decided to roll the dice and catch the Trojans off guard with an onside kick that was executed to perfection by DaShaun Westphal-Edwards. The senior kicker bounced a hard liner off the front line of the Trojans and it ricochet into the arm’s of the Demons. With one minute left Stuart put the finishing touches on a memorable comeback with a 36 yard stroll to pay dirt that proved to be the game winner.
Washington put up 319 yards on the ground with Stuart carrying the rock 33 times for 164 yards and the two scores. In the postgame, the senior had a lot of praise for the big boys upfront. “Our o-line has done a great job the last couple games. I just needed to put my head down and fight for yards. They made some great holes especially in that last touchdown run, I could fit my truck through that. Let’s go!” Patterson picked up 99 rushing yards on nine carries including gutting his way through an injury in the fourth quarter. The defense held Fairfield to 189 yards of total offense with Casen Evans collecting eight tackles.
Washington gets back to .500 with a 4-4 mark overall and 2-2 in district play. They will need outside help, but Washington is still in the playoff hunt heading into next week’s final game hosting West Burlington (2-6).