The Washington Demons are hitting the road tonight to start district football action, and they’ll begin play in Class 3A District 4 by facing an old friend, as Washington looks to play spoiler to homecoming for conference rival Keokuk in a game you can hear on KCII.

Washington has lost three of its first four games, but the offense may be finding its footing, as even in back-to-back losses to Fairfield and Grinnell, the Demons have rushed for over 194 yards per game. Junior quarterback Logan McDole ran for 133 yards and two touchdowns against Fairfield, while sophomore running back Kael Williams needed only 16 carries to put up 155 yards and three TDs on the ground last week.

The Washington defense is hoping to recapture their form from the first two weeks, where they gave up just over 260 yards and 17 points per contest. Senior defensive linemen Chase Greiner and Nic Dittrich were menaces up front, piling up five sacks in those games. Demon head coach Nick Ehret tells KCII Sports having a complete performance from his team will potentially come down to starting the game on a better note.

“That’s been an emphasis of ours, trying to start games fast,” Ehret says. “It’s just not something that we’ve been able to really do, unfortunately. We tried to change practice up to make sure that we’re starting practice fast and that we’ve got our minds where we need to be. That’s been a big focus of ours since the season started.”

Washington will be taking on a Keokuk team that is 2-2 overall but is 1-1 in the Southeast Conference, just like the Demons. Junior quarterback Brenton Hoard has been sensational for the Chiefs, completing almost 62 percent of his passes for 725 yards and seven scores while also rushing for a team-high 503 yards and seven-and-a-half yards per carry.

Keokuk has also been solid on the defensive side, giving up 50.5 passing yards per game and allowing only more than 20 points once this season. The Demons will try to down the Chiefs for an eighth straight meeting and break up the homecoming festivities. You can hear all the action between Washington and Keokuk on 106.1 FM KCII and streaming on KCIIradio.com and the KCII app. Pregame coverage from Calvert Stadium begins this evening at 7.