The Washington Demons took their first loss of the high school football season Friday night in a 31-0 defeat at Grinnell. The 10th-ranked team in the state in Class 3A made an early statement, as Grinnell took the opening kickoff and marched over 70 yards in 11 plays to score a touchdown.

With three offensive starters missing, Washington struggled to move the ball in response. The Demons would limit the Tigers to a field goal on their second possession, but an interception returned for a TD by Grinnell gave them a 17-0 lead going into halftime, and they would score again on their first drive of the third quarter.

While the defense held the Tigers to just over 270 yards gained, a banged-up Washington offense put up only 36 yards themselves. Junior Caden Greiner led the rushing attack with 22 yards on 14 carries. After the game, Demons head coach Kelly Williams told KCII Sports that, despite the difficult circumstances, his players gave their all.

“Even if we are down a couple people, it’s next man up,” Williams said, “and I’ve got to do a better job of having them ready to play. I do think that they came back out in the second half with a little bit more fire. They played hard in the second half. It just wasn’t the Demons’ night.”

After a 3-0 start to the season, Washington will now look to bounce back with the start of district play in their next game against Keokuk. But this coming Friday is not only the Class 3A District 4 opener for the Demons, but it’s also a battle with the Chiefs for first place in the Southeast Conference and the 2024 homecoming game.

You can catch Washington meeting Keokuk on 106.1 FM KCII and streaming on KCIIradio.com and the KCII1 app this Friday evening starting with pregame coverage at 6:30.