Week Nine of the high school football season also brings with it the regular-season finale for the Washington Demons, who are on the road tonight to take on district and conference rival Fort Madison in a game you can hear on KCII.

Despite coming in with back-to-back losses, Washington is still having a turnaround season, bouncing back from just two wins a year ago to go 5-3, including a perfect record against the rest of the Southeast Conference to this point.

Defensive stars have led the way, like linebacker Jude Carter, who leads the team with 74 total tackles, and fellow senior Keider Gomez-Valdez, who has a conference-high 12 tackles for loss and has combined with sophomore Brady Krantz for seven sacks at edge rusher.

Senior Summit Keith has had a big year at defensive tackle with eight-and-a-half tackles for loss and three sacks by himself, while players like sophomore Blaine Rees and juniors Caden Greiner, Rudy Wolfe and Josue Jara have been big contributors to a team that is top five in the state in Class 3A in both total tackles for loss and sacks.

On offense, quarterback Logan McDole has passed for over 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns, distributing big plays to fellow seniors Mason Morgan, Jayfred Espinosa and Conner Leyden.

There are slim playoff hopes for the Demons, sitting 20th in the last Class 3A RPI rankings, but head coach Kelly Williams tells KCII Sports that their focus is on getting their seniors at least one more victory, and they’ll have to do better than recent trips to Fort Madison.

“We haven’t played real well down there the last few times,” Williams says. “Unfortunately, we just haven’t gotten off the bus, so we’re going to work pretty hard this week in making sure that we’re focused mentally, and then let the 3A playoffs fall how they may. A lot of times you don’t get to out on a win.”

Washington will be visiting a Fort Madison team that, one year after going undefeated against Southeast Conference opponents, is winless overall coming into tonight. The Demons have dropped three straight games to the Bloodhounds, including a 21-7 loss at home last year.

You can catch the final regular-season edition of Washington Demon football on KCII this evening from Fort Madison on 106.1 FM and streaming on KCIIradio.com and the KCII1 app, starting with the HOMEgirl Realty Pregame Show at 7 o’clock.