The kind of game you tell your grandkids 50 years from now. High School football does not get more exciting than what transpired at Case Field on Friday night. In a back and forth slugfest Washington found a way to score in the final moments to upend Mount Pleasant 64-61 and punch their ticket to the class 3A playoffs.
The madness got started early when Luke Turner connected with Spencer Sotelo for a 60-yard touchdown pass less than two minutes into the game. Mount Pleasant immediately answered and the war of trading punches was on. The Demons held a 36-28 advantage at the break headlined by three rushing scores from Turner and one from Wyatt Stout. The Panthers’ Logan Bass went to work in the second half reaching pay dirt three times, but Washington’s Sotelo was on display as well with an eight-yard receiving score and an 80-yard kickoff return that reached the end zone. Mount Pleasant put the pressure on with a Chase Williamson score with 1:34 left in the ball game that gave the Panthers a 61-57 lead. That amount of time was all Turner and company needed, as they marched right down the field and with 12 seconds left the senior barreled his way forward for a one-yard score. Head Coach James Harris tells KCII Sports he had full confidence in his offense in that final drive. “I know how well-coached they are so I wasn’t worried about it. I watched our offense dominate all day. It was going to be the last team that had the ball would win and that’s what it came down to.” Turner had four scores on the ground and two through the air. Sotelo reached pay dirt three times in the win.
After a year hiatus, the #13 seeded Demons are headed back to the class 3A playoffs with a 7-2 record. They make a trip to #2 Western Dubuque (9-0) next Friday in a game you can hear on KCII. Mount Pleasant finished 17th in the final RPI rankings and were the first team left out. Washington is the only KCII area team that received a postseason bid.