No. 4 Washington survives stiff challenge from Cedar Falls

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Rapids Washington passed a tough test to open the postseason.

The top-seeded Warriors playmakers helped provide a much needed answer against an unlikely No. 4 seed.

Isaiah Nimmers and Tavian Patrick scored a pair of dazzling touchdowns and fourth-ranked Washington survived with a 28-21 win over Cedar Falls in the opening round of the Class 4A state playoffs Wednesday night at Kingston Stadium.

The Warriors will play in another doubleheader at Kingston on Monday. Washington will face Cedar Rapids Jefferson (7-3) in the second round, following Cedar Rapids Kennedy (10-0) and North Scott (5-5), which starts at 5:30 p.m.

Washington expected a battle and persevered to advance.

'What was going through my head was that they were not a normal four seed,' Patrick said. 'They are going to get us ready to go deeper into the playoffs. They were going to help us take one step further where we want to go. They're the best four seed out there, and we knew we were going to be in a dogfight. And we were.'

Nimmers said a requirement of being a Warrior is to rise to the challenge. They were prepared for this from the moment they learned about their foe. Washington had to show its resolve.

'We knew they were going to be a tough opponent, not a regular four seed, and had been ranked high most of the season,' Nimmers said. 'We just had to get the job done.'

Patrick provided a spark on consecutive scoring drives in the second quarter, but it was Nimmers who added a boost after halftime.

The Warriors (9-1) trailed 21-14 when Nimmers pulled in a short bubble-screen type pass, cutting across the field and zipping down the far sideline for a 41-yard TD to tie the game with 1:05 left in the third.

'He threw a pretty ball,' Nimmer said about the pass from Vogel. 'I knew if I got to the other side of the field, I would have a chance to score.'

Washington took advantage of one of three lost fumbles by the Tigers that started the ensuing drive. The Warriors took over at the Cedar Falls 25, moving to the 1 when T.J. Vogel hit a wide open Nimmers.

The catch set up a 1-yard Johnny Dobbs TD run that turned out to be the winning in the final 20 seconds of the third.

Patrick gave Washington its first lead of the night. He started off right tackle, cut left, swatted a defender away and reversed to the other side of the field after juking a couple Tigers and weaving around a key block for a 35-yard scoring run. The Warriors took a short-lived 14-7 lead.

Patrick capped the previous drive with a 10-yard TD run that was set up by a 17-yard pass from Vogel to Patrick on 4th-and-9 from the Cedar Falls 27.

The stats weren't overly impressive for the Warriors, but they did enough to win and keep their hopes for a second straight trip to the state finals alive.

Vogel threw for 206 yards, including 78 to Nimmers. Patrick led the Warriors with 53 rushing yards. With the Tigers defense focused on the ground game, some success was found through the air.

'They were really trying to stop the run,' Washington Coach Paul James said, 'so we knew we'd have a chance to throw it on them.'

The Warriors defense forced five turnovers.

'Our guys really stepped up on defense in the second half,' James said.

Cedar Falls manufactured two long bookend scoring drives in the first half. On their first possession, the Tigers went 92 yards on six plays. Michael Abbas took a backward pass and rushed 22 yards to open the scoring.

After the teams exchanged turnovers that ended in Luke Gillett's interception of Vogel at the Tigers' 10. Cedar Falls needed nine plays to tie the game at 14 apiece when Taylen Alexander rolled right and hit Luke Loecher for a 15-yard TD pass with 54 seconds before halftime.

Jordan DeGroote played well for Cedar Falls, amassing 138 yards, including 101 before the break. His 51-yard jaunt sparked the opening drive.

Alexander and Tra'Von Fagan were a tough tandem, hooking up three times for 52 yards in the first half, hitting on a 39-yard pass before Loecher's score. Alexander hit Fagan for a 7-yard score for a seven-point edge in the third quarter.

Alexander ended with 114 yards in the air. Fagan had 59 yards on four catches.

The Tigers end the season at 6-4.

'We were in position, but we had too many turnovers,' Cedar Falls Coach Brad Remmert said. 'You can't turn it over the number of guys that we did. Yet we were still in it, still had a chance. The kids fought hard against a good team. I'm proud of the way they played. Offensively we were able to move the football on them, had over 300 yards, just didn't finish some things.'

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