No. 1 Washington rides defense to 28-6 win over Prairie

CEDAR RAPIDS – On a night when they really weren't that great overall, quite frankly, the Cedar Rapids Washington Warriors showed why they're the top-ranked team in Class 4A. They can beat you in a lot of different ways.

It was defense taking the bow this time, as Washington overcame Cedar Rapids Prairie, 28-6, at John Wall Field.

The Warriors botched a punt, fumbled away a punt return, had an onside kick recovered against them to start the game and bogged down offensively a few times, yet still had more than enough firepower to move to 7-0. Most of that firepower was on defense.

Washington sacked sophomore quarterback Dakota Simonsen six times, limited Prairie to 91 yards overall and got a 99-yard interception return for touchdown from Landen Akers in the fourth quarter to seal it. That ties a school record for longest play not from scrimmage, with former Iowa Hawkeye Paki O'Meara returning an interception 99 yards in a 2004 game.

'I thought our defense played exceptionally well,' said Washington Coach Paul James. 'Several times they were put in tough spots and came up with big plays … We made some mistakes tonight we haven't been making, so hopefully we got those out of our system.'

Quarterback Reid Snitker had a touchdown run and threw a TD pass to fullback Connor Vincent for Washington. Johnny Dobbs had the other Warrior score, a 3-yard touchdown run.

Snitker, who has struggled throwing the ball this season, completed 10 of 16 passes for 130 yards. But, again, this win was mostly about defense.

Prairie (3-4) got a pair of field goals from Sam Drysdale for its only points.

'I just think we have a good defensive line,' said Wash tackle Royal Silver, who had a pair of sacks. 'We have pretty good size, and where we don't have size, we have quick and agile ends. I think we've got a good defense this year. We have a lot of returning seniors, a lot of guys who know what they are doing. Our defense stepped it up tonight.'

'Sometimes teams get into patterns as to how they win games,' James said. 'It's good that this team has a number of different ways that they can get it done. It's especially nice to have a solid defense. They have been playing exceptionally all year. Tonight was no different.'

Not often do you see a team held without a first down for an entire half, but that was the fate suffered by Prairie in the opening 24 minutes. The Hawks were limited to 19 total yards.

Simonsen, making his third consecutive start because of an injury to senior Trey Beckman (concussion), was sacked four times by Washington in the first half, finishing 2 of 7 passing for 12 yards.

The sacks all came from different guys: linemen Julian Good-Jones, Dallas Hobbs and O'Rien Vance and linebacker Sam Vincent. It was a 40-yard punt return by Akers that set up Wash's first touchdown.

He took a Jojo Simpson punt near midfield and caught a wall of blockers, sprinting down the sideline to the Prairie 11. Dobbs took a counter handoff and ran 3 yards untouched for the TD three plays later.

Washington threatened early in the second quarter, but Vance fumbled at the Prairie 3 after catching a pass. The Warriors also were turned away on their next possession, at the Hawks 22.

Taking over at the Prairie 45 following another Hawks punt, Washington finally strung enough plays together to score a second touchdown. Snitker rolled out after a play-action fake and hit Vincent for a 7-yard score.

Gunnar Lenzen's extra point made it 14-0 at halftime. Washington owned a 180-19 yardage advantage, with Snitker completing 8 of 12 passes for 104 yards.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com