Great start leads Washington to win over City High, district championship

IOWA CITY - About two hours earlier, you would have bet the house, the car, the wife and the kids that a defensive fumble recovery in its own end zone late in the third quarter would be an innocuous play for Cedar Rapids Washington.

But it actually turned out to be kind of important.

'This game was pretty crazy,” Washington's Tavian Patrick said, shaking his head, after his Warriors knocked off Iowa City High, 39-20, Friday night at Bates Field.

Pretty crazy, but a win, nonetheless, one that wraps up the District 6 championship for Class 4A fifth-ranked Washington (7-1, 4-0). Technically, these teams could still end up in a tie, but as far as the playoffs go, the Warriors have clinched the district's top seed and a first-round home game.

Wash finishes the regular season next week at home against one-win Burlington, which goes back to betting the house, the car, the wife and the kids this thing won't end in a tie regardless.

'We're just trying to get prepared for the playoffs,” said Patrick who rushed for 160 yards and two touchdowns. 'We knew this was going to be a hard fight. We prepared all week, knowing this was for the district championship. They weren't going to give it to us, we had to come down here and take it.”

Washington took it by scoring 27 unanswered points in the first 6:02 of this game. Patrick had a 43-yard TD run to start it off, Isaiah Nimmers - playing quarterback for the first time - scored on a 3-yard run, then the Warriors got back-to-back defensive TDs from Drew Dostal (a 52-yard interception return) and Rane Weiland (a 36-yard fumble return).

'Our kids came ready to play,” Washington Coach Paul James said. 'Those two defensive touchdowns were big. In the end, that really helped us pad the margin.”

'Every time you get a defensive touchdown, that just boosts the momentum way up,” Patrick said.

Much to its credit, City High (5-3, 3-1) didn't lay down and quit. It was a 27-14 game by halftime and 33-20 late in the third, with the Little Hawks driving.

But running back Bryce Frantz fumbled at the 1 fighting to get to the end zone after a 12-year run, with Dallas Hobbs recovering for Washington. A muffed punt inside the 5 by City High set up a Johnny Dobbs 1-yard touchdown run that clinched it with 2:54 left.

Washington ran for 306 yards, 192 in the second half.

'You've just got to be ready to take on whatever comes at you,” James said. '(City High) was doing well. But we were able to show that we were able to run the ball when we needed to in the second half, so you'd like to think that whatever would have happened there, we'd been able to do that.”

T.J. Vogel got the start at QB for Washington, returning after missing last week's game with a knee injury. Nimmers also played quite a bit, rushing for 57 yards and completing one pass for 34.

'I don't think necessarily we were letting up on the throttle after getting the lead,” Patrick said. 'We were just making a couple of mental errors that we usually don't make. We've got to fix the little things, the little things that kind of kill us. We've got to work on that.”

City High went three-and-out to begin the game, with Wash taking over at its 35. Three Patrick runs took care of those remaining 65 yards, including a 43-yard TD in which he bowled over a Little Hawks tackler to break free and sprint down the sideline.

City High again went three-and-out, but this time couldn't even get off a punt, as Jared Taylor dropped what appeared to be a good snap and was snowed under at the Little Hawks 17. Nimmers ran three times out of the shotgun, including from 3 yards out for the touchdown.

The extra-point attempt was wide right.

On the very next City High offensive play, QB Taylor threw over the middle but was intercepted by safety Dostal, who cut to the sideline and ran 52 yards for yet another Washington touchdown. He also was injured early in last week's game while playing quarterback.

The extra point made it 20-0 Warriors.

A mere four plays later, Taylor was smacked hard by blitzing linebacker Dobbs, causing a fumble. Teammate Weiland was right there to pick up the ball, running 36 yards for a second defensive TD for Wash and a 27-0 lead.

But instead of fading away, City High kept playing.

A 70-yard drive at the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second was capped by a 1-yard scoring plunge from Frantz. Washington hogged the ball for 14 plays and over seven minutes on the ensuing possession, but the Little Hawks held and drove again.

Taylor completed four passes on the 65-yard drive, including an 18-yarder to Nakeem Smith on a slant pattern for the touchdown. That made it 27-14 at the break.

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