Washington’s future appears to be bright

CEDAR FALLS – His tears showed the hurt. His words showed fierce resolve.

'We're a November football team,” tailback Tavian Patrick said Friday night, after Cedar Rapids Washington's 49-14 loss to West Des Moines Dowling in the Class 4A state championship football game. 'You're going to see us in the playoffs a lot (in the future). We're strong, we're going to be in the weight room during the offseason, working out a lot. You saw what happened tonight, they out-physicaled us. It's not going to happen again. We need to step our game up.”

There's no doubt Dowling was the better football team, winning its second 4A title in a row in dominating fashion. The Maroons showed Washington the level it has to be at to win it all.

The Warriors believe they can get there.

'Our future is really big,” said tailback Johnny Dobbs. 'With the upcoming juniors and us seniors, it's really big. You can expect to see us in the UNI-Dome again next year.”

Dobbs and Patrick, both juniors, are part of what should be a formidable set of skill players next season for Washington. Wide receivers Isaiah Nimmers and Alex Herzog also return, as does tight end Dallas Hobbs, who injured a knee in the playoffs and missed the last three games.

Washington's sophomores and freshmen went 9-0 this season, meaning the program's teams finished a salty 22-1. Even the junior varsity was undefeated.

'When I was a sophomore, we finished 3-6,” said senior quarterback Reid Snitker. 'Last year, we were 6-4. We just keep going up. This program just keeps getting better.”

'We took on all the challenges on the Eastern side of the state and came out on top, and that's saying something because there is pretty good football on our side,” said Washington Coach Paul James. 'We ran into a good team. There is no doubt how good Dowlling is. Their base is a little bigger than ours to draw (kids) from, but that's the way it goes. You try and do your best, and that's all we can ask of ourselves and our kids.”

James tempered expectations a tad when asked about the future of his Warriors.

'We'd like to think we're heading in a positive direction, with all the success that we've had,” he said. 'But every year is a new year. Coming into this year, people probably didn't expect us to be in the championship game. I think we were rated something like ninth or 10th to start the season. These kids made a lot of progress.

'It has to do with offseason work and weight-room work and stuff like that. Just because a sophomore team goes undefeated doesn't mean a whole lot in terms of translating into next year. A lot of things have got to happen between now and next fall.”

Washington assistant coach Maurice Blue was honored Thursday night as one of two men named Class 4A assistant coach of the year by the Iowa Football Coaches Association. Blue is a Washington graduate and longtime defensive coordinator at the school.

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