Washington preps for playoffs with 49-7 romp over Waterloo West

CEDAR RAPIDS - You've seen the really good Cedar Rapids Washington this season. You've seen the really bad Cedar Rapids Washington this season.

Last night leaned well toward the former.

“I'd go with about 70 to 80 percent,” said quarterback Braedon Tovey after his bipolar Warriors smoked Waterloo West, 49-7, at Kingston Stadium. “We've still got a couple of things to work on.”

That may be true, but this was a good performance to end the regular season. Washington (6-3) scored in every quarter, gashing the winless Wahawks for 375 yards rushing.

Running the football, of course, always is important in the postseason. As is good health, which the Warriors seem to have for the first time this season.

Will Griffin ran 29 times for 186 yards and three touchdowns, continuing to look better and better in his recovery from the severe ankle injury that limited him to four games. Tovey and Mitch Bredeson also each had a pair of TD runs, as the Warriors again rode their big and experienced front line.

“I think I'm around 90 percent,” Griffin said. “I feel like if I still keep working on my ankle ... I still don't really have that good get-up.”

It's kind of scary to think about him getting that get-up.

“I think he's close to being the old Will,” said tackle McCauley Todd. “We don't see him with the limp as much anymore. He's back. Will is back.”

Washington also did a pretty good job defensively, as West (0-9) was held to 176 yards. The Warriors didn't allow top West running back Dequavious Martin to get away much, holding him to 80 yards on 20 carries, including the Wahawks' lone touchdown in the third quarter.

So now it's onto the playoffs for Washington, which looks to be an 8, 9 or 10 seed. A dangerous one that'll find out its opening-round opponent late Friday night.

“We are as healthy as we've been,” Todd said. “We think that's going to be huge for us. To have Will back, to have (receiver-defensive back) Ryan Cain back, all those guys, is great. I think only good things can come from here.”

You can catch the replay of this game on KCRG 9.2 on the following dates and times:

Replay: 10/22 @ 7:00p, 10/23 @ 10:00a, 10/29 @ 2:40a and 7:00p, 11/4 @ 2:40a and 7:00p, 11/10 @ 2:40a, 11/16 @ 2:40a, 11/19 @ 11:30a, 11/22 @ 2:40a, 11/25 @ 11:00a, 11/26 @ 9:00a

Here is the game boxscore and a short video interview with Griffin:

TEAM STATISTICS

Waterloo W.

CR Wash.

First downs

9

22

Rushes-yards

32 - 90

53 - 374

Passing yards

86

83

Comp-Att-Int

7 - 18 - 1

4 - 8 - 0

Total yards

176

457

Fumbles-lost

0 - 0

1 - 1

Punts-average

7 - 29.9

1 - 50.0

Penalties-yards

8 - 40

5 - 30

Rushing:

 Waterloo W. –

Dequayvious Martin 20-80 ,

Dequan Campbell 5-6 ,

Shawn Bowers 6-5 ,

Makayle Phillips 1-0

 CR Wash. –

Will Griffin 29-186 ,

Mitch Bredeson 7-64 ,

Walter Short 5-44 ,

David Tann 4-32 ,

Braedon Tovey 2-31 ,

Flynn Heald 6-20

Passing:

 Waterloo W. –

Shawn Bowers 7-17-1-86 ,

Brandon Tovar 0-1-0-0

 CR Wash. –

Braedon Tovey 4-8-0-83

Receiving:

 Waterloo W. –

Dequayvious Martin 1-34 ,

Alex Brown 3-26 ,

Skyler Capelle 2-20 ,

Michael Price 1-6

 CR Wash. –

Mitch Blades 1-50 ,

Flynn Heald 2-30 ,

Ryan Cain 1-3

Waterloo W.

7

–

7

CR Wash.

14

14

7

14

–

49

CRW-Will Griffin 3 run (Michael Daughtery kick)

CRW-Griffin 1 run (Daughtery kick)

CRW-Griffin 3 run (Daughtery kick)

CRW-Braedon Tovey 11 run (Daughtery kick)

WW-Dequayvious Martin 10 run (Jon Schmadeke kick)

CRW-Tovey 20 run (Daughtery kick)

CRW-Mitch Bredeson 5 run (Daughtery kick)

CRW-Bredeson 25 run (Riyad Ajram kick)

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