Warriors back in championship hunt

CEDAR RAPIDS - People who go to Washington High School might hear a cousin or an uncle or some other person talk about how the Warriors went to the state championship football game in 2003 and how they lost a heartbreaker to West Des Moines Valley.

The Warriors were under the control of head coach Paul James at that time.

Now in 2014, James is back after former coach Tony Lombardi resigned in the spring of 2013. The Warriors are putting up amazing numbers this year, completing an undefeated regular season and whipping Clinton, 78-13, in the first round of the playoffs.

The Warriors have climbed to No. 1 in the polls and are expected to go deep into the playoffs. I sat down with James and asked him some questions about the two teams.

Q: How are these two teams similar?

A: Probably the sheer athleticism. Both teams were able to score at will every game. The defensive abilities are also pretty similar.

Q: How are they different?

A: We have a lot more speed and more big guys than what we had in 2003.

Q: Do you have a similar playbook?

A: Defense is definitely different. Other than that, nothing much has changed.

Q: How hard is it to be both a coach and the athletics director?

A: There are definitely lots of demands, but the two event managers that I hired have helped greatly.

Q: Who were the key players then and who are the key players now?

A: Back then, it was my co-captains. Rob Bruggeman was the center and he ended up playing in the NFL for three years. Adrian Arrington was a receiver who played at Michigan and then in the NFL. Warren Seuss was our quarterback who went to play at Ball State. Gavin McGrath went to Iowa. Currently, the big guys are quarterback Reid Snitker, receivers Landon Akers and Isaiah Nimmers, lineman Julian Good- Jones and fullback Connor Vincent.

Q: Which coaches are still coaching here?

A: Tim Callahan, Frank Schermann, Charlie Faulkner, Maurice Blue and Rob Throndson.

Q: What are your predictions for the playoffs this season?

A: Right now, we are just trying to take it one game at a time, but I think that if we keep this up, we'll go far.

Q: What are the future plans for this program?

A: Right now, all I think that we need to plan for the future is to just keep doing what we're doing.

Q: Are there any noteworthy players coming up?

A: Pretty much every single guy on both the freshman team and sophomore team is noteworthy. I'm very excited to see what the future holds for this program.