Washington hopes to find a way back to postseason

CEDAR RAPIDS - He's never won less than six games in any of his prior six seasons at Cedar Rapids Washington, so Tony Lombardi always finds a way. Good football coaches do that.This season, however ... it's going to be a test."We'll figure out what we can do with these kids to be successful," assured Lombardi.Washington graduated a whole bunch of good football players from a team that advanced to the Class 4A playoff quarterfinals, shocking undefeated Linn-Mar along the way. There's not much depth on this 2012 Warriors squad, the offensive and defensive lines need to be rebuilt and the junior class hasn't really experienced much success at the lower levels.That's not to say these guys will be unsuccessful. History suggests otherwise.They think they can win, and that's half the battle."I guess we'll see what happens," said senior running back Mitch Bredeson."Reload and just go at them, I guess," said senior quarterback Mitch Blades. "I think we can surprise some people. We've got to be able to take care of the ball mainly. Our defense is going to be our strength, I'm thinking. So just take care of the football on offense."Blades played wide receiver and defensive back last season but has prior experience as a QB. Bredeson is the leading returning rusher in the Mississippi Valley Conference (896 yards and nine touchdowns).Now if only Washington can find guys to block for those two. Senior 270-pounder Zac Gillis is the only returning starter up front, though Lombardi mentioned senior Brad Lock and sophomore Julian Good-Jones as guys who should complement him."I think Lombardi wants to pass a lot," Bredeson said. "We'll try and do that.""We have the spread, and we've got kind of a different running scheme with a lot of people running the ball," Blades said. "A lot of different receivers are going to be catching it. We've got some young people on our team. We're a young team. We don't have that many starters from last year."Defensively, Noah Dostal and JoJo McBride return as starting backs. Robert Miley has experience as a starting linebacker.The schedule is unforgiving early, with the first three games against Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Iowa City West and Cedar Falls, who all figure to be really good. Will this be a rebuilding season or a reloading one for the Warriors?Don't bet against them or Lombardi."We've had a pretty good work ethic out of this group," Lombardi said. "I have no idea how it will turn out, but I have really enjoyed this group of kids."

Team: Cedar Rapids Washington

Coach: Tony Lombardi (7th season)

Last year's record: 8-4

Key losses: WR-DB Ryan Cain, WR-DB Flynn Heald, QB Braedon Tovey, RB Will Griffin, RB-LB David Tann, OL-LB Sean Bredl, L McCauley Todd, L Storhm Henry, L Tyler Burrell.

Key returners: QB Mitch Blades, RB Mitch Bredeson, DB Noah Dostal, LB Robert Miley, DB JoJo McBride.

Key to making playoffs: Staying healthy, rebuilding the offensive line in order to score points.

Game to watch:

Schedule:

August 24 - Cedar Rapids Kennedy

August 31 - at Iowa City West

September 7 - Cedar Falls

September 14 - at Linn-Mar

September 21 - at Waterloo West

September 27 - Cedar Rapids Xavier

October 5 - at Cedar Rapids Jefferson

October 12 - Cedar Rapids Prairie

October 19 - at Dubuque WahlertHere's a quick video interview with Blades and full roster:

Copy of CR Washington 2012 Varsity Football Roster