Bettendorf, not Marion, visits Case Field

WASHINGTON - Spending the offseason thinking one team will be the opponent in the season's first football game only to have it change at the last minute is the situation the Washington Demons will be dealing with Friday at Case Field.

Marion was on the schedule when the Iowa High School Athletic Association released the schedules in March. When the IHSAA contracted the season from nine to seven games in July, Marion was the Demons' first game. Marion has been the Demons' opener the last two seasons, winning at Case Field 40-14 in 2018 and losing 27-6 at home last year, the first loss in an 0-9 season.

The year 2020 has been full of unexpected occurences and the calamitous derecho storm that tore through Eastern Iowa recently devastated Marion's facilities. The press box lost a roof, the utility shed lost a wall and a roof, light poles were down and sections of bleachers were on the field.

Marion wasn't able to practice at all that week, getting its first official workout in a week after every other team. Linn-Mar Stadium is where the Indians' three scheduled home games will be played on Saturday afternoons, not Friday nights.

'Marion canceled our game because they didn't think they would be ready,” Washington head coach James Harris said.

Marion is not Friday's opponent. Instead, it is a team that lost in the Class 4A semifinals last year. Bettendorf was 9-3 last season and will start this season as the Demons' first game.

'We scheduled an elite 4A program as an early season measuring stick to see where we are at and to use it as opportunity to get better,” Harris said.

The Bulldogs have graduated 95 percent of their rushing yardage and 100 percent of their passing, but at a school with an enrollment of 1.156 in grades nine through 11, it is just a matter of restocking talent.

'Iron sharpens iron,” Harris said. 'With the regular season having no implications on playoffs, why not play Bettendorf.”

The Bulldogs and the Demons were at the top of their respective class in 2019 in a number of offensive statistics.

The Bulldogs were fifth in 4A in rushing yards at 3,261, fourth in offensive yards at 4,844, third in rushing touchdowns with 63 and second in yards per carry at 8.1.

Washington was first in 3A in yards per carry at 7.4 in 2019. Washington was second in 3A in rushing TDs (36) and second in total TDs (59). The Demons were fifth in all-purpose yards at 4,825.

Last year's stats are nice to reference but they are from a different season with different players and from a time before a pandemic struck the world. This year is here and football is being played, so celebrate the opportunity kids have to compete and the joy that brings.

'Autumn air and football are simply special,” Harris said. 'Football, and athletics in general, are part of the fabric of our lives socially. It brings so many of us together.”