Demon football suffers home defeat

WASHINGTON — The big plays always seemed to go against Washington during the Demon football team’s non-conference showdown with Clear Creek-Amana on Friday night.

Three key fourth-down conversions led to three of the Clippers’ four touchdowns in a 31-6 home loss for the Demons.

“We've got to execute better,” said Washington head coach Nick Ehret. “We put ourselves in positions to get off the field and we gave up big plays. We can't do that.”

The first of three big conversions for the Clippers came on a fake punt, which extended a drive that ended in a touchdown rush by Clear Creek-Amana running back Sam Pettinger. The Clippers led 7-0 after one quarter.

Washington’s lone touchdown came in the second. The Demons had their own drive extended on a roughing the passer call, and Washington’s running game marched down to the red zone and eventually scored on a short run by Tayven Stuart.

Later in the second quarter, however, Clear Creek-Amana struck again. The Clippers scored when star quarterback Jackson Schmidt found a receiver in the back of the end zone on 3rd and 19 from the 31-yard line. That extended the Clear Creek-Amana lead to 14-6.

As the clock wound down in the second period, the Clippers came through on another swing play. This time, Clear Creek-Amana was able to convert on a 4th and 1 situation, which led to a short touchdown run by Schmidt with just 24 seconds left in the half. Into the locker room, Washington trailed 21-6.

Clear Creek-Amana would add a rushing touchdown by Pettinger and a field goal in the second half.

After Stuart’s touchdown, Washington struggled on offense all night long. Stuart ended the game with 37 yards rushing, and Ethan Patterson completed 16 passes for 51 yards.

On defense, James Strabala led the Demon defense with 11.5 tackles.

Schmidt haunted Washington with his feet all game long. He rushed for 203 yards and a touchdown, and also finished with 68 yards and a score through the air.

“We knew the offense runs through them,” Ehret said. “He's a very dynamic player that makes plays with his feet, and we didn't contain him. He made plays, and he made us pay.”

It was Washington’s first loss on the year. The Demons will take a 2-1 record into Fort Madison (3-0) next week.