Demons overcome slow start to defeat Keokuk by 30 points

Washington may have gotten off to a slow start in Friday?s game against Keokuk at Case Field, but the Demons couldn?t have finished much stronger.

After falling behind 14-7 in the second quarter, Washington out-scored the Chiefs 44-7 the rest of the way and rolled to a 51-21 win.

Washington got the ball to start the game, but Keokuk?s defense forced the Demons to go three-and-out. Then the Chiefs took the ball and marched down the field in nine plays and scored when senior quarterback Gabe Vandenberg found senior tight end Dan Williams for an 11-yard touchdown.

Washington answered, tying the game on junior fullback Garrett Covington?s 2-yard touchdown run, but the Chiefs (2-3, 2-1 Class 3A District 7) responded when Vandenberg threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to senior Darrion Sanders to go ahead 14-7.

?We just seem to be slow starters,? Washington head coach Randy Schrader said. ?We just don?t come out locked in for whatever reason. They?re a good football team, and they came out and took advantage of it.?

But from there it was nearly all Demons. Junior Mason Quigley made a 25-yard field goal to trim Keokuk?s lead to 14-10, and then junior Alex Coker returned an interception 62 yards for a touchdown that put Washington in front for good.

?I think any time you return a turnover for a touchdown, be it a fumble or an interception, it?s going to be a huge turning point,? Schrader said. ?It was a huge momentum swing for us and seemed to jump-start us.?

Junior Carl Sivels added a 17-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter, and the Demons went into the locker room at halftime leading 24-14.

Washington scored on three straight possessions to start the second half. Sophomore quarterback Daryn Sebelius threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to junior Tanner Knupp, Sivels ran for a 38-yard touchdown and Covington ran for a 17-yard touchdown as the Demons expanded their lead to 45-14 going into the fourth quarter.

A muffed punt led to a Keokuk score in the fourth quarter. Sivels finished the scoring with his third rushing touchdown of the night, this one from 19 yards out.

In the absence of leading rusher Kyle Roder, who is out 2-4 weeks with a bruised kidney and cracked ribs, Sivels and Covington combined for 173 yards and five touchdowns. Sivels ran for 98 yards and three scores, and Covington had 75 yards and two touchdowns. Coker added 72 yards on the ground.

?When Kyle went down, our big concern was on the defensive side of the ball,? Schrader said. ?We thought we could do some things by committee on offense, which is what we did. We put a running back by committee at two different positions there. But it was a team effort. Both of those kids would tell you that there were holes there to run through. The backs ran hard, the offensive line and receivers blocked hard, and Daryn got the ball into the hands of the guys who needed to have it.?

After suffering a 35-28 loss at Keokuk last year, the Demons had the Chiefs circled on their calendar this year.

?One of our seniors? goals was to pick up a win against Keokuk this year,? Schrader said. ?Our seniors chose that game to target, and they attained that goal. We?ve accomplished two of our goals, and now we?ve got some other ones to get.?

The Demons, now 3-2 overall and 2-0 in District 7, will travel to Williamsburg (4-1, 3-0 District 7) next week.

?They?ve got one loss to a very good Grinnell team,? Schrader said. ?They do a lot of things very well. They?ve always got good athletes. They?ve always got good speed. And they?ve always got good size.?