Heart-stopper: Washington 64 Mt. Pleasant 61

WASHINGTON - It was a game that had everything. Long touchdown passes, breakout runs, scores on defense and special teams and a game-winning touchdown run with under 13 seconds left. And when the dust finally settled in the district's best game of the year, Washington's season continued, and Mt. Pleasant's ended.

Demon quarterback Luke Turner, in his last game at Case Field and final contest against the rival Panthers, found the end zone with 12.6 seconds left, snatching the lead in the final seconds of a 64-61 win.

'It felt awesome,” Turner said. 'It was a sigh of relief. All the hard work our whole entire team has put in has paid off. It's awesome.”

Turner's touchdown run came just two plays after a 33-yard scramble to the five-yard line with 32 seconds left. That scramble came after sitting out a play with cramps, and set up the score that sent Washington to the Class 3A playoffs.

'I was probably just saying an ‘Our Father' or a ‘Hail Mary,” said Washington head coach James Harris about the final drive. 'I guess I had faith, for lack of a better term. I truly believe in Luke, and I believe in Coach Mitch and our offense.”

The Mt. Pleasant offense produced two potential game-winning drives in the final minutes. After being down nine points with just over eight minutes left, the Panthers scored on two-straight one-yard touchdown rushes by Logan Bass. The second of which put Mt. Pleasant up 54-50 with 4:40 remaining.

Washington immediately responded with an 84-yard kick return touchdown by Spencer Sotelo. That flipped the score to 57-54 with the point after.

Bender and the Mt. Pleasant offense got the ball back with a little over four minutes remaining. The Panthers marched down the field and scored on a 16-yard touchdown reception from Brevin Wilson that put Mt. Pleasant ahead 61-57. Washington had all their timeouts, however, and Turner made play after play down the stretch to keep the Demons alive.

A wild back-and-forth first quarter saw Washington lead 22-21 after 12 minutes of play. Among the six touchdowns scored in the first quarter were four scores over 50 yards; An 80-yard touchdown pass from Turner to Sotelo, a 73-yard touchdown pass from Bender to Chase Williamson, a 56-yard run by Turner and a 51-yard touchdown reception by Rylan Seberg.

Washington led 36-28 at halftime. They Demons led 43-35 in the final minute of the third quarter, but Seberg jumped a pass from Turner and brought it back 30-yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 43-41 after three. In all, there were 18 touchdowns scored in the game, nine for each team.

'It was tough,” said Turner. 'They're fast on the outside. They've got some really big guys. They're physical. Obviously a team (that) puts up 61 points on our defense, they're tough.”

Turner ran for an incredible 347 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Demons. He was 7-18 throwing the ball for two touchdowns and three interceptions.

Wyatt Stout ran for 91 yards and two touchdowns in the game. Soleto finished with 89 yards receiving and two scores.

The Demon defense was led by Trashaun Willis, who had eight tackles. Brady Knutson, Lucas Kroll and Turner each had one interception. Turner's pick came on the final play of the game when Mt. Pleasant tried a bomb bass from running back Jack Johnson to Seberg as time expired. Washington also had one fumble recovery.

Bender had a huge day of his own, going 19-31 for 351 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Seberg went for 123 yards receiving and one touchdown. Williamson had 121 receiving yards and a score. Johnson and Wilson each finished with one touchdown reception.

The Mt. Pleasant defense had three interceptions on the day, two by Seberg and one by Bass.

Washington finished its regular season 7-2 overall and 4-1 in district play. They'll head to No. 1 Western Dubuque this week for the first round of the playoffs.

Mt. Pleasant finished the year 6-3 overall and 3-2 in the district. The Panthers finished one spot away from the final Class 3A playoff bid.