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Washington Evening Journal
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Washington, IA 52353
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Mt. Pleasant homecoming spoiled by Washington
Demons score three times in second half to get by Panthers
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
MT. PLEASANT — Mt. Pleasant and Washington football put on a show Friday night as the Panthers celebrated their homecoming.
To the Panthers’ dismay the Demons played spoiler, winning the Class 3A district four bout 39-28.
The Demons looked to be firing on all cylinders from the jump.
On the opening drive, Washington set off on an 11 play drive that spanned 65 yards.
The Panthers failed to get the Demons beyond second down before the ball entered their own five yard line.
Mt. Pleasant got Washington to 4th and one, but quarterback Logan McDole scampered into the end zone from just one yard out to put Washington up 7-0.
The Demon defense followed the likes of the offense, forcing the Panthers into a three and out and on its next offensive possession, Washington found pay dirt once again.
This time McDole connected with Mason Morgan, who darted for six on a 83-yard catch and run.
Mt. Pleasant continued to struggle to find any offensive momentum, going three and out for a second straight time. On their first two drive, the Panthers moved the ball just six yards.
That wasn’t the case the rest of the way.
Washington looked to be driving once again converting a 3rd and nine just before the end of the first quarter.
After a false start and a seven yard sack by Mt. Pleasant put the Demons into a 4th and 22, they had to kick the ball away.
Mt. Pleasant finally got going and it started with Ramzy Davis and Payton Walker.
The junior in Davis ran the ball three straight times to start the Panthers second quarter, covering 18 yards on those three rushes.
Walker followed with a 10 yard rush to put the Panthers inside the Demon 10. The pair combined for four more rushes, as Davis capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run.
The Panther momentum followed to the defensive side of the ball.
Washington was forced into a three and out and Mt. Pleasant struck once again. This time, the Panthers ran eight plays, highlighted by a 30-yard rush by Walker that put the ball inside the Demon five.
Davis once again closed the drive, this time from three yards out to knot the game at 14-14.
The Demons answered.
With under a minute to play, McDole continued his big night throwing the ball. After a 13-yard rush by Kael Williams moved the Demons across midfield, McDole hit Jayfred Espinosa for 49-yard touchdown with just 48.6 seconds remaining in the half.
The point after was no good, but Washington would take a 20-14 lead into the half.
Out of the second half, the Panthers took advantage.
Walker continued his stellar rushing game, finishing off another Mt. Pleasant drive with a 9-yard touchdown run to give the Panthers their first lead of the night.
However, the Demons did not dissipate.
McDole ended another Washington drive with six after a 4-yard screen pass to Williams turned into six. The two point try was no good, but the Demons held onto a 26-21 advantage.
Mt. Pleasant looked to continue its offensive momentum on the following drive, but the Demon defense stunted them on fourth down early in the fourth quarter.
With an opportunity to make it a two possession game once again, Washington marched the ball all the way down to the Panther two.
Mt. Pleasant showed they weren’t going to make it easy.
The Panthers forced the Demons into a 4th and two, but McDole found a way.
On what looked to be a quarterback keeper around the edge, turned into what looked like nothing after the Panthers created a wall in front of the senior quarterback.
However, McDole somehow spun around and flipped the ball to Williams, who dove across the goal line to put the Demons back on top 33-21.
The Panthers continued to battle. On 3rd and six, Zach Newton let it fly down field connecting with Avin Truong for a 40 yard gain to the Demon 28.
That set up another Davis score for the Panthers as he found six from 14 yards out to cut it to 33-28.
However, the Panthers needed stop as time continued to tick.
Mt. Pleasant had an opportunity. The Panther forced another Demon fourth down, but McDole and Williams found each other once again to convert inside the Panther 20, all but ending any hopes at a comeback. Williams ended the drive with six more from three yards out as Washington made it 39-28.
McDole led Washington with 313 passing yards and four touchdowns. He also had 66 yards on the ground and a score.
Kael Williams followed with 62 yards and a touchdown on the ground. He also caught one as well.
Mason Morgan caught seven balls for 179 yards and a touchdown.
For Mt. Pleasant Payton Walker rushed for 110 yards and one touchdown. Ramzy Davis ran for 88 yards and three touchdowns.
Avin Truong had one catch for 40 yards.
Defensively, Walker had 10 tackles. Davis had six tackles.
Washington moves to 5-1 with the win, while Mt. Pleasant drops to 2-4.
