The Comeback at Case

WASHINGTON — With playoff hopes dangling in the balance, the chances of the Washington football team looked bleak on Friday, as the Demons trailed Fairfield 20-0 midway through the second quarter. A couple of hours later, Washington fans were on the field celebrating a major comeback.

The Demons rallied to tie the game and then take the lead all in the final minutes of a thrilling 35-28 win, the 11th-straight for Washington over Fairfield and a big time boost to the Demons’ postseason dreams.

Fairfield was rolling early behind the play of quarterback Tate Allen and tight end Max Weaton. Allen scored on the Trojans’ first drive, finding the end zone on a 9-yard run, and then found Max Weaton on two touchdown passes in the second quarter.

Down 20-0, Washington needed some momentum going into the locker rooms, and they got it in spades, scoring twice in the last 30 seconds of the first half.

James Strabala gave the Demons their first touchdown on a 6-yard touchdown run, plus the two-point conversion reception. It was a game again, at 20-8.

On the ensuing possession, Ethan Patterson intercepted a deep Trojan pass and ran it 60 yards back downfield, all the way to the 10 with under 10 seconds left in the half. One play later, he tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Clayton Streeter, and just like that it was 20-14 at the break.

“This team has a lot of heart,” said Patterson after the game. “A lot of people would have gave up when we went down 20-0, but you knew everyone on the field was going to give their best.”

Cason Miller gave Fairfield some early breathing room midway through the third quarter, finding the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown run, but Washington had found a spark, and on the first play of the next possession, Patterson scampered 80 yards to the house. After three, the Trojan lead was 28-20.

On what seemed to be one last chance to tie the game up for the Demons, Washington drove the field to put itself in the red zone with less than five minutes left, but an injury to Patterson had Washington playing short-handed. The Demon star landed awkwardly on the sideline and had to sit with a shoulder injury.

Running back Tayven Stuart wasn’t about to let his team go quietly. Stuart rattled off a couple of first downs on the final drive and, in Patterson’s absence, tied the game up with a short touchdown pass and a two-point run. It was 28-28 with 4:03 left.

Then, another big play for the Demons put Fairfield’s back squarely against the wall. Washington chose to try and onside kick, which was perfectly executed by kicker DaShaun Westphal-Edwards. Conner Leyden was Johnny on the spot, falling on the ball near midfield to put the Demons in position to win it.

“It's nice to have those plays go your way,” said Washington head coach Nick Ehret. “Earlier this year, they weren't going our way. We've had some fortuitous bounces, and you've got to have those.”

If that wasn’t enough, a hampered Patterson returned to the field for one final drive.

“There's nothing that could keep me off the field,” Patterson said. “I wanted to be out there.”

Although Washington had its leader back behind center, it was all the running game on the final drive. The Demons ate up yards on the ground and scored on a 34-yard dart to the end zone by Stuart with exactly one minute showing on the clock.

Fairfield had a chance to tie it with one final possession, but a flurry of long passes fell to the turf, including one as time expired, and Washington stole the night with a seven-point win.

The victory puts Washington right back into the heat of the race for second place in Class 3A District 5. If the Demons can beat West Burlington-Notre Dame and Fairfield can knock off Grinnell, that would set up a three-way tie between Washington, Fairfield and Grinnell for the last automatic qualifier spot.

Fairfield could still get in via a simple tiebreaker if Washington loses next week and the Trojans knock off Grinnell, but the road is now a lot murkier with the threat of a three-way tie, which would take the RPI rankings to break.

“Tonight it's going to sting a little bit,” said Trojan head coach Nate Weaton. “What I told them in the locker room afterward was, it's a big giant feeling of disappointment, but the disappointment they have in themselves is far greater than what we can have in them.”

If the final automatic playoff spot in the district does go down to the RPI rankings, a qualifier is set to be announced next Saturday after all the Class 3A games have been finished.