Turnovers help Washington past Mt. Pleasant

WASHINGTON -- Last season, Ethan Zieglowsky had three interceptions, and returned all three for touchdowns.

In a nondistrict game Friday at Case Field, Zieglowsky had two interceptions, but neither resulted in a touchdown...by Zieglowsky. Both started drives that yielded Demon scores in a 22-0 Washington victory over Mt. Pleasant.

“Zig is the guy, he can do anything,” said Jacob Miller, who caught two TD passes.

The game started with a turnover, a fumble on the first play from scrimmage. Mt. Pleasant then fumbled on its first two snaps, but didn’t lose possession until a missed field goal. The Demons reached the Panther 7-yard line on their third possession but fumbled it away again.

”I thought our defense did a great job of flying to the ball,” Mt. Pleasant head coach Shawn Striegel said. ”There was a lot of tough kids out there on both sides of the ball.“

The fourth Demon possession went 63 yards with the seventh play a 14-yard scoring pass from Ethan Patterson to Miller. It was an 8-0 lead with 9 minutes, 6 seconds remaining in the first half.

“The offensive line did a good job,” Miller said. “Patty threw a great ball. That makes me look good.”

“When I hit Jacob on that corner route, it got the adrenaline going,” Patterson said.

Patterson had not planned to play after an injury in the Burlington game, but starting quarterback Kasen Bailey “got dinged so Patty stepped up,” said Demons head coach Nic Ehret, who is now 1-1 at the helm. “It’s always special to get the first win and even better at home. This is a place that obviously values their football. That is great to be a part of.”

The eighth play of a Panthers drive was a pass caught by Zieglowsky. “So we knew they wanted to throw one to the outside because their quarterback throws a really good fade ball. He threw a bad ball, so I went and got it.”

A third-and-9 completion to John Prochaska, who had three receptions for 93 yards, was followed by a run by Tayven Stuart, who had 23 carries for 98 yards. Third-and-8 was an 18-yard touchdown pass to Miller. Lucas Kroll caught the PAT and it was 16-0 with 9:09 remaining.

“Milly is our energy and our game breaker,” Ehret said. “When he gets open, he can make things happen.”

Energy was key for the Demons and the defense owes Lincoln Hanson, even though he is on crutches with a torn ACL. According to defensive tackle Brayden Hartman, Hanson, “is a huge help to the team. He is our hype man. We had more energy in the second half because we really ramped it up at halftime. That got us all going.”

Mt. Pleasant was intent on winning the game and reeled off 13 plays going to the Demon 6. The 14th play was second-and-goal and the possibility of a one-score game. Instead it was Zieglowsky grabbing a pass in the end zone and returning 60 yards. Three plays later, Patterson entered the end zone on a 7-yard run.

“I think my first year coaching (2013) was the last time we went scoreless, so that stings,” Striegel said. “We have to do a better job of getting a rhythm for our offense. Our kids improved from last week. We just have to score. They have some talented kids and we have some work to do.”

Panther quarterback Carson Coleman was 15-for-26 for 95 yards and ran 16 times for 36 yards. Jurha Turner, Wyatt Woodsmall and Carter Amos had four catches apiece.

Washington is 1-1 with a game at Clear Creek-Amana (1-1). The Clippers lost to Iowa City High. The Panthers and Keokuk will be looking for a first win when the Chiefs come to Mt. Pleasant next week. Keokuk suffered a 41-14 home loss to Burlington.

Patterson’s injury may be sore in the morning. “I guess we’ll find out.” It won’t hurt as much since the Demons won.