Washington football prepared for new season

As year three of the Carter era begins in Washington, the expectations are starting to rise.

After posting a 15-7 career record in his first two seasons at the helm of the Washington football team, head coach Garrison Carter has a large crew of returners to help him on the gridiron this year, with expectations high for a talented group.

?It?s been three completely different phases (each year),? Carter said. ?My first year (Washington) had just come off the state championship game and returned a good nucleus. The big thing is that you don?t want to rock the boat of a successful program, then last year was a big overhaul. We returned very few guys and had a big wave of sophomores and juniors. It made sense to do that then, but we didn?t get everything in that we want to have in going forward.

?Going into year three, this is truly our programs and our vision of what we wanted.?

In growing a program, Carter has involved the community, and he said he wouldn?t be able to achieve success without the work the student-athletes do.

?It?s huge,? Carter said. ?Our kids do such a good job of helping out in the community and staying involved. We send our kids to a senior leadership class where they learn how to be positive influences in our community and build those relationships with people. It?s important to get those relationships established.

With a high number of returners, the Demons are coming off a 7-3 season that saw them finish as the district runners-up, a position that might have exceeded people?s expectations with numerous sophomores in the lineup.

?Last year we were sitting here and people weren?t sure if we would be able to sneak into the playoffs,? Carter said. ?I think we overachieved in a lot of people?s eyes. If you said that we were going to be 7-3 and our losses would be to Pella, Assumption and Solon in the playoffs, people would have felt good about that year. We got the max we could have out of our kids last year.?

Now, Carter is looking for more out of the kids.

After working hard this summer in camps, the Demons should be on the short list of preseason Class 3A state title competitors.

?We basically have that same group back and now this group is being talked about to win a state title,? Carter said. ?That?s what we say to our kids and we expect that. We expect to compete for a state title. This is what we work for every day.?

One offseason camp the Demons participated in was at Camp Dodge where the team took part in numerous National Guard training exercises at the end of July.

?It was half football and half ?get away and grow up a little bit,?? Carter said. ?Our kids did a great job with that. We loaded them up on the bus on Monday morning and the second we got there we put them in full pads and said we are going to practice. We had three practices there and did some National Guard training things and we put them through a 3-mile military training run.?

The Demons used that training and now have carried it over to a spirited first week of practice, helped by the play of the seniors.

?The seniors on this team have established themselves, running this thing the right way and building this program the way they want to,? Carter said. ?I can?t say enough good things about them.?

That attitude will be critical as they prepare for a tough schedule this season.

After opening the year at Albia, the Demons will host county-rival Mid-Prairie before opening district play.

?We have to stay humble and take things week by week. The limit is a state title and that would be the end-goal any year here in August, but ultimately we have to win every week. With only two teams going to the playoffs, you can?t afford to have any slip-ups. If you drop a game early in the season, you might be on the outside looking in. We are focused on Albia and then we?ll be focused on Mid-Prairie.?

Once district play opens, they will face two big rivals around a game that will feature a newcomer to the Demons? district, with powerhouse Solon coming into town.

?We are going to learn a lot in the first three weeks of district play,? Carter said. ?We have Mt. Pleasant, then Solon and Fairfield. Those are three teams that are traditionally strong in this part of the state, and I think Solon is the team to beat. West Burlington and Oskaloosa are good football names, so we can?t take any week off.?

The Demons will take part in a scrimmage at Muscatine on Friday, Aug. 19, before opening the season at Albia on Aug. 26.

Check out next week?s editions of The Journal for detailed previews of the Demons? season.