The seniors of the Washington Demon Football team (7-1 overall; 5-0 Class 3A District 5) ended their regular season home schedule on a historic note. As heard on FM 106.1 and KCIIRadio.com., Washington’s arch nemesis the Mount Pleasant Panthers (0-8 overall; 0-5 Class 3A District 5) came to Case Field Friday for the Demons’ senior night. The connection of Ryan Reighard and Javionn Willis proved to be lethal for Washington, scoring a trio of touchdowns in a 42-24 victory over the Panthers.

The pair of sophomores opened the scoring for the Demons early in the first quarter, dialing up from 30-yards out for a quick 7-0 lead with 9:46 remaining first quarter.
After forcing the Panthers into a three and out defensively, Washington senior running back Jack Giardino found a hole and ran 33 -ards for his lone touchdown of the game, extending the lead to 14-0 with 8:38 remaining in the first quarter. Giardino would later leave the game with a bruised hip, and wouldn’t return.

Mount Pleasant responded with their first touchdown of the game, a 42 yard touchdown strike from Joe Hess to Pat Canby, slashing the lead to 14-6 with 10:22 remaining before halftime.

Washington came back with senior Ethan Hansen taking a jet sweep 15 yards for a score, pushing the lead to 21-6 with 3:15 remaining before intermission. For the third straight week, Washington would score a touchdown with under a minute remaining in the first half. Reighard scored on a one yard touchdown run with 39 seconds remaining in the first half, running the score to 28-6.

The Reighard/Willis combo opened the second half with a touchdown strike, scoring on a 42 yard pass to make the score 35-6 with 8:50 left third quarter.
A couple of stagnant drives left Mount Pleasant holding the football at the one yard line late in the third quarter. Hess found Dshundrik Foster over the middle and he scampered 99-yards for a touchdown, cutting the lead to 35-12 with 4:15 remaining in the third quarter.

The final connection between Reighard and Willis came with 7:20 remaining in the football game, an 11-yard touchdown reception to push Washington’s lead to 42-12.
The last of the scoring belonged to Mount Pleasant. Hess connected on an 18-yard touchdown pass with senior Jack Davis, trimming the deficit to 42-18 with 5:16 remaining in the game. The scoring closed with 2:07 remaining in the game, a one-yard touchdown run by Panther senior Zac Ebling to bring the final score to 42-24.

Several streaks extended for the Demons with the win. Washington has now won five straight football games over Mount Pleasant. Their current winning streak now stands at seven games, and the Demons’ winning streak at Case Field extends to 10 games.

The rewards continue for the Demons, who wrapped up a top two finish in the district and the right to host a first round playoff game. Washington has a chance to win the district championship outright this Thursday, visiting the No.10 Davenport Assumption Knights (6-2 overall; 5-0 Class 3A District 5). The Knights comes into the winner take all district championship off a 23-13 victory over the Fairfield Trojans last night in Fairfield.