It was a difficult Friday night for the Washington Demon football team, as they dropped their second contest of the young season to the No. 10 in Class 3A Independence Mustangs by a final of 45-7 in a game heard live on KCII.
After the Demons went three-and-out on their first offensive series of the game, Independence wasted no time in getting in the end zone, driving 80 yards in just five plays to capture the early advantage on a 42-yard Christopher Meyer to Ezekiel Symonds touchdown connection. Washington quarterback Kael Williams would toss his first interception of the night on the ensuing series, leading to another Mustang score to put Indee up 13-0 after the first. Defenses would stand tall until the later stages of the quarter when Independence senior running back Nicholas Mostek plunged into the end zone from two yards away to take a 21-0 lead into intermission. With help from another Washington turnover, the Mustangs would again capitalize on the mistake to pad their lead to 31-0 after the third. Washington finally found pay dirt in the fourth when Williams rolled out to the far side of the field and tossed the ball to an open Liam Roberts, who ran away from defenders to score his second TD of the year from 85 yards away. Before the game would end, the ‘Stangs would pile on 14 more points on the Washington defense, further securing the win.
Unofficially, Independence won total yards 438-202, including a win in the turnover battle 3-0. The Demons were led by Williams’ 10 completions for 134 yards, including his 44 rushing yards. Roberts hauled in two passes on the night for 87 yards and a score. For the victorious Mustangs, it was Meyer’s 20 completions for 225 yards and three total offensive touchdowns. Mostek added a pair of rushing scores, while Ethan Schmitt also recorded a passing TD in relief of Meyer. Blayne Mergen, Braylen Bieber and Jarron Rupprecht each had one turnover.
Washington head coach Kelly Williams broke down the game postgame with KCII Sports.
“They could run it and they could pass it,” Williams said. “We tried to force them into the passing game. They hit a couple big passes. I thought we slowed down the run game in the first half, and then in the second half we just made too many mental errors.”
Independence raises its record to 2-0 on the year, while Washington drops to 0-2 ahead of their first home contest of the season next week against the Burlington Grayhounds. You can catch the game live on KCII starting with pregame coverage at 7 p.m.