The Washington Demon football team fell to archrival Mount Pleasant 44-20 Friday night at the Mapleleaf Athletic Complex, snapping a 14-game win streak in the series in a game heard live on KCII.
The Demons would begin the game with the football, and would quickly take the early momentum, marching 67 yards in just over five-and-a-half minutes and 10 plays to take a 7-0 lead with a Kael Williams two yard quarterback plunge. After the Demons turned away the Panthers on downs inside Washington territory, Washington would go three-and-out to set up Mount Pleasant on their longest scoring drive of the night. The Panthers took 7:25 off the clock in that 14-play 80 yard drive to tie the game at sevens. Washington would throw the next haymaker with another scoring drive, this time going 71 yards on yet another Williams TD rush from the two. The tide turned before half immediately after, when Panther sophomore Griffen Jones housed a kickoff 70 yards to again tie things at 14. Mount Pleasant would score six more before the intermission to give themselves a 20-14 advantage. In the third quarter, it was the Panthers who played keep away with the Demon offense, running an unofficial total of 17 plays to Washington’s five. However, the Demons did have a scoring drive in those six plays when Williams dipped, dived and dodged his way into the end zone from 35 yards out to get his team within striking distance headed into the final 12 minutes. A Brody Clark pick-six, however, and his late touchdown reception dashed any road comeback plans the Demons may have had, as they fell for the third time this season, all three on the road.
Unofficially, Washington lost the game after winning total yards 282-266, but lost the turnover battle 3-0. Washington was led by Williams through the air and on the ground, completing 17 passes for 139 yards and carrying 16 times for 94 more yards and all three Demon TDs. Caden Greiner joined Williams on the ground with 49 yards on eight attempts. Nic Stone and Carson Brown combined for nine catches for 131 yards. Mount Pleasant was led by quarterback Grayson Walker’s six for seven night with 72 yards and a TD. Ryan Helling carried 17 times for 93 yards and a score. Jones and Ramzy Davis also had rushing scores. Isaiah Lange led in receiving with 35 yards on two catches. Along with Clark, Lathan Novak-Watson and Asa Rose also had picks.
After the game, Washington head coach Kelly Williams gave his thoughts on how the night unfolded with KCII Sports.
“You’ve got to tip your hat to Mount Pleasant,” Williams said. “Mount Pleasant has been getting better and better each year. Ultimately, I’ve got to have our players ready to play. There was some good things that I saw tonight. They [The players] didn’t stop fighting. Coaches and players, we just made too many mistakes to win tonight.”
With their win, Mount Pleasant raises their record to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in district play, while Washington falls to 2-3 and 0-1 in district competition ahead of next Friday’s homecoming battle with rival Fairfield. You can catch the Demons take on the Trojans next Friday on KCII beginning with pregame coverage at 7 p.m.