The Chisholm Longhorns started out hot, taking their opening drive smartly down the field for a 6-love lead over Washington last Friday night at Reed Field.

“They did a good job of mixing up the run and pass, but after that our defense controlled the rest of the game,” head coach Brad Beller said.

But their lead quickly evaporated, ending in a 46-6 thumping by the Warriors who bowed up defensively and took off offensively for 528 total yards.

After Washington was forced to punt on its first two possessions, the Warriors flew like eagles, rushing for 318 and six touchdowns while Creed Barrett was very efficient throwing the rock. He finished 12-18 for 210 yards that included a 49-yard bomb to Case Alexander for a score in the third period.

Barrett was very sharing in the passing department connecting with Kade Babcock four times for 108 yards. Jackson Mays, Cash Sides and Case Alexander all had a pair of receptions and Jax Mitchell had one.

“The ball was spread around to a lot of people,” the coach said.

Josiah Dickerson burned the Longhorn defenders to the tune of 170 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 18 carries. Dickerson took the pigskin to the crib on runs of 17, 43 and one.

Javen Hall carried the mail seven times for 53 yards including a 12-yard scamper to open the scoring in the second stanza.

Sophomore Gavin Foster got into the scoring act taking the ball to the house on runs of nine and four yards and had a two point conversion carry in the fourth quarter. He finished with 10 carries for 57 yards.

But it was the Warrior defenders who slammed the door on the visitors from Garfield County.

Chisholm’s first 10 pass attempts resulted in eight completions for 90 yards. After that opening salvo, the Longhorns completed only five of their next 20 passing attempts. They completed almost as many to the Warriors as to their teammates for a paltry 56 yards.

The Chisholm quarterback completed five to his buddies while Washington picked off four of the Longhorn passes.

Braedon Hutchinson stepped in front of a pair of Longhorn passes while Dawson Thomas and Blake Heiliger each had an oskie. Thomas had six tackles from his very active safety position and forced a fumble.

The ubiquitous Case Alexander had a team-high 12 tackles with Heiliger right on his heels with nine stops.

“Case and Blake were our two big play makers against their run game,” Beller confirmed.

Hutchinson made four tackles and also broke up a pass to go with his two interceptions. Jaaron Gordon registered five tackles.

“It was the best performance of the year for our defensive backfield,” Beller exclaimed. “Braedon Hutchinson and Dawson Thomas controlled the back end while Kinser Scott did a great job of getting us lined up correctly and making plays when he needed to against the pass.

Washington’s stingy defenders limited Chisholm to 85 yards rushing.

Up next for the three-time defending champions is a quarterfinal game with the Keifer Trojans Friday night at Reed Field. Kick off is set for 7 p.m.

The 9-2 Trojans base their defense out of a 3-4 but will utilize different looks on offense.

“They are a spread on offense but use a ton of tight end formations within their spread,” Beller said.

“They are massive up front and want to run the football,” Beller said. “They are by far the biggest team we’ve seen so far. Their top rusher is their quarterback Cash Worley. He’s 6’5” and has a great arm. He throws the deep ball very well and he’s the coaches’ son so he knows every aspect of the offense.”

The Trojans pose a similar problem on the defensive side of the football.

“They are just big, strong and physical up front with good athletes,“ Beller continued. “Their two inside linebackers make it very difficult for teams to run on them. They drop eight and can still get a pass rush with just three linemen. They don’t have to load the box because  of how good they are up front.”

The key to a Warrior victory is to control the front line and defensively get aligned to all their formations.

“Our offense will need to take care of the ball and be able to run the ball. Those are very big keys for us,” Beller concluded.