A slow start rushing the football turned into an avalanche of offense for Washington last Friday night in a 57-7 smash-mouth victory over Crossings Christian at Reed Field.

When the dust settled, Washington ran for 281 yards and threw for another 221 amassing 502 total yards while holding the Knights to six yards rushing and 101 passing, with 74 coming on one play.

“That was our lone black eye, giving up a 74-yard touchdown pass,” head coach Brad Beller said.

“Our linebacker play from Case Alexander, Jaaron Gordon, Gavin Foster and Henry Mann was stellar,” the coach said.

Alexander led the tackling chart with 10 stops. Gordon and Foster both had eight tackles and Charlie Mann, Camren Jewell and Kade Babcock all had interceptions in the blow out victory.

“Our linebacking crew did an excellent job stopping the run and helping with pass coverage,” Beller said. “And our defensive linemen Hunter Sanders, Dom Palumbo and Kai Palacol all did a great job of getting their hands on blockers.

“Sometimes it’s easy to be able to stop the run and not the pass and vice versa but our guys did a great job of both all night,” Beller said.

The coach praised the play of his cornerbacks Kade Babcock, Camren Jewell and Bo Beard.

“Early on we didn’t run the ball very well but as the game got going I felt like we started getting some runs outside and off tackle,” Beller said.

Junior quarterback Creed Barrett completed 16 of 24 passes for 221 yards and a hat trick of touchdowns. Babcock was the recipient of two of those scoring passes, one for six yards in the opening quarter and on a 38-yarder in the second quarter.

Junior Jackson Mays hauled in the other touchdown aerial, an 11-yard strike in the third period.

Junior Henry Mann got in on the scoring act returning a punt 60 yards to the crib in the first quarter. Jaxon McKinney, who ran the ball four times for 45 yards,  found the end zone twice on rushing plays of five in the second period and 18 in the third stanza.

Josiah Dickerson hauled the rock into the end zone in the third period on a two yard burst.

Barrett added another 57 yards on the ground while Foster had 25 yards rushing and Sammy Salcedo had 45 yards, including a fourth period five-yard touchdown run.

Mays had another good night receiving with four catches for 43 yards.

“It was another complete game from top to bottom for Creed Barrett,” the coach said. “His big target was Kade Babcock who had seven receptions for 106 yards and the two touchdowns.”

This Friday night the Warriors travel to Lindsay for a 7 p.m. district game against the 4-4 Leopards.

“They run a pro-style offense,” Beller reports. “They use a lot of tight ends and fullbacks to get their run game going. Then, they play-action off of that. They base their defense out of a 3-4 but they are very multiple and can easily get into a 4-2 or a 4-3 by sliding their linebackers around.”

Beller said the key for the Warriors is to control their defensive line.

“They are big and strong. We’ll have to do a good job of maintaining their running attack and on offense we have to be able to run and win first down,” Beller confirmed.

Warrior notes:

Head coach Brad Beller nominated Kade Babcock as the Offensive Player of the Week. Babcock finished with seven receptions for 106 yards and two touchdowns.

The nominee for Offensive Lineman of the Week went to Jaxon Glover, who graded out at 80 percent against OCS.

The nominee for Defensive Lineman of the Week went to Hunter Sanders, who made four tackles and had a quarterback sack.

Case Alexander was the nominee for Defensive Player of the Week. He had 10 tackles against the Knights including three for losses.