Washington Wrap-up

[Guest]

Week 1 - Washington 20, Kalispell 13

We got up early and never looked back in this one. Our first drive of the season was a fairly smooth, 13-play, 59-yard TD, then the Stags turned around and fumbled on our side of the field. Only a field goal, but 10-0 halfway into the 1st. But for a really dumb pass play late that gave Kalispell a touchdown, there wasn't much excitement.

Eisenbart was not strong in this one. He was 1/3 on each of the first two drives, and 3/8 on 3rd downs overall - only two conversions. But on further analysis, the first four incompletions were 3 hurries, and 1 pass defensed. He pretty consistently threw away from the double-teams, but was getting pressured too much. Also, being up 20-6 and throwing 22 yards downfield on 1st & 10 midway through the 4th - that needs to be fixed.

Not much to report defensively. Stout effort, but no standouts. The return to the 4-3 seems to be the

So overall, it was good enough to win, but lots of things to tweak.

Injuries - SS Walter Pittard tweaked his knee and will probably miss a month. Ouch.

A.J. McGee is now P-2, low risk of re-injury.

Next week - the return of A.J. McGee? Haven't decided yet, but smart money is on him at least being in the rotation. I'm expecting to see improvement between that and some offensive tweaks.

[Guest]

Week 2 - Washington 31, South Maryland 10

Not quite the offensive blast it would appear, this one was mostly defense. The offense did its job in taking advantage of turnovers, but other than that, it was still pretty inconsistent. There were enough big plays to pad the stats, but only completed 15/32.

A.J. McGee saw some spot action, but nothing remarkable. His erstwhile replacement, Kurt Perez had a solid outing with 85 yards and a freaky 3 TDs.

Next week - The Extreme... always a tough matchup. Hoping the offense can gel, because we'll need it.

[Guest]

Week 3 - Lake County 16, Washington 13

The good news about this season so far is that the offense has not been clicking - but we're still competitive. Case in point, this game. Eisenbart 12/23, no TDs. Rushing game - 2.44ypc. But still... with a minute left, we were only down by three and had the ball on LC's 40. Eisenbart coughs it up and game over.

Overall, we still need to tune the offense in. Hopefully next week. We're due for an explosion.

Next week - Port City. Like Lake County, this team bears a grudge for our playoff wins. I like how our defense is playing this year, but definitely tweaking the gameplan on the other side of the ball.

[Guest]

Week 4 - Port City 14, Washington 3

Man, did we stink up the joint. Defense couldn't stop anything on their first drive, then Eisenbart throws an INT on our first play. Managed to hold them to 7-3 at the half, but then they marched down the field near the end of the third and sealed it.

Overall, though, the defense did their job. If we can't score more than 14 points, we don't deserve to win (obviously).

Eisenbart's 1st quarter - 1/4, 26 yards (21 YAC), 1 INT. 2 scrambles, 1 sack, 1 fumble.

[Guest]

Week 5 - Washington 24, New Orleans 21

Great win over a tough opponent. After trading TDs in the first half to a 14-14 tie, we dropped to 17-21 with four minutes to go. The coach went maddeningly conservative, throwing short passes (2), and running (5) until there was only 1 minute left. Predictably, the next play was a long pass to Gino Wooden - double coverage, knocked down.

Unpredictably, the next play - with 52 seconds to go - was a sweep left and McGee took it 39 yards to the house. New Orleans was able to bring it to midfield in one play, but just ran out of time.

It was very cathartic for McGee, who's been troubled by a bum shoulder to start the season. In all, McGee looked like 2019 vintage - 36 carries, 171 yards, game-winning TD, along with 2 catches, one of them for a TD.

[Guest]

Week 6 - Washington 33, Waco 6

Man, I've been on the other side of these types of games enough to feel for Waco. Their first quarter -

1st play - sack, after starting on their own 8 because of a penalty.

Three and out. Washington gets the ball on their own 47, and throws a TD on the first play.

Waco starts on their own 4, again because of a penalty. A scramble and a 5 yard pass that is then fumbled, setting up Washington on the 12.

It didn't get a whole lot better for the Warhawks. Washington miscued enough to not make it ludicrous, but suffice it to say the game wasn't even as close as the final score would indicate.

A.J. McGee struggled (29 for 74), but it was mostly due to Waco stacking against him, and Washington killing the clock, starting about midway through the 2nd quarter. He'd started with 8 carries for 60 yards. Took him 21 carries to get those last 14.

Kurt Perez had no such difficulty, finishing with 9 carries for 82 yards and a TD.

Eisenbart had a similar game to McGee. Started on fire, and threw a couple stupid INTs late when it didn't really matter.

Next week - showdown with Anchorage.

[Guest]

Week 7 -Washington 26, Anchorage 23 (OT)

This was a classic. True toe-to-toe slugfest, with every score by Anchorage matched by Washington, and vice versa.

0-0
0-3
3-3
3-10
10-10
13-10
13-13
16-13
16-16
16-23
23-23
26-23 after Anchorage won the coin toss and threw an INT deep in their own field.

Nate Graham was the MVP with 2 INTs, including the game-sealing one. A.J. McGee was back in form, 37 touches for 194 yards.

Huge win, both on the season and for the franchise in general. Since taking over in 2015, it's been split-split-split-sweep-swept. Talk about a rivalry.

[Guest]

Wow, what a game.