The Washington Blue Lions hosted their final regular season home game of the year Friday night, welcoming the Cavaliers from Chillicothe High School.

Washington had an outstanding defensive effort and did enough offensively to post a 13-0 victory.

It was a very pleasant night at Gardner Park.

Though the clouds rolled in and darkened the skies over Fayette County prior to the opening kick, the rains were still moving into southwestern Ohio at games end.

Chillicothe had the ball first in this game and constructed a 14-play drive to move the ball from their own 40 to the Blue Lions’ 14-yard line.

At that point, the Cavaliers attempted a 31-yard field goal.

The kicker slipped as he connected with the ball and it hit the cross bar and was no good. The field goal attempt came with 3:17 to play in the first quarter.

The Blue Lions wasted little time in getting on the board.

Starting at their own 20, there was a 5-yard run by Rocky Jones.

An illegal procedure penalty moved the Blue Lions back five and that was followed by an incomplete pass.

The next play was a short pass from Gavin Coffman to Jones who ran 80 yards for the touchdown.

That proved to be the winning score of the game.

Coffman’s kick was true, giving the Blue Lions a 7-0 lead with 2:47 remaining in the initial 12-minute period.

The Cavaliers had the ball as time expired in the first quarter.

Near midfield, after a chop block penalty on the Cavaliers, the ball went over on downs, back to the Blue Lions.

The Blue Lions moved the ball from the Chillicothe 46 down to the Cavs’ 12. On fourth down and two from the 12, an incomplete pass gave the ball back to the visitors.

Chillicothe had a tough time moving the ball against the Blue Lions.

The Cavs made it out to their own 39 before being forced to punt.

The Blue Lions took over at their own 17-yard line and moved the ball out to near midfield before they, too, had to punt.

Chillicothe had to punt again just before the end of the half with the Blue Lions holding a 7-0 lead at the break.

Former stand-out athlete at Washington High School, Kyle Brown, who played quarterback on the football team (and also played basketball and baseball) was remembered at halftime.

Brown, a director for ESPN, passed away on June 10 of this year at the age of 42, leaving his wife, Megan, and four children.

Brown’s parents, Keith and Sandy Brown, were on hand to receive a Blue Lion Heroes plaque in honor of their son, presented by Athletic Director Greg Phipps.

It read: “Our Blue Lions Heroes, Kyle Brown, Former great student athlete who was an even greater person. Keith & Sandy Brown, Over 60 years of service to our school district. Thanks for making a difference! — Blue Lion Athletics.”

Washington had the ball first to start the second half.

The Blue Lions began at their own 30-yard line.

With 8:54 to play, quarterback Gavin Coffman took a hard hit from a Chillicothe defender was injured on the play. He did not return to the game. There was no word on the injury.

When play resumed, the Blue Lions punted back to Chillicothe. With Coffman sidelined, sophomore Matthew Colflesh took over the punting duties.

His first punt was a dandy, landing and rolling tantalizingly close to going out of bounds around the 1-yard line. However, the ball hit the pylon for a touch back.

The Cavs were still stymied, offensively and went three and out.

Freshman Aden Osborne made his varsity debut at quarterback as Washington took over at their own 41-yard line.

With 1:45 to play in the third quarter, senior Ian Rogers-Wright scored on a 1-yard run.

Washington went for a two-point conversion, but the pass was incomplete.

The Cavaliers were forced to punt again, early in the fourth quarter.

Washington turned the ball over on downs and soon junior Gabe Perez came up with an interception.

There soon followed a 72-yard run to the end zone by Rogers-Wright. However, that score was wiped away by a Washington penalty and the Blue Lions punted again.

Yet again the Blue Lion defense kept the Cavs in check and Washington took over on downs at their own 17-yard line.

There followed another punt by Colflesh.

With time winding down, Osborne had an interception to seal the victory for Washington.

Head coach David Everson praised the Blue Lions’ defensive effort as the sound of the victory bell wafted through Gardner Park and the Circle Avenue neighborhood.

“I’m just proud of their effort,” Everson said. “It was a real team game tonight.

“Aden Osborne stepped in (at quarterback) and did a great job,” Everson said. “He’s a good athlete and an even better kid. He did a great job stepping in. We just managed it, right?

“I’m real proud for our seniors,” Everson said. “I’m real proud of our entire team. It was a team win and to shut them out is a big deal for us.”

Taking a look at the statistics, the Blue Lions ran the ball 35 times for 174 yards.

Rocky Jones had 14 carries for 130 yards. Ian Rogers-Wright carried 13 times for 43 yards and one touchdown.

Chillicothe carried 36 times for 81 yards.

Gavin Coffman was 4 of 11 passing for 97 yards and one touchdown, the 80-yarder to Jones.

Mason Coffman had one reception for 17 yards.

Logan Presley led the Blue Lion defense with 7.5 tackles.

The Blue Lions were penalized six times for 45 yards to four for 19 for Chillicothe.

The Blue Lions are now 5-4 on the season, 2-2 in the FAC.

Chillicothe falls to 1-8 overall, 0-4 in the conference.

Washington is at Miami Trace next week and Chillicothe completes its season at Jackson.

In other FAC games Friday, Hillsboro edged Miami Trace, 14-13 and Jackson defeated McClain, 62-14 to secure at least a co-championship in the FAC.

Jackson is now 8-1 overall, 4-0 in the FAC and will host Chillicothe next week.

McClain falls to 5-4 overall, 1-3 in the FAC in fifth place. The Tigers host Hillsboro next week.

Hillsboro is in second place in the FAC at 3-1. The Indians are 5-4 overall.

Miami Trace is now 5-4 overall, 2-2 in the FAC, tied with the Blue Lions for third place in the conference.