On a beautiful first Friday in October, the Washington Blue Lions varsity football team welcomed the team from Chillicothe High school for a Frontier Athletic Conference contest.
Chillicothe won a closely-contested game, 21-19, on Military Night.
It turned out to be a game of missed opportunities for the Blue Lions.
“We had opportunity, after opportunity, after opportunity,” Washington head coach Chuck Williamson said. “We just couldn’t finish drives.”
Washington had the edge in the statistics, accumulating 470 yards of offense to 171 for Chillicothe.
The Blue Lion defense held the Cavaliers scoreless in the second half.
“You have to finish drives and you can’t turn the ball over,” Williamson said.
The Blue Lions had four turnovers on the night.
“We dominated the game,” Williamson said. “We threw for 329 yards (by quarterback Troy Thompson).
“We had 141 yards rushing to their 85,” Williamson said. “We dominated the game between the 20’s, but, you have to finish drives.”
Chillicothe took the opening kick and had a long return to the Washington 22-yard line.
On the first play from scrimmage, Chucky Thomas ran for a 22-yard touchdown.
Isaac Crawford’s kick gave the Cavaliers a 7-0 lead just 18 seconds into the game.
With 3:33 to play in the first quarter, Maxwell Lee had an interception for Chillicothe.
On the very next play, Mason Coffman intercepted a Chillicothe pass.
Starting at their own 9-yard line, the Blue Lions moved the ball down the field and scored on a two-yard run by Rishaun Burns. R.J. Foose’s kick tied the game, 7-7 with 48.6 seconds to play in the first quarter.
With 8:22 to play in the first half, Mason Doughty hit Jaiden Cain for an 18-yard touchdown play.
Washington later scored on a 5-yard pass from Troy Thompson to A.J. Dallmayer.
Foose’s kick was good, but there was a roughing the kicker penalty on Chillicothe.
Washington decided to go for two-points, but the play was no good. Chillicothe held a 14-13 lead.
Somewhat later in the half, Lee intercepted a pass and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown.
The extra-point kick by Crawford gave the Cavaliers a 21-13 lead.
The score remained 21-13 at the half.
In the third quarter, Washington got the ball first and took it down to score when Thompson hit Tanner Lemaster for a 5-yard touchdown pass.
Washington passed for two points, but it was no good, putting the score at 21-19.
Both teams had additional possessions in the third quarter, but there was no further scoring.
Chillicothe held a 21-19 lead with 12 minutes to play in the game.
As the fourth quarter progressed, the Blue Lions moved the ball down to the 35-yard line of Chillicothe.
However, Washington had its third turnover of the game, a fumble recovered by Chillicothe at the Cavalier 39-yard line.
The Blue Lion defense continued to play very well in the second half, forcing another Chillicothe punt.
Washington took over at their own 22-yard line with 4:04 to go in the game.
The Blue Lions moved the ball out to their own 42-yard line, but turned the ball over on downs.
After another defensive stand by Washington, Chillicothe had to punt and put the Blue Lions back at their own 1-yard line.
This possession ended with an interception by Xavier Doss near midfield, sealing the win for the Cavaliers.
Both teams are now 3-3 overall, 1-1 in the FAC.
The Blue Lions are home again next week to take on Jackson.
Jackson is 5-2 overall, 2-0 in the FAC with a 56-13 win over McClain. The Tigers are now 4-2 overall, 0-2 in the FAC.
