City High falls to Washington Warriors
Slow start, late miscues cost the Little Hawks.
Patrick Henkhaus ’16 walks back to the sideline as the officials rule the fumble in the end zone a Warrior ball.
October 17, 2015
With City High trailing, 33-20 in the fourth quarter, it looked like the Little Hawks had a chance to pull within a touchdown for the first time all night.
The Little Hawks were driving, when they handed it off to Bryce Frantz ‘17. Frantz broke through multiple tackles, but had the ball stripped just before he crossed the goal line. Washington recovered in the endzone for the touchback.
“Personally, I was a little bit too aggressive [on that play] and tried to cross the line, but this ain’t the NFL I guess. You can’t do that in high school,” Frantz said. “We’re gonna be coming in hot, and we’re going to be practicing strong, and getting better each week.”
The Little Hawks fell to 5-3 (3-1) in district with the 39-20 loss. snapping their five game winning streak. Washington continues its dominating performance, improving to 4-0 in district play.
Early on, it looked as though it was going to be a long night for the Little Hawks. The Warriors jumped out to a 27-0 lead, after taking a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game after a City High three and out.
Following a mishandled snap by Jared Taylor ‘17 on the punt, Washington would add another touchdown to take a 13-0 lead after missing the PAT.
On City High’s next possession, Jared Taylor threw an interception, which was intercepted by Washington’s Andrew Dostal, who returned it 52 yards for the touchdown.
That wasn’t the end of the rocky start for the Little Hawks. After a Jared Taylor sack and fumble, Washington picked it up for a 36-yard scoop-and-score by Washington’s Rane Weiland.
After a short touchdown run by Bryce Frantz, City High finally got on the board. The Little Hawks pulled to within 13 at the half, following an 18 yard touchdown catch by Naeem Smith.
Washington would get the ball early in the third quarter, and would score off of a one yard touchdown plunge by Tavian Patrick. He finished with two touchdowns and 159 yards on only 17 carries.
The Little Hawks were still in the game, even following the Frantz fumble near the goal line. Still trailing 33-20, with around 4:00 to play, Jason Jones ‘16 was deep to field a punt, but fumbled it deep in City High territory.
Washington would recover, and would score a few plays later on a touchdown run by Johnny Dobbs to make it 39-20. With 3:00 to play, the margin was too big for City High to recover from.
“I felt we were ready, and I was certainly proud of the way they hung in there and battled,” City High coach Dan Sabers said after the game. “We can learn a lot from this and come back better next week.”
Next week, the Little Hawks go on the road to play Muscatine (6-2, 2-2 in district) in the final game of the regular season.
“I think we’ll be better prepared because of this game. That’s gonna be a tough one down there, and they’ve got an explosive offense, so it’ll be interesting,” Sabers said of next week’s matchup.
