Washington tailback Mitch Bredeson is listed at 5-foot-8 and weighs a solid 160 pounds with soaking wet full pads.

But the latest of Washington's talented scatbacks kept pounding and pounding into the middle of a massive Cedar Falls line Friday night at Kingston Stadium despite getting gang-tackled time and again.

Same for his club, which battled the state’s top-ranked 4A team all night, even after costly mistakes at inopportune times kept putting them deeper in a hole they couldn’t escape.

Washington gave up 14 quick points in the first three minutes of the game and finally fell, 31-16, after getting nine gut-check points in 30 seconds late in the fourth quarter.

“They were real solid,” Bredeson said of the Tiger defense. “And they hit really hard.

“It was tough getting any yards on ‘em. But we made too many mistakes and missed too many opportunities.”

The miscues started early when a high snap to Wash punter Noah Dostal on the first series resulted in an 18-yard loss, giving Cedar Falls (3-0, 1-0) the ball on the 27-yard line. Crafty quarterback Brayden Longnecker immediately hit lanky receiver Ike Boettger for a touchdown.

Washington quarterback Mitch Blades then threw the first of his two interceptions, and Longnecker came right back with an 8-yard scoring pass to Boettger.

It was suddenly 14-0 with 8:48 left in the first quarter.

“That was huge to give them 14 points right off,” said Warrior Coach Tony Lombardi. “We made some youthful mistakes.

“But we made some adjustments, and after that I thought our defense played really well the rest of the game.”

The ever-competitive Blades brought his team back with three crisp pass completions and a 12-yard run of his own, then capped an 80-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge barely into the second quarter.

After stopping Cedar Falls on downs, disaster struck again when the Warriors (1-2, 0-1) regained the ball. This time, Dostal had his punt attempt blocked, giving the Tigers possession at the 15-yard line.

Washington defensive back JoJo McBride saved a touchdown by kicking down a pass at the goal line, so Cedar Falls had to settle for a 37-yard field goal.

Punting woes continued, though, as Dostal booted his next one off the side of his foot for a 12-yarder out of bounds. Aided by a face mask penalty, Longnecker marched the Tigers downfield and made it 24-7 at halftime.

“We made some special teams errors that cost us,” Lombardi said. “We could have had better execution, but I blame that on the coaching for not preparing them well enough.”

Even though the contest didn’t seem so one-sided, Cedar Falls appeared to put it out of reach on its first possession of the second half when Longnecker scored from the 1-yard line. The key play was a pass tipped by a Warrior defender into the hands of receiver Brandon Corkery for a 36-yard gain.

“They seemed to take advantage of almost every mistake we made,” said Lombardi.

Down 31-7 to start the fourth quarter, the Warriors never gave up. Bredeson, who had 20 carries for 64 hard-earned yards, kept pounding inside. And Blades’ passing took them down to the 5-yard line before another interception at the goal.

Turnabout’s fair play, though, as Tiger punter Michael Kuntz watched a snap sail over his head and out of the end zone for a safety.

Following a free kick, the resourceful Blades connected with Jason Oney on a 28-yard pass to make it a respectable 31-16 with two minutes left.

“I thought the kids played hard all night with a lot of determination and passion," said Lombardi. “I thought it was fitting that right to the end, they were still fighting. They gave it their best effort. And that’s all you can ask.”

CEDAR FALLS 31, WASHINGTON 16

CF       CRW

First downs     11       17
Rushing         33-139   44-71
Passing         7-11-0   15-30-2
Passing yards   132      186
Punts           4-25.8   3-12.3
Fumbles/Lost    1/0      1/0
Penalties       6-49     8-45

Cedar Falls     14   10   7   0  – 31
Washington       0    7   0   9  – 16

Scoring plays

CF – Ike Boettger 27 pass from Brayden Longnecker (Jacob Newton kick)
CF – Boettger 8 pass from Longnecker (Newton kick)
Wash – Mitch Blades 1 run (Riyad Ajram kick)
CF – FG Eli Berregaard 37
CF – Nick Clark 1 run (Newton kick)
CF – Longnecker 1 run (Newton kick)
Wash – safety, ball snapped out of end zone
Wash – Jason Oney 28 pass from Blades (Ajram kick)

Individual statistics

Rushing – Cedar Falls: Jake Buck 19-110. Washington: Mitch Blades 18-24, Mitch Bredeson 20-64, Robert Miley 3-7, JoJo McBride 2-minus 6, Noah Dostal 1-minus 18.

Passing – Cedar Falls: Brayden Longnecker 7-11-0, 132. Washington: Mitch Blades 15-30-2, 186.

Receiving – Cedar Falls: Ike Boettger 4-88, Brandon Corkery 2-46. Washington: Jason Oney 7-91, Noah Dostal 3-35, Clayton Bjornsen 2-29, Robert Miley 1-14, Maliek Ketchens 1-11, Maurice Arrington 1-6.