Reid Snitker would not have been Washington's starting quarterback this season if Rocky Lombardi had not left town in August, but that doesn't matter now.

He's got the job and he's king of the world.

Snitker threw a pair of touchdown passes to Isaiah Nimmers in the final 61 seconds Thursday night as the Warriors rallied from a 27-15 deficit and stunned Waterloo West, 28-27, on homecoming at Kingston Stadium.

"I can't do anything but smile," he said after engineering one of the greatest comebacks in school history.

It looked hopeless when the Warriors got the ball with 2:19 left in the game, needing two touchdowns in a little more than 2 minutes to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Somehow, they found a way.

Snitker hit Nimmers with a 5-yard touchdown pass with 61 seconds left to make it 27-22 with the PAT, but the Warriors still needed to get the ball again.

No problem.

Gunnar Lenzen booted a perfect on-side kick, a one-hopper that glanced off a Waterloo West player's hands as a mass of humanity scrambled for the loose pigskin. Landen Akers claimed it for the Warriors at the West 43-yard line with 59.6 seconds left and the home team had new life.

"That on-side kick, that was beautiful," said Washington Coach Paul James.

Snitker hit Clayton Bjornsen for 6 yards, then Jacob Bjornsen made a leaping catch and kept his foot in bounds for a 14-yard gain to the West 23.

Snitker found Clayton Bjornsen for another 6-yarder to the 17, and Bjornsen ran out of bounds to stop the clock with 23.9 seconds showing.

Then came the play of the game, the play that made it a special homecoming.

Snitker rolled to his left, but ran into trouble and was nearly sacked. But instead of going down for the count, he delivered a jump-pass to Nimmers at the 5-yard line and Nimmers scooted into the end zone for a 28-27 lead with 15.5 seconds showing on the clock.

"That was wonderful stuff," said Nimmers. "A wonderful throw."

The Warriors (2-3, 2-1) scored two touchdowns in 45.5 seconds to overcome a sensational two-man performance by Waterloo West tailback Lance Dunn (194 yards on 24 carries and one touchdown) and West quarterback Alex Young (132 yards on 19 carries and three touchdowns).

"Outstanding players," said James. "Those kids are Division I quality backs. We just struggled to contain them."

Washington was outplayed for 45 minutes, yet found a way to win.

"I'll tell you what," James told his players. "That's one of the greatest wins you will ever play in. Give yourself a hand. A lot of people would have cashed it in and said it was over."

Indeed, some Washington fans left the stadium before the exciting finish.

"Seniors," said James, "you'll never forget your homecoming game. Just a gritty performance by you guys. Your inner character showed."

James came out of football retirement this year for his second stint as Washington's head coach and is mighty glad he did. "It gets the blood flowing, doesn't it?," he remarked, his face glowing.

Snitker completed 22 of 31 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran the ball 11 times for 76 yards and two TDs, including a 45-yarder in the second quarter.

"He's a gutty kid and he'll take any challenge on," said James. "He's got a lot of tools. He's got good wheels. And tonight he was delivering the ball real well,  especially down the stretch when we needed it."

Snitker was a starting defensive back on the varsity last year as a sophomore. He took a few snaps at quarterback in 7-on-7 games during the summer, but figured Lombardi would be the starting quarterback this year.

"I thought I was just going to play safety and receiver, but I was the backup quarterback and he left," said Snitker. "So I had to take the starting job."

Rocky Lombardi, the son of former Washington football coach Tony Lombardi, moved to West Des Moines with his family in August and now attends Valley High School. That changed everything for Snitker.

"I kind of knew that I had to be the guy," he said.

Make no mistake, he likes having the ball in his hands.

"It's fun. Sometimes nervous," he said, still smiling. "We got it done today."

Snitker had his doubts with the Warriors trailing, 27-15, and less than 3 minutes left. He wasn't sure they could pull it out.

"Not at first," he confessed. "But on that first one, after we drove the ball down the field and scored, I thought maybe we could actually do this."

Lenzen made it possible with his perfect on-side kick. Snitker & Co. took the field, needing 43 yards in 59.6 seconds.

"I was excited," said Snitker. "But I had to stay cool and calm. I knew we still had to drive down the field and get a touchdown."

He isn't sure how he escaped a sack on the winning play.

"I don't know," he said. "My receiver (Nimmers) did a great job of being open and waving his arms so I could see him. I threw it and hoped he could go get it."

Washington looked extremely sharp in the 2-minute drill. Twice, in fact. "We work on it a lot," said Snitker. "We had it down pretty good."

"We never gave up," said Nimmers. "It's just an amazing win for us."

"I think the kids will come to school tomorrow with smiles on their faces," said James. "These seniors, they'll never forget their homecoming game. I remember mine, and it wasn't so pretty. It's something they'll take with them forever.

"This is right up there with some of the most miraculous comebacks that we've been in."

Washington has won two straight games after an 0-3 start and will be riding some momentum when it visits top-ranked Xavier next Friday night.

WASHINGTON 28, WATERLOO WEST 27

WW       CRW
First downs              15           19
Rushes-yards          44-315    33-160
Passing yards            14           222
Comp-Att-Int          2-6-0      22-31-1
Fumbles-lost             4-4          1-1
Punts-avg.             4-39.8      4-26.0
Penalties-yards         7-51        6-27

Waterloo West   7    6   0   14 - 27
Washington       0   12   0   16 - 28

WW - Alex Young 1 run (Nevzad Osmanececvic kick)
CRW - Reid Snitker 7 run (kick failed)
WW - Lance Dunn 39 run (kick failed)
CRW - Snitker 45 run (kick failed)
CRW - FG Gunnar Lenzen 35
WW - Young 5 run (kick failed)
WW - Young 30 run (Young run)
CRW - Isaiah Nimmers 5 pass from Snitker (Lenzen kick)
CRW - Nimmers 17 pass from Snitker (pass failed)

Individual Statistics

Rushing
Waterloo West - Dunn 24-194, Young 19-132, Team 1-minus 11.
Washington - Snitker 11-76, Taylor 9-31, Vincent 2-16, Smothers 3-13, Dobbs 6-12, Nimmers 1-12, C.Bjornsen 1-0.

Passing
Waterloo West - Young 2-6-0-14.
Washington - Snitker 22-31-1-222.

Receiving
Waterloo West - Dunn 1-10, Evans 1-4.
Washington - C.Bjornsen 7-49, Akers 5-69, Nimmers 5-41, L.Bjornsen 3-36, J.Bjornsen 1-14, Smothers 1-13.