To say the Washington football team has a variety of weapons would be an understatement.

Coach Paul James has depth in the backfield, depth at receiver, depth at quarterback and a deep, talented offensive line with a pair of Division I-caliber starters in Iowa State commit Julian Good-Jones and Royal Silver.

And that is just the offense.

The Warrior defense was almost as good in Thursday night’s showdown with Cedar Rapids Kennedy at steamy Kingston Stadium.

Washington got touchdowns from six different players on offense while the defense held the Cougars in check in a 41-7 victory.

Washington (2-0) simply wore down a Cougar team that fought valiantly in the first half, but didn’t have enough spark on offense after halftime.

The overall effort from the third-ranked Warriors was most pleasing to James. He said having so many talented athletes allows him to take advantage of any edge an opponent can provide.

“You just call plays,” James said. “We just try to read and see what’s there. Whoever’s number happens to get called in that play has the chance to get the job done.

“We have good skill kids,” he continued, “and I think you saw tonight how our offensive line was able to impose their will on Kennedy. They dominated so well tonight and I was real proud of them.”

Despite the fact they were outsized in both lines, Kennedy hung right with the highly touted Warriors in the first half and trailed 13-0 at intermission.

Washington scored first when quarterback Reid Snitker capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive with a quick-hit 6-yard scoring pass to Maurice Arrington.

On the ensuing kickoff, Warrior kicker Joseph Lenzen popped one up over the front line and a Kennedy up-back muffed the ball, allowing Washington to recover on the Kennedy 42.

Snitker hit Landen Akers with a beautiful fade pass for 38 yards to the Kennedy 4 and took it in himself on a keeper for the Warriors' second score in 17 seconds.

Lenzen’s PAT kick was blocked and it was 13-0 Warriors.

Kennedy mounted a sustained drive in the second quarter, taking nearly six minutes off the clock. Washington’s defense held and a 33-yard field goal try from Mark Schulz was blocked by Akers, who came off the edge and timed his dive perfectly.

After Tavian Patrick scored to give the Warriors a 20-0 lead, Akers put the game away with a beautiful 78-yard punt return in which he broke several tackles.

“He gave them a look like he was going to take off to the right,” James said. “We had a return left and that is where his wall was.

"I think he spun his way out of a couple tackles and bulled his way through a couple more. Once he got in the open, the rest was history.”

Akers said he just kept fighting.

“It was a pretty deep kick,” he said. “I got a couple good blocks, then I stiff-armed a guy and broke away from a couple others.”

Kennedy did get on the board early in the fourth quarter on a 6-yard Tyler Dralle run, but it took the Warriors only three plays to respond, the capper coming on a 30-yard run up the middle to the end zone from fullback Caleb Smothers. Johnny Dobbs’ 4-yard run rounded out the scoring.

Akers said he could see the Cougars wearing down as the game went along.

“I think we got them in a tough position,” he said. “After that point, it was hard for them to handle us.”

James said the Warriors actually had “their worst practice of the year” on Monday, but brought things together quickly in the short week.

“Playing a Thursday game always makes you condense things a little bit,” he said. “The nice thing now is that we have an extra day to get ready for a good Iowa City West team next week.”

The Warriors host the Trojans next Friday at Kingston Stadium while Kennedy (0-2) will be seeking its first win on the road against North Scott.

WASH         KEN

First downs              14              15
Rushes-yards         39-277       33-104
Passing yards            106          120
Comp-att-int           6-9-0        10-27-0
Fumbles-lost             1-0             2-1
Punts-avg.             4-33.7         4-41.7
Penalties-yards        5-45            1-5
Washington           13    0   14    14 - 41
Kennedy                  0    0    0     7 -  7

Wash – Maurice Arrington 6 pass from Reid Snitker (Joseph Lenzen kick)
Wash – Snitker 4 run (kick blocked)
Wash – Tavian Patrick 29 run (Lenzen kick)
Wash – Landen Akers 78 punt return (Lenzen kick)
Ken – Tyler Dralle 6 run (Mark Schulz kick)
Wash – Caleb Smothers 30 run (Lenzen kick)
Wash – Johnny Dobbs 4 run (Lenzen kick)

Individual statistics

Rushing

Washington –  Reid Snitker 4-18, Caleb Smothers 5-51, Connor Vincent 4-13, Tavian Patrick 10-58, Johnny Dobbs 9-78, Tavion Stewart 2-57, Thomas Vogel 2-7, Nicholas Nassif 2-(minus 5).

Kennedy – Logan Wedo 13-51, Jay Blank 6-17, Tyler Dralle 4-12, Sammy Lizarraga 2-(minus 16), Terrence Hall 2-5, Shaun Beyer 5-26, Jonah Moes 2-9.

Passing

Washington – Reid Snitker 6-8-0-94, Thomas Vogel 1-1-0 12. Kennedy – Sammy Lizarraga 10-27-0-120.

Receiving

Washington – Landen Akers 2-40, O’Rien Vance 1-12, Maurice Arrington 1-6, Caleb Smothers 2-32, Dallas Hobbs 1-16

Kennedy – Shaun Beyer 1-19, Drake Brewster 1-23, Ray’ez Bell 2-18, Logan Wedo 2-14, Terrence Hall 2-17, Tyler Dralle 1-9, Dillon Koch 1-20.