O'Rien Vance had a block party Friday night at Linn-Mar Stadium.

The rangy Cedar Rapids Washington linebacker may have been unknown before the No. 2 Warriors' showdown with No. 9 Linn-Mar. On a team loaded with NCAA Division I-caliber players, Vance showed the overflow crowd he is a star in the making.

Vance blocked a pair of punts that were both scooped up by teammates for touchdowns and the Warriors kept the Linn-Mar offense in check en route to an impressive 43-3 non-district victory.

The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder was also all over the field on defense, making life miserable for Lions quarterback Ryan Schmidt.

"He's a player," Washington Coach Paul James said of Vance. "He played quite a bit for us in our playoff game last year after splitting the year between freshman and sophomores. We know what he is capable of doing and he really stepped up tonight.

"O'Rien has speed, he's got strength," continued James. "He's got a lot of range and he's going to get a lot bigger and stronger."

He looked plenty big and strong to the Lions on Friday. Vance got the Warriors off to a big start, breaking through and blocking a Sean Zimmerman punt. As the ball bounced away, Vance was able to bat it away from Zimmerman, allowing teammate Tavian Patrick to recover the ball and carry it 20 yards for a score, less than five minutes into the contest.

"Every time we watched film, I analyzed it and it was able to work," Vance said. "I was surprised I was able to get my hands on it. Once I did, I knew we had to score."

The Lions bounced back from the block, driving into field goal position where Alexy Boehm connected from 41 yards out. However, that would be all the scoring from the Lions as Washington exploded for 36 points in the second quarter.

Johnny Dobbs (2 yards) and Patrick (38 yards) ran for scores early in the second quarter. Dobbs' score was set up by a 73-yard Landen Akers run on a jet sweep.

Then it was Vance's time again. Zimmerman bobbled a snap and Vance broke through, tipped the ball and flattened Zimmerman. The ball fell into the hands of Isaiah Nimmers, who went 54 yards to score.

The Warriors wrapped the game up in the final minute of the first half. Reid Snitker broke loose for a 47-yard run, just falling short of the end zone. Dobbs finished the drive with 44 seconds remaining.

Then, on Linn-Mar's first play after the kickoff, Schmidt threw a short pass under pressure that was snagged by Snitker and run in from 22 yards out.

"We were able to make some big plays tonight," James said. "We are fortunate to have a lot of different guys who have the ability to make big plays. This was a pride game for us tonight and I thought we played with a lot of pride."

Linn-Mar Coach Bob Forsyth was quick to credit the Warriors for their overall effort.

"Give credit to them, they are a good football team," he said. "You can't make mistakes like we did against a good football team because they can avalanche and they certainly did tonight."

Forsyth said his Lions left the stadium hurting.

"This isn't what any of us had in mind coming in tonight," he said. "We got beat by a great team, but we'll start bouncing back tomorrow. We start district play next week so we have a lot to play for starting next week."

District play also begins for the Warriors next Friday and they could enter their District 6 home game with Muscatine (3-1) as the state's No.1 team. Top-ranked West Des Moines Dowling was upset by West Des Moines Valley so there will likely be a change at the top of the Class 4A rankings.

"We have a chance to do some special things," James said. "We just have to keep working and improving. This is the first time I've ever coached where every game doesn't have something to do with the playoffs."

The Lions will be back in Linn-Mar Stadium next Friday, playing host to 0-4 Waterloo East in a District 5 contest.

WASHINGTON 43, LINN-MAR 3

Wash LM

First downs 8 9

Rushes-yards 29-236 23-21

Passing yards 30 163

Comp-Att-Int 2-7-0 13-23-1

Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1

Punts-avg. 3-22.0 3-30.3

Penalties-yards 5-55 3-25

Washington 7  36  0  0 - 43

Linn-Mar        3   0  0  0 -  3

Wash - Tavian Patrick 20 blocked punt return (Gunner Lenzen kick)

LM - FG Alexy Boehm 41

Wash - Johnny Dobbs 2 run (Lenzen kick)

Wash - Patrick 38 run (Lenzen kick)

Wash - Isaiah Nimmers 54 blocked punt return (Lenzen kick)

Wash - Dobbs 1 run (Lenzen kick)

Wash - Reid Snitker 22 interception return (Dallas Hobbs pass from Snitker)

Individual Statistics

Rushing

Washington - Tavian Patrick 7-64, Johnny Dobbs 8-67, Reid Snitker 6-41, Landen Akers 1-73, Tavion Stewart 2-2, Thomas Vogel 2-minus 5, Nicholas Nassif 3-minus 6.

Linn-Mar - Perrion Scott 9-12, Ryan Schmidt 9-minus 3, Logan Benter 3-9, Daniel Gorsich 1-0, Jordan Junkins 1-3.

Passing

Washington - Reid Snitker 2-7-0-30

Linn-Mar- Ryan Schmidt 12-22-1-131, Andrew Gassmann 1-1-0-32

Receiving

Washington - Landen Akers 2-30

Linn-Mar - Trevor Noble 1-20, Bryce Miller 1-0, Perrion Scott 2-22, Daniel Gorsich 3-36, Garett Evans 4-66, Andrew Gassmann 1-24, Jordan Junkins 1-5.