It’s one thing to run over a totally out-classed opponent.
It’s quite another to completely dominate a team proven to be good.
The Class 4A top-ranked Washington Warriors showed their mettle at Kingston Stadium Friday by stopping Ottumwa’s previously high-powered offense and seemingly scoring at will against a tested defense.
The final was 40-2, but the game was not as close as the score might indicate.
The Warriors (6-0) made touchdowns on six of their first eight possessions. They punted once and had a pass intercepted in the end zone as they were about to score again.
With a 40-point lead midway through the third quarter, subs played out the rest of the way as the continuous clock kept running to the quick ending.
The once-mighty Bulldogs (back in the days of the Little Six Conference), meanwhile, scored their only points late by tackling Washington’s Johnny Dobbs in the end zone on a play that started from scrimmage at the 1-yard line.
On the previous play, Ottumwa quarterback Brok Hopwood fumbled at the goal line in his team’s one and only scent at touchdown territory. Otherwise, they punted six times and had one pass interception.
Ottumwa had minus-2 yards net rushing in 32 attempts (which included a loss of 32 on a bad snap over the punter’s head) and just 80 yards passing.
This meager output came from a Class 4A team that had a 4-1 record, had averaged 30 points a game and 394 yards in total offense.
“We were concerned about them,” Washington Coach Paul James said after his first-ever matchup with Ottumwa.
His worry didn’t last too long.
On the third play of the game, Warrior quarterback Reid Snitker flipped a pass to big tailback Dobbs and he broke tackles for 44 yards all the way down to the Bulldog 33.
With less than two minutes gone, Snitker then ambled around right end untouched from 23 yards out.
From that point on, James noted, “We were able to move the ball pretty effectively.”
The big front line, including a rotating trio of tight ends, had their way all night and multiple runners produced yards.
Dobbs, a husky 215-pound junior, rushed for a career-high 120 yards on 16 carries, much of the time carrying would-be tacklers along for the ride.
“I was just feeling good out there,” he said. “The line, the wide receivers, all of them were holding their blocks and I was just finding the holes.”
James said Dobbs adds a different dimesion to a running attack that has been led by speedster Tavian Patrick.
“Tavian’s more of a scatback,” the coach pointed out, “while Johnny is a power back. It’s a challenge for defenses to adjust.”
His own defense, meanwhile, stopped everything Ottumwa tried.
"Once they got the first series out of the way, they got in a groove and really shut ‘em down,” James said. “The guys up front really dominated.”
Senior middle linebacker Connor Vincent, who is an anchor on defense alongside his twin brother Sam, said his team was well-prepared for the contest.
“We knew they liked to run,” he said, “so we were ready for them. We really put it all together tonight, the whole team.”
CEDAR RAPIDS WASHINGTON 40, OTTUMWA 2
OTT CRW
First downs 7 20
Rushes-yards 32-minus 2 43-258
Passing yards 80 156
Comp-att-int 5-16-1 7-17-3
Fumbles-lost 3-1 0-0
Punts-avg. 6-37.5 1-30.0
Penalties-yards 4-20 4-25
Ottumwa 0 0 0 2 – 2
Washington 13 14 13 0 -- 40
Scoring plays
CRW – Reid Snitker 23 run. Gunnar Lenzen kick.
CRW – Johnny Dobbs 6 run. Kick failed.
CRW – Dobbs 6 run. Lenzen kick.
CRW – Alex Herzog 28 pass from Snitker. Lenzen kick.
CRW – Snitker 5 run. Lenzen kick.
CRW – Caleb Smothers 17 run. Kick failed.
OTT – Safety.
Individual statistics
Rushing
Ottumwa – Isaiah Hutchinson 11-25.
Washington – Dobbs 16 -120, Smother 5 -44, .
Passing
Ottumwa – Brok Hopwood 5-16-80-1.
Washington – Snitker 5-13-109-1, TJ Vogel 2-4-47-2.
Receiving
Ottumwa – Pappy Kruah 2-50.
Washington – Dobbs 1-44, Isaiah Nimmers 2-35, Herzog 1-28.
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