MUSCATINE - Paul James left the visitor's pressbox at the Muscatine football field in the second half Friday night and positioned himself near the top row of the bleachers to get a better view of the game.

The Cedar Rapids Washington coach liked what he saw a lot better.

The sixth-ranked Warriors scored 21 straight points in the second half and rallied for a 35-21 victory over seventh-ranked Muscatine in the Class 4A, District 6 opener in Muscatine.

The windows in the visitor's press box could have used a good scrubbing to improve the visibility, according to a Metro Sports Report observer, and James felt a little confined in the facility.

"It is kind of an old MAC (Mississippi Athletic Conference) tradition to have a smaller press box for the visitors on the opposite side of the field from the home team and the more spacious press box for the home teams, but I didn't really care for that," James said. "It helped for me to move up to the corner of the stands in the second half."

James likes to call the plays from the press box instead of from the field. In this case, he did his play-calling from the bleachers as the Warriors raised their record to 4-1 overall.

Washington trailed, 21-14, at halftime against the previously undefeated Muskies, but the Warriors dominated the second half.

Isaiah Nimmers caught a 42-yard touchdown pass from TJ Vogel in the third quarter and Washington tied the game, 21-21, on the PAT by Ross Kennedy.

Trey Leonard gave the Warriors a 28-21 lead in the fourth quarter on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Vogel and the PAT by Kennedy, and Johnny Dobbs finished the scoring with a 6-yard run in the final stanza.

Dobbs was a workhorse in the backfield in the fourth period.

"I was focused on covering up the ball and keeping the chain moving," he said. "I was trying to keep getting first downs."

Tavian Patrick scored Washington's first touchdown on a 35-yard in the first quarter. Andrew Dostal caught a 65-yard touchdown pass from Vogel in the second quarter.

Vogel passed for 161 yards and three touchdowns. Patrick carried the ball 20 times for 140 yards. Dobbs finished with 11 carries for 54 yards.

"I was very pleased with our offensive line, particularly in the second half," James said. "All of our backs ran hard and were good. We rose to the occasion in the second half."

WASHINGTON 35, MUSCATINE 21

.                       WASH         MUS

First downs              14             12

Rushes-yards     37-205          33-83

Passing yards         161             131

Comp-Att-Int      7-16-0        16-28-2

Fumbles-lost            0-0             1-0

Punts-avg.          5-32.2         4-38.5

Penalties-yards       6-67            5-35

Washington   7   7 7 14 - 35

Muscatine      7 14 0   0 - 21

Scoring plays

W - Tavian Patrick 35 run (Ross Kennedy kick)

M - Brennen Salmieri 1 run (Logan Nugent kick)

M - Alphonso Soko 1 run (Nugent kick)

W - Andrew Dostal 65 pass from TJ Vogel (Kennedy kick)

M - Isaiah Smith 1 pass from Luke Wichers (Nugent kick)

W - Isaiah Nimmers 42 pass from Vogel (Kennedy kick)

W - Trey Leonard 20 pass from Vogel (Kennedy kick)

W - Johnny Dobbs 6 run (Kennedy kick)

Individual statistics

Rushing

Washington - Patrick 20-140, Dobbs 11-54, Vogel 4-7, Dostal 1-5.

Muscatine - Soko 15-53, Johnson 8-17, Wichers 9-15, Foulk 2-8.

Passing

Washington - Vogel 7-16-0, 161.

Muscatine - Wichers 13-24-1; Foulk 2-3-1; Mussehl 1-1-0.

Receiving

Washington - Nimmers 5-76, Dostal 1-65, Leonard 1-20.

Muscatine - Smith 3-50, Kovach 3-18, Soko 2-8, Osland 1-11, Greenhaw 1-36.