IOWA CITY - The Washington Warriors nearly had to pinch themselves after they scored 27 points in the first six minutes of their showdown with Iowa City High on Friday Night at Bates Field.

"I was thinking, what a crazy game," Washington tailback Tavian Patrick said when it was over.

It was crazy all right, but it got crazy scary for awhile, too.

Iowa City High rallied within 33-20 in the third quarter and could have pulled within 33-27 if they hadn't lost a fumble at the 1-yard line with lots of time on the clock.

The fifth-ranked Warriors pulled themselves together and posted a 39-20 victory to clinch the Class 4A District 6 title and a No. 1 seed for the playoffs that will start Wednesday, Oct. 28 with a home game at Kingston Stadium.

The Washington sophomores waltzed away with the preliminary game Friday, 68-0, and it looked like the varsity was headed in the same direction after scoring four touchdowns in 6 minutes, 2 seconds.

"We lost our mentality," said O'Rien Vance, a major force on defense. "We had to pick it back up and keep rolling."

The first six minutes were a thing of beauty for the Warriors. It began on their first possession when Tavian Patrick broke loose for 25 yards, then broke loose for 42 yards and a touchdown with 9:19 left in the first quarter.

Iowa City High went nowhere on its next possession and Washington caught a break when City High quarterback/punter Jared Taylor dropped the snap in short-punt formation and was tackled for an 8-yard loss, putting the Warriors in business at the 17.

Isaiah Nimmers, operating as a wildcat quarterback, scored on a 3-yard run and it was 13-0 with 7:28 left in the stanza.

On City High's very next play, Washington defensive back Drew Dostal intercepted Taylor's pass and raced 52 yards to make it 20-0 with 7:09 left in the first period.

Four plays later, Vance belted Taylor as he tried to pass and forced a fumble. Rane Weiland collected the ball for Washington and raced 36 yards for another touchdown to make it 27-0 with 5:58 left in the opening stanza.

It was a sensational six minutes of football.

"Our kids came ready to play," Washington coach Paul James said. "Those two defensive touchdowns were big. In the end, that really helped us pad the margin."

The sixth-ranked Warriors raised their records to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the district. Iowa City High fell to 5-3 and 3-1. Washington ends the regular season by hosting Burlington next Friday.

Taylor settled down at quarterback for City High after his rough start and ended up hitting 15 of 29 passes for 201 yards to help get his club back in the game. The Little Hawks rushed for only 52 yards.

Patrick gave Washington a 33-14 lead with a 7-yard touchdown in the third quarter, but the Little Hawks battled back and made it 33-20 on a 2-yard run by fullback Erick Fletcher.

Johnny Dobbs fumbled on Washington's next possession and City High went to work again, netting a first down at the 12-yard line in hopes of drawing within a single score.

Bryce Frantz broke loose and headed toward the goal line, but he was tackled at the 1-yard line and fumbled the ball into the end zone. Dallas Hobbs recovered the ball for Washington, which took possession at the 20-yard line on the touchback.

That was the key defensive play in the game.

It was still 33-20 with less than four minutes left in the game when Jason Jones of City High foolishly tried to field a bouncing punt at about the 5-yard line. He touched the ball and Washington recovered the fumble at the 1-yard line.

Dobbs scored two plays later to make it 39-20 and finish the scoring.

The potential laugher turned into a nail-biter, but Washington prevailed and secured the division title. The Warriors made it all the way to the championship game of the Class 4A playoffs last year and have officially taken a big step in the same direction.

"That's what these kids have worked for, to be back in the mix. And by doing this they are," James said.

James had to play a little game of cat-and-mouse with his quarterbacks Friday night due to injuries and ailments. TJ Vogel started at quarterback, but had limited mobility and threw only six passes all game.

Nimmers, normally a wide receiver, switched to wildcat quarterback for part of the first quarter and most of the second period before Vogel returned for the second half.

Dostal, normally the backup quarterback, played defense but did not appear on offense. Washington worked on three different offenses in practices this past week, depending on who was the QB.

"Things were a little different than normal," James said.

Patrick carried the ball 18 times for 161 yards and two touchdowns. Dobbs ran 16 times for 91 yards and Nimmers carried 13 times for 68 yards. Patrick also had all three of Washington's receptions for 54 yards, giving him 215 yards in total offense.

"We knew it was going to be a hard fight," Patrick said. "We knew this was for the district championship and we were going to fight for that.

"They were not going to give it to us. We had to come down here and take it.

"I feel pretty good," Patrick said. "We have a No. 1 seed going into the playoffs. Home field. I think we feel pretty good playing at Kingston. I like being top-dog. We're getting stronger every week."

WASHINGTON 39, IOWA CITY HIGH 20

.                         CRW         ICH

First downs              15            14

Rushes-yards      49-320       29-52

Passing yards            54          201

Comp-Att-Int         3-9-0     15-29-1

Fumbles-lost             3-1          4-3

Punts-avg.           2-28.0      2-33.5

Penalties-yards     13-110         4-30

Washington   27   0 6 6 - 39

City High         0 14 6 0 - 20

Scoring plays

CRW - Tavian Patrick 42 run (Ross Kennedy kick)

CRW - Isaiah Nimmers 3 run (kick failed)

CRW - Drew Dostal 52 interception return (Kennedy kick)

CRW - Rane Weiland 36 fumble return (Kennedy kick)

ICH - Bryce Frantz 1 run (Sarrive Rukakiza kick)

ICH - Naeem Smith 18 pass from Jared Taylor (Rukakiza kick)

CRW - Patrick 7 run (run failed)

ICH - Erick Fletcher 2 run (pass failed)

CRW - Johnny Dobbs 1 run (pass failed)

Individual statistics

Rushing

Washington - Patrick 18-161, Dobbs 16-91, Nimmers 13-68, B.Nassif 1-2 Team 1-minus 2.

City High - Frantz 14-69, Fletcher 4-14, Rodney 1-2, Smith 1-minus 4, Taylor 9-minus 29.

Passing

Washington - Vogel 2-6-0, 20; Nimmers 1-3-0, 34.

City High - Taylor 15-29-1, 201.

Receiving

Washington - Patrick 3-54.

City High - Jones 6-80, Frantz 3-24, Smith 2-34, Fellows 2-23, Pugh 1-26, Leigh 1-14.