By Jeff Johncox
"Fifteen years from now, people will be talking about this Washington football team and how they never quit," Washington coach Dennis McCray said after his Warriors fell 33-23 at Millwood in the second round of the Class 2A state playoffs. "They'll talk about how you fought and fought and fought, how you accomplished more than anybody thought you could."
It was like watching a speech from one of those inspirational football films, but not as corny. His players gathered around him on one knee, some crying, some staring at the ground, the Washington coach reminded his squad why it had reason to hold heads up high.
There's plenty for this year's Warriors to be proud of.
After a 1-4 start, it looked like Washington's season would be over by the time Week 11 started.
But that's when McCray said his team had its best practice of the year.
"We went out, gave all we could and came up with a big win at Frederick, which was 4-1 at that time," McCray said. "That sort of put in motion everything that happened the rest of the year."
What the Warriors did with that momentum was a lot of fun to watch.
After Frederick, they blew out Crooked Oak (45-6), Comanche (35-14), Riverside (59-0)and Hobart (32-6 in a game that secured third place in District 2A-3.
Then, in one of the most impressive games played by any area team this year, Washington went down to Plainview and upset the Indians 38-37 in the postseason's first round.
"We never gave up on ourselves," McCray said. "We fought to the end no matter the odds. We've had teams win more games over the years and go further in the playoffs, but this team will be remembered for a long, long time just for their character and the way they fought back."
They didn't win Friday night at Millwood, but the Warriors still showed that fight, that determination.
After the game, seniors like receiver Justin Noel were crying, holding onto loved ones after McCray finished speaking.
Noel and his class may be leaving, but there's still plenty to build on for next year's Washington squad, including the return of quarterback Dakota Treat, who'll be in his second year of running the flex-bone option.
"We're going to miss Justin, Chance Pistole at fullback, Jordan Edwards at defensive end ... We lost some good ones tonight," McCray said. "But we've got some good, young players coming up and we have a year under our belts running this offense. That'll make everything smoother next year.
"Hopefully the first five games go a lot smoother next year than this year."
Jeff Johncox 366-3535 jjohncox@normantranscript.com
