Washington Warriors '23 Football Preview

After back-to-back misses, Washington finally broke through and won its first state championship sine 1996 last season, toppling Millwood, 17-14, in the title game.

Now, after compiling a 41-3 mark over the past three seasons, with a state title and a pair of runner-up finishes, the task is navigating how to stay on top of Class 2A.

“It’s really neat to get to see the kids enjoy the fruits of their labor,” Washington head football coach Brad Beller said. “Even more to see them be excited for the next step - not just winning a state championship, but as a catapult to something even greater in the future.”

The 2023 season starts off with a bang in the non-district portion of the schedule with a Week 0 matchup against fellow 2A power Vian. Then, the date everyone will circle comes in Week 2 against a Jones squad that Washington has beaten each of the past three years in the playoffs, including the semifinals last season.

“I think they’ve only lost two total players from last year’s team, so they’re going to be loaded,” Beller said. “That will be a huge matchup.”

OFFENSE

Offensively, everything in Washington’s spread option offense starts with the triggerman senior quarterback Major Cantrell. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound signal-caller embarks upon his third season under center.

“We’re very spoiled the last couple of years to have a guy that just understands the offense as well as he does,” Beller said of Cantrell. “We’re going to miss him after this year, but we’re really going to enjoy the time that we have because he is our spark plug. He works every day to get better.”

Up front, Washington replaces center Caleb Bruce who started each of the Warriors’ past 44 games and three state title contests. The Warriors bring back seniors Easton Berglan and Baylor Haynes (6’0”, 190lbs) to anchor Washington’s offensive line.

Across the board, four out of Washington’s five offensive linemen have started in either one or more championship games. The lone newcomer is sophomore Kingston Stringer.

As Washington works to also replace running back Cole Scott, senior Kade Norman (5’10”, 180lbs) and junior Hudson Howard will tag team the reps in the backfield. “Both of those two have been key contributors over the last year or two, even at different positions, so we’ve got a chance to be really, really good in the backfield,” Beller said.

Of course, most high school and college football fans know that Washington has a pair of elite tight ends in senior Iowa State commit Cooper Alexander (6’4”, 225lbs) and junior Notre Dame commit Nate Roberts (6’4”, 230lbs).

“Both are going to be such vital, important parts to our run and pass games,” Beller said.

Alexander and Roberts will combine with junior wide receiver Mason Singletary (6’0”, 165lbs) and senior wide receiver Cage Morris (6’3”, 185lbs) to form a nice collection of weapons for Cantrell and the Warriors.

got a ton of playmakers on the offensive side of the ball,” Beller confirmed.

DEFENSE

Defensively, Washington loses just three starters including nose guard Nathan Rainey, defensive end Hayden Milner and safety Jaxon Hendrix, but Beller is quick to point out their importance.

“Those three guys were very, very valuable to us,” Beller said. “I mean, I cannot stress how much those guys are going to be missed.”

That said, there’s still plenty of defensive firepower roaming the halls of Washington High School. “We have a lot coming back off of a (very special defense),” Beller said. “I’ll be honest. The reason why we won a state championship was because of our defense.”

The Warriors were indeed stiff defensively, surrendering just 9.8 points per game and only 10.4 points per game during the playoffs. Only Vian and Sulphur scored 24 or more points on the Warriors last season. Washington will once again operate out of a 4-3 base, but they’ll shift around and show three- and five-man fronts at times.

Along its defensive line, several names to keep an eye on are senior defensive end Naithen Spaulding (6’2”, 230lbs), nose guard Wyatt Denton and junior defensive end Kane Lampkin (6’2”, 210 lbs).

“(Spaulding) is a guy that’s started ever since he was a freshman,” Beller said. “He is a guy that can take a game over or shut one side of the field down. He will dominate most games that we play in and everyone will have to at least double him or chip him with a running back in the pass protection.”

Beller is really excited about the upside that his team has opposite of Spaulding, too.

“Kane Lampkin is a guy that has unbelievable talent,” Beller said. “He’s just got to be more consistent. He can dominate a game and be as special as Spaulding if he will just continue to gain some experience and be consistent with his technique and aggression.”

At linebacker, Washington brings back a series of senior starters. Keller Howard (6’0”, 215lbs), Case Taylor (6’0”, 200 lbs), Ben Vaughn and Jake Coles all return at linebacker. “That’s where we’re really deep - Hudson Howard, Blake Heiliger and Kale Brakefield can all step in. We’ve got a ton of names at linebacker,” Beller said.

In the defensive backfield, senior safety Cole Beller will captain the secondary. Meanwhile, junior cornerback Tanner Olson is expected to be one of the Warriors’ other top secondary pieces.– BSM