LAKE ST. LOUIS – While senior quarterback Ryan Kassebaum recovered from a shoulder injury, Washington coach Matt Klein had a message for his team.
“He told us, ‘Playing without Ryan is going to make us a better team when he comes back,’” senior captain Wyatt Bobo said.
Klein could not have possibly imagined just how much better.
Kassebaum went 16-for-17 for 384 yards and five scores through the air and added 105 yards and a touchdown on the ground as a well-oiled Washington machine rolled to a 56-34 victory over Liberty in a Gateway Athletic Conference clash Friday at Liberty High.
Kassebaum, a starter since his junior season, had never thrown for more than 172 yards in a game before Friday, but with an assortment of bootlegs, rollouts and play-action passes, he eclipsed that total before halftime.
“I’m definitely a lot more comfortable when I’m throwing on the run,” Kassebaum said. “In the pocket, it’s almost like I have too much time and I start thinking about it. When I’m throwing on the run, I just do it, and it works out better for me.”
Washington (3-3, 2-1) began a near-perfect first half on offense after junior defensive lineman Jack Hackmann stuffed Liberty on a fourth-and-1 to end the Eagles’ 13-play opening drive.
Kassebaum was 6-for-6 on the initial Blue Jays’ possession before bootlegging right and finding senior tight end Nolan Hendrix from 17 yards away to punctuate a 14-play, 84-yard drive that lasted more than seven minutes.
“That first drive set the tone for the entire night. It was pure execution,” Klein said.
And it set the tone for Kassebaum, who could not miss, even when plays went off script. Leading 21-7 in the second quarter, he rolled right and searched for senior Jacob Bina on a corner route but Bina was not there.
“I was supposed to run a corner, and I saw the safety had outside leverage so I decided to run a post instead. Somehow he found me,” said Bina, who caught four passes for 111 yards, including that 24-yard touchdown grab.
To begin the second half, Kassebaum again rolled right and launched a frozen rope to the front right pylon from 25 yards away that seemed destined to be his first incompletion, but Bobo found another gear and made a fingertip, toe-drag snag to give Washington a 35-14 lead.
“It felt like slow motion but that’s the fastest I ever ran before. I thought, ‘There’s no way I’m getting to that,’ but I took off and I caught it,” said Bobo, who had six catches for 72 yards.
Bobo became the fourth different Blue Jays’ receiver to catch a touchdown pass and his highlight-reel grab somehow superseded in degree of difficulty the juggling, first-half touchdown grab of senior Landon Brune.
“We had kids make heck-of-a-catches tonight,” Klein said.
Kassebaum was 14-for-14 when he looked to the right flat and made his only miscue of the night. Liberty linebacker Riley DeCaro read his eyes, stepped in front of the pass and raced 26 yards with a pick-6 to slice the Eagles’ deficit to 42-34.
Washington, which had scored touchdowns on its first six drives, suddenly found itself leading only by one score.
“We had about a four-minute moment when we were just freaking out. Everybody was getting on each other’s nerves, but we just had to calm down,” Klein said.
And it was Kassebaum who led the return to Zen.
He found senior Alec Pecka leaking out of the backfield for a 52-yard gain, and despite Washington turning the ball over on downs later in that drive, the Blue Jays kept that play in their back pocket.
“We call it a rail route. We hit it once and we knew we were going to come back to it at least one more time,” Kassebaum said.
That time was midway through the fourth quarter. On a third-and-7, Pecka snuck out of the backfield, sprinted past a Liberty linebacker and Kassebaum dropped a rainbow into his arms for an 85-yard dagger that put the exclamation point on a 384-yard passing performance.
“Liberty’s offense is great, and we knew we had to keep scoring or we were going to fall behind. That play really turned the momentum back around,” Kassebaum said.
Liberty (3-3, 1-2) received a 223-yard passing performance from quarterback Cody McMullen and 102 yards rushing and two scores from running back Jaylen Mack, who also threw a TD pass.
But on the final three Liberty drives, the Washington defense forced two turnovers on downs and got an interception from junior Lane Gerling.
“We just had to do our jobs, trust each other and execute,” Bina said.
And the Blue Jays certainly trust their senior signal-caller, who not only showed he is free from limitations from his shoulder injury, but appeared to have a bionic arm on Friday.
“I finally felt like myself again,” Kassebaum said.
For a photo gallery from this game visit: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Football/Football-2024/Washington-at-Liberty-10-4-24