Behind a balanced offense and a stingy defense led by Keller Howard, Washington extended its winning streak to 17 games knocking off always tough Sulphur on the road last Friday night, 35-10.

Quarterback Major Cantrell was a very efficient 9-10 passing for 186 yards and a trio of touchdowns. He also rushed seven times for 73 yards including a 43-yard burst in the fourth quarter.

Cantrell and Nate Roberts opened the Warrior scoring hooking up for a 12 yard pass and catch in the first period.

Hudson Howard, who continues to shine, bolted in from 29 yards out in the opening frame giving Washington a 14-0 lead heading into the second quarter.

Cantrell found Mason Singletary open for a cross-country 74-yard touchdown pass play in the second quarter when Sulphur put up their 10 points.

That Cantrell to Singletary duo closed out the scoring on a 14-yard pass play in the closing quarter.

But the game came down to defense and Keller Howard was the lead dog in the defensive sled team.

He finished with a whopping 15 tackles.

“But the unsung heroes on defense were Naithen Spaulding and Lane Taylor,” head coach Brad Beller said. “They both had six tackles but they took on double teams all night and fought through them. Those two guys did great jobs for us.”

Case Taylor finished with nine tackles followed by Jake Coles with eight and even each from Cole Beller and Kade Norman.

Tanner Olson, Dawson Thomas and Max Wilson all picked off errant Bulldog aerials in the game in Murray County.

“Max Wilson had a great interception early,” Beller said. “Tanner Olson had a one-handed interception in the end zone and Dawson Thomas had a great interception on their boundary. Overall, it was a great performance by our defensive backs.”

“On the offensive side of the ball we were able to stay balanced,” the coach said. “We only had six full possessions in the game. Sulphur did a great job of keeping the ball away from us.

“But we scored on every possession,” Beller noted.

Hudson Howard rushed for 118 yards on just 13 carries including the 29-yard scamper for a touchdown.

Kade Norman ran for 43 yards on six carries.

“We had a lot of guys play well but the one who stepped up the most was Mason Singletary,” Beller said.

Singletary hauled in four Cantrell passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns.

“He had a huge game,” the coach said. “It was because of him that they had to pull their linebackers out of the box allowing us to move the ball on the ground.”

Up next for the surging Warriors is a home game Friday night with a very familiar foe.

The Jones Longhorns come to town for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

The game will be the fifth meeting of the two schools in the last four years and the third meeting in a calendar year.

“We played them in week 2 last year and in the semifinals and now week 2 this year,” Beller said.

Jones opened the season with very tough opponents in Bethany and Lincoln Christian and went 1-1 in the brutal opening.

“Most schools would be 0-2,” Beller said. “Jones is a very complete team. That’s the only way to describe them. They are very balanced on offense . They can run and throw out of the spread but they can lineup and run power right at you.

“It all starts with their trigger man,” the coach continued. “Their quarterback is a dual threat who is very accurate with his passes.

“He gets the ball to their playmakers in space. He’s a very complete quarterback on a very complete team.”

Beller said the key for a Warrior victory is to, “play within ourselves.”

“We have to have 11 players do their job on every play on both sides of the ball. We have to tackle well in space ad on offense convert third downs,” Beller confirmed.

Warrior notes:

Washington Head Coach Brad Beller nominated Mason Singletary as the Offensive Player of the Week.

Singletary caught four passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns in the victory over Sulphur.

Beller nominated Jordan Vanya as the Offensive Lineman of the Week. He graded out at 80 percent.

Keller Howard got the nod as the Defensive Player of the Week for his 15 tackle performance against the Bulldogs.

The Defensive Lineman of the Week nomination went to Lane Taylor. He had six tackles against Sulphur including one for a loss.