Washington School quarterback Caleb Janous has grown up playing football with John Bentley Suares and Eli Fratesi.
On the playground, Janous was typically the quarterback. On lazy autumn afternoons, Janous would drop back and find one of his two friends sprinting to the endzone in a neighborhood backyard.
“It was a lot of fun back then,” Janous said.
Now, it is like old times.
Fast forward about five years, and Janous, Suares and Fratesi are back having fun again.
During Washington School’s 38-21 home victory over Riverside High School Friday night, Janous, Suares and Fratesi were just about an unstoppable force. In a game which was the first-ever matchup between the two Washington County schools, the three helped turn the anticipated meeting into a runaway.
Five minutes into the game, Suares started the scoring when he caught a 16-yard bullet from Janous to put the Generals up 7-0. Suares then recovered the popup kickoff to set up a Janous 13-yard touchdown run on Washington’s next possesion.
After that it was more of the same.
The Generals (1-1) scored all 38 of their points in the game’s first 14 minutes. With the outcome no longer in doubt, the rest of the game was played with a running clock.
“It was backyard football for them, and I know they loved it,” said Washington School first-year coach Greg Wallace who announced when he took the job last spring that he was not afraid to throw the ball around if he saw he had the players to do it effectively.
“Tonight we had some exceptional play from our quarterback and receivers. They did a good job of working together,” Wallace said.
Coach Wallace said he was especially pleased with how Janous threw two of his touchdowns after first reading the defense and checking off to a new play.
Janous finished the night throwing for three touchdowns and running for another. Washington’s Kell Hodeges scored the final General points of the game when he ran in a touchdown from 12 yards out to make the score 38-0 at halftime. General Will Giachelli also kicked a field goal.
“This win was important tonight,” Washington’s Fratesi said. “We played the No. 1 team in the state last week, and we had to get back up.”
To their credit, the Riverside (0-2) players kept fighting the entire game, and outscored Washington 21-0 in the final half. Bulldog Demarious Pam scored the first Riverside touchdown on a 36-yard run. Riverside’s Jessie Brady then returned a 54-yard fumble into the endzone for the Bulldogs second score. Riverside’s D’vonta Gaston scored the final points of the game on a 64-yard run.
