The McClain Tigers varsity football team traveled to Washington Court House on Friday to take on the Washington Blue Lions at Gardner Park but were unable to overcome the boys from Fayette County as they lost by a score of 62-20.

McClain dropped to 2-6 overall and 1-2 in the Frontier Athletic Conference while Washington improved to 5-3 overall and picked up their first FAC win to move to 1-2 in the conference.

The Blue Lions started hot as Dillon Steward scampered 31 yards for the first touchdown of the game and Gio Thomas hooked up with Rich Burns for the two point conversion to put Washington up 8-0 just 30 seconds into the game.

The Tigers answered quickly as Dalton Mischal was able to race 61 yards for the McClain touchdown and Eric Anderson converted the point after to bring the Tigers within one point of the Blue Lions at 8-7 less than two minutes after the opening score.

From there it was all Washington as Steward scored two more times, Thomas scored twice on the ground and Omar Porter broke off a 57 yard run to the house and the Blue Lions converted on three of five two point tries to take a commanding 43-7 lead with 1:54 to play in the first half.

The Tigers were able to get on the board again in the first half as Colten Mossbarger was able to break through the defense for a 59 yard score and McClain kicker Braedon Bergstrom converted the point after bringing the score to 43-14.

It turned out that Washington was not finished in the first half as Thomas connected with Steward through the air for a 46 yard score and Steward added to his night with the point after for a 50-14 halftime score.

In the second half the the Tigers struck first with 7:50 to play in the third when Mischal posted his second score of the night on a 34 yard run to the house but, the Blue Lions blocked the extra point and held McClain at 20 points where they would finish the night.

The Blue Lions added a touchdown in the third and fourth quarters as Jameson McCane and Steward respectively were able to find the end zone, but the Tigers were able to thwart both two point conversions to ensure Washington would only score 62 for a final score of 62-20.

The Tigers will be at home on Friday, October 19, when the host the 5-3 (2-1) Jackson Ironmen who are coming off a crushing home overtime loss to the Hillsboro Indians.

Washington will head out on the road to battle the 7-1 (3-0) Chillicothe Cavaliers in an attempt to hand them their first conference loss of the season in the FAC.

Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or on Twitter @RCApplegate89.