WASHINGTON — Washington running back tandem Hunter Reed and Carter Quin carried 29 times for 187 yards and four touchdowns Friday.

Then they handed the game ball off to Panthers head coach Todd Stevens in an emotional postgame huddle after Washington's 37-7 victory over rival Metamora at Babcook Field.

It was Stevens' first victory at the Washington helm as his team recovered from an 0-2 start to the season by producing a big win over Metamora.

Longtime Panthers head coach Darrell Crouch was there to watch. So was Stevens' family, gathered on the field to meet the rookie head coach after the game was over.

"We needed this one," Stevens said. "This is such a big game for both these teams, two really passionate towns, people who grew up in one town and maybe live in the other now, it's complicated. I'm from Princeville, but Washington is my home now.

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"I remember as an assistant coach here trying to help scheme to stop Jared Grebner, the Metamora quarterback Grebner, long ago. Now I'm on the sideline tonight trying to scheme to stop him again, the Metamora coach and his team. Our first two weeks were a little bit rough, but we put it all together tonight.

"There is an expectation at Washington to win. So I'm going to go home and decompress a little bit now."

A first time in 42 years

Darrell Crouch didn't do it. Neither did Rocke Cooper or Tim Kane.

When Stevens led his team to victory over Metamora on Friday, it marked the first time in 42 years a new coach at the Panthers helm beat their biggest rivals in his first meeting against them.

John Venturi was the last new Washington head coach to beat Metamora the first time he faced them. His reign began in 1979-80 and he beat the Redbirds the first time he met them, which wasn't until 1982-83.

Cooper followed, then Kane, then Crouch, and all lost their first try against Metamora.

"That's amazing," said Stevens, 52, laughing. "To be in that category is awesome. I coached with Venturi my first three years, and I never got paid. I wanted to be on the staff so bad that I worked as a volunteer coach. That's such a long time ago."

Triplets and a dynamic duo

The Panthers ran the ball 46 times for 284 yards and five touchdowns Friday. Most of that damage was produced by starting running back Hunter Reed and his backup, senior Carter Quin.

They are an interesting tandem. Reed is a triplet. His brother, Evan, is a receiver on the team. Their sister, Grace, was on the sideline too, as a cheerleader and member of the dance team.

"They are my two best friends for life," Hunter Reed said. "I've never met any other triplets, we know we're unusual, rare. Grace is learning football, she asks us questions after the games about what happened.

"As for the game tonight, I couldn't have done half what we did without those guys we have up front. They are just grinding away for us. And how about Quin? He's been in the shadows for a couple years, but he battles and he plays hard when he gets out there and we saw that tonight."

Quin is a feel-good story in his senior year, a kid who grew up playing JFL football and had one dream: "I wanted to play for Washington," he said. "And here I am tonight, I scored my first varsity touchdown after all this time."

By the time Quin was done, he had two touchdowns, on 10 carries for 53 yards. That first touchdown came on a third-and-8 run around the left end, where he broke a tackle, turned the corner and raced 11 yards to the end zone for a 17-7 lead with 1:23 left in the third quarter. He ran 15 yards to a TD on the opening play of the fourth quarter to push Washington's lead to 24-7.

"I have to make the most of my chances," Quin said. "We were excited to play Metamora, and we never let up against them."

Reed, meanwhile, had 19 carries for 134 yards and two TDs. His first was an 18-yard cutback off left tackle for the game's first points at 3:24 left in the first quarter. He battered Metamora defender Eden Cote at the goal line to bull his way in on a 10-yard run for 30-7 with 7:39 left in the fourth quarter.

Metamora's lone touchdown came on a 77-yard run by senior running back Evan Keil at 10:56 of the third quarter, cutting the Redbirds deficit to 10-7. Keil ended up with 121 yards on 15 carries.

The bottom line: Class 5A Metamora is 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the Mid-Illini Conference while Class 6A Washington is 1-2, 1-0.

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA football scores: Washington win over Metamora important to new coach