WASHINGTON — There is good news and bad news for Washington and North Daviess as they prepare for conference games today.

The Hatchets have senior running back Trey Parsons back in the fold for the first time since scrimmaging against Gibson Southern.

North Daviess comes off its second win of the season, a 42-14 victory against Union-Dugger.

The bad news is that both teams face difficult conference games. Washington travels to Mount Carmel, Ill., while North Daviess hosts Class A. No. 3 Linton.

Washington

The Hatchets (2-3, 0-3 Big Eight) have their featured running back after a five-game suspension as they travel to Illinois.

Parsons gained 1,462 yards last season on 204 carries, He averaged 133 yards per game, and should add some speed and quickness to a Washington ground game that will play a major role against the Golden Aces.

“Trey is back,” Brashear said. “He’s been going full bore with our scout teams in practice. We look for some big things from him at Mt. Carmel.”

The Hatchets will attempt to recover from a lackluster performance at Mount Vernon last Friday. Both teams entered the game with 0-2 Big Eight records, but it was the Wildcats who came away with a 35-0 victory.

Washington had suffered several injuries during the week leading up to the game, and some players may be back.

“We were decimated with injuries, and we were playing a lot of young kids,” Brashear said. “We had a lot of our starters on the sidelines.”

The Hatchets hope Jalen Madison and Cody Milligan may return. Jaden Arvin and James Sidebottom are possibilities, although it is unknown if Sidebottom will play.

Clayton Johnson is probably out for this one.

“It’s not good,” Brashear said. “We had nine guys on the sideline last week. Hopefully, we’ll have some of the guys back. We’re playing with a log of lingering injuries. Some of the kids just couldn’t go.”

The Golden Aces and Jasper are tied at the top of conference standings at 2-0. Jasper is 5-0 overall, Mount Carmel is 3-1.

Mount Carmel is the defending conference champion and lost 20 seniors from that team. To date, that seems to have made little difference.

“They (Mt. Carmel) have seemed to get out of their wing-tee and are a true spread team now,” Brashear said. “We seem to have trouble covering space, so that may not bode well for us. They run a lot of option, but they do like to throw the ball a bit more. They have skill position guys who can make plays.

North Daviess

Think of  football games between North Daviess and Linton, and you have an image of competitive affairs, featuring two intense rivals.

That has not always been the case as of late.      

Linton walked away with 81-20 and 61-8 wins against a 7-5 North Daviess squad last season.

North Daviess was the winner in 2010 by a 73-33 margin, and 34-6 in 2009.

You have to go back to the 1999 season to find a game won by less than 14 points by either team (a 44-40 North Daviess victory).

The Cougars (2-3, 1-2 Southwest Seven) face a tall task as they host the Miners in more ways than one.

Senior quarterback Austin Karazsia (6-7, 215 pounds) has paced the Miners with 1,237 yards passing in five games. He has hit 96 of 128 attempts, has thrown for 17 touchdowns and averages 247 yards per game through the air. He has been intercepted five time.

The Miners (5-0, 2-0) fell out of the conference lead this week, playing out of conference foe Springs Valley while North Central (3-0, 3-1) was defeating North Knox.

Linton has scored 262 points while allowing 38.

“Linton is very, very, very, good,” North Daviess coach Scott Helms said. “They are hard to defend with their passing game, but they spread the field and can run the ball very well.”

The Cougars have to rely on a running game led by Colton Lengacher (6-2. 218, 698 yards on 67 attempts) and Logan Turpin (5-11, 150, 420 yards on 60 attempts).

“We realize that we have to control the ball and the clock,” Helms said. “We have to sustain drives and finish them. We have to do all that to stay in the game.”

At the same time, Helms noted Linton’s defense has been stingy.

“Their defense is hard to play against because of their quickness,” Helms said. “There have been plays that look like they could go for 50 yards, but they close the play down and they go for three.”

With the game being a rivalry, Helms is not concerned about his players being ready.

“The kids love playing against Linton,” Helms said. “They don’t have to be motivated. They enjoy the challenge. Nobody is giving us a chance against Linton. I think we have kids that up to the challenge.”