The Walla Walla football team comes to Fran Rish Stadium tonight to face Richland in both teams' CBBN Cascade Division finale.
The Blue Devils would love nothing more than not have to potentially make a much longer bus trip next week. To avoid that fate, they'll have to upset the division champions on Senior Night, perhaps without their starting quarterback.
If Walla Walla wins tonight, it clinches the No. 2 seed into next week's crossover playoffs and a home game against the Columbia No. 3 seed.
A loss, though, and Wa-Hi is the No. 3 seed and would travel to the Columbia No. 2 -- either Moses Lake, Wenatchee or Pasco -- in the crossover round.
"Having a home berth for the playoffs would be sweet," said Wa-Hi coach Marc Yonts.
Wa-Hi likely will be without junior quarterback Gary Winston, who suffered a severely sprained shoulder in last week's 31-28 nonleague loss at Pasco. Winston's range of motion in the shoulder is limited, and while Yonts wouldn't rule him out of tonight's game, his status is doubtful.
Junior Michael Weisner would start in Winston's absence.
"The game plan wouldn't change much," Yonts said. "We've been running the same script in practice. Michael runs differently than Gary does, but he can still run pretty well."
Wa-Hi will get starting linebacker Austin Schilling back after missing three games with a pinched nerve in his back.
The Bombers, meanwhile, wrapped up the division title Saturday with a 28-7 win at Kamiakin. While they would love to run the table in division play, they're also keeping half an eye on the playoffs, where they'll play host to the Columbia's No. 4 seed -- either Wenatchee, Moses Lake or Kennewick.
They could get senior TE/DE Cody Shepherd back this week. Shepherd has been nursing a thigh injury but suited up for practice Wednesday.
"Obviously, in the back of our minds, we'll keep an eye on a couple of kids, because we know we have a playoff game next week," said Bombers coach Mike Neidhold. "But our focus all year has been to play one game at a time, and it's served us very well so far. We'd hate to go into the playoffs with a loss."
Similar stories:
Kennewick defense looks strong after season opener
Kennewick defense looks strong after season opener
KENNEWICK -- Kennewick is on the road tonight at Hermiston, and the Lions will find out how much of their 53-6 win over Pendleton last week was on them, and how much was on the Buckaroos.
Lions coach Bill Templeton liked what he saw on video breaking down the game, especially from the defense.
"I loved the way our defense closed," he said. "There were times when it looked like Pendleton might have plays start to develop, and the kids did a nice job closing the gap, turning possible long plays into short ones, turning 2- and 3-yard plays into losses."
Football notes: Burbank braces for showdown with Ki-Be
Football notes: Burbank braces for showdown with Ki-Be
BURBANK -- Before the season started, Columbia-Burbank's football team knew it would have a brutal three-game stretch in Weeks 3-5.
The Coyotes got through it about as well as could be expected, finishing 1-2 against SCAC East powers Royal, River View and Connell.
Now, Burbank must bounce back from a 55-7 loss to Connell against Kiona-Benton in a game that would go a long way toward wrapping up a playoff berth for C-B.
Davis dashes Richland football's postseason hopes
Davis dashes Richland football's postseason hopes
MOSES LAKE -- The Richland Bombers have been living on the edge all year. They did it again Tuesday night at Lions Field in Moses Lake.
Only this time, football fortune did not smile upon them.
After barely squeezing into a three-way playoff against Davis and Wenatchee, the Bombers let a final postseason opportunity slip away against the Pirates when a bad snap on a point-after-touchdown resulted in a broken play that gave Davis a 21-20 win and the No. 3 seed out of the CBBN.
Mid-Columbia girls basketball playoff spots shaping up
Mid-Columbia girls basketball playoff spots shaping up
Here is a quick primer on the races for district tournament playoff spots as most leagues are entering their final weekend of the regular season.
CBBN 4A
All six spots have been clinched, though the regular season title is up in the air. Chiawana leads Walla Walla by a half game. The Riverhawks play at the Blue Devils on Saturday, with the winner taking the crown -- assuming Chiawana beats Eisenhower tonight.
CBBN 4A may need to sort out 3-way tie
CBBN 4A may need to sort out 3-way tie
No CBBN 4A coach -- not Mike Neidhold of Richland, not Rick Clark of Davis or Scott Devereaux of Wenatchee -- can say for sure whether there will be a three-team tiebreaker for the final crossover playoff spot next Friday.
Richland must beat Moses Lake tonight (7:30 p.m., Fran Rish Stadium), and Chiawana must defeat Wenatchee (7:30 p.m., Edgar Brown Stadium) to force a three-way tie at 3-3 among the Bombers, Pirates and Panthers.
However, the coaches will concede this: Each team put itself in this position by not taking care of business.
Print
Email Story
