RICHLAND -- A month ago, Colter Quick was doing everything he could to complete every pass he threw.
Friday night, incompletions and interceptions topped his list of priorities.
Richland's senior quarterback-turned-safety intercepted a pass to set up one score, then knocked down a pair of passes on Moses Lake's final drive to help the Bombers secure a 34-26 win over the Chiefs on Friday at Fran Rish Stadium.
The victory combined with Chiawana's 27-13 win over Wenatchee sends the Bombers (6-3, 3-3) into a playoff with the Panthers and Davis for the CBBN 4A's third postseason berth.
The three teams will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Moses Lake.
"When we made the change at quarterback, we did it so Colter could go back there and play center field," said Richland coach Mike Neidhold, "and he did that. He came through for us tonight."
As did fellow safety Ellijah Gardaya, whose third-quarter pick set the Bombers up at the Moses Lake 9 and resulted in Cameron Simpson's 1-yard dive into the end zone for a 28-14 lead. Simpson also scored after Quick's interception, a 24-yard run that was part of his 85-yard night.
B.K. Robinson led with 123 yards on the ground, and Zack Whitby threw for 204 yards and two scores as Richland rolled up 445 yards of offense.
Both Gardaya and Quick scored first-half TDs, as did Gibson McGeorge on a 27-yard hookup with Whitby.
But the Bombers killed themselves with two lost fumbles and 10 penalties for 86 yards.
"We have done this all year," Neidhold said. "You'd think we'd have it fixed by now, but we always make it a 48-minute game.
"But right now, it's about getting the job done, get the 'W' and move on."
Moving out was a real possibility against a Moses Lake team (1-8, 1-5) itching to play spoiler.
The Bombers breezed to a pair of touchdowns before the Chiefs even touched the ball thanks to a recovered onside kick. But nothing came easy after that.
Moses Lake quarterback Justin Simmons exposed a huge hole in the middle of the Bombers zone, giving the underbelly of the defense a pinkbelly with some big third-down completions to all-too-open receivers. Despite completing just 5 of 17 throws in the first half, he had 88 yards. He got hot in the second half before getting knocked out of the game by the Bombers relentless pass rush.
Receiver Jordan Koon, who caught a TD pass from Simmons in the first half, took over behind center and provided some razzmatazz ad-libbing with his scrambles.
Despite throwing a pair of picks, Koon twice had the Chiefs in position for a tying score in the final 3 1/2 minutes.
The first time -- starting at the Richland 25 thanks to a 15-yard punt return by Trino Rubio -- a pair of botched exchanges killed the drive. The second, which moved from the 49 down to the 8, was ended on Quick's near pick in the end zone and then a fourth-down fade that the wind took out of the end zone.
"On third-and-long, we've given up too many plays," Quick said. "We have to come together as a team and get the ball back to the offense so they can score."
At least for now, the Bombers have a "next week" to work on that.
Richland 34, Moses Lake 26
Moses Lake 6 0 14 6 -- 26
Richland 14 7 7 6 -- 34
SCORING PLAYS
R--Gibson McGeorge 27 pass from Zack Whitby (Q Taychack kick)
R--Ellijah Gardaya 14 run (Taychack kick)
ML--Jordan Koon 15 pass from Justin Simmons (kick blocked)
R--Colter Quick 12 pass from Whitby (Taychack kick)
ML--Cameron Ballard 9 pass from Simmons (Cameron Law pass from Simmons)
R--Cameron Simpson 1 run (Taychack kick)
ML--Koon 13 run (kick blocked)
R--Simpson 24 run (kick fail)
ML--Koon 1 run (kick fail)
STATISTICS
RUSHING--ML, Law 13-56, Koon 10-37, Simmons 5-30, Bryce Perez 3-11, Steven Cline 1-2. R, B.K. Robinson 21-123, Simpson 13-85, Gardaya 1-14, Whiby 2-11, Mason Baird 1-5, McGeorge 1-3.
PASSING--ML, Simmons 10-25-1-163, Koon 2-9-2-44. R, Whitby 15-27-0-204, McGeorge 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING--ML, Koon 4-79, Nick Sutherland 3-54, Anthony Johnson 2-30, Ballard 2-27, Colton Thompson 1-17. R, Gardaya 3-45, Quick 3-41, Deric Samples 3-26, Cameron Quick 2-37, McGeorge 1-27, Jarett Wolf 1-10, Simpson 1-11, Patrick Robinson 1-7.
FIRST DOWNS--ML 17, R 20. FUMBLES-LOST--ML 2-0, R 2-2. PENALTIES-YARDS--ML 4-45, R 10-86.
* Kevin Anthony: 509-582-1403; kanthony@tricityherald.com
