Friday, Oct. 03, 2008

UPDATE: Mid-Columbia football live, Week 5

By Eric Degerman, sportstricities.com

12:00 p.m.--It will likely be a day or two before stats from the Southridge at Davis game become available. Southridge handed Davis its 52nd straight league defeat, which goes a long way in explaining why Davis -- the home team -- doesn't bother to total up game stats in a timely manner.

That said, my No. 1 Pick to Click fared well. Southridge QB Andrew Mendenhall had three TD passes and ran another one in himself.

I went out a limb with the No. 2 guy -- running back Jacob McKinney, (7 rushes, 39 yards) who wasn't much of a factor for Richland in its narrow win over Hanford. I could have gone with teammate Jamison Rowe, but that would have been akin to picking Prosser to beat Toppenish.

And then there was the sad confirmation that Burbank RB Seth Shelton -- the No. 3 pick -- suffered what appears to be a season-ending shoulder injury in last week's win at Kiona-Benton.

11:52 p.m.--A big night in Prosser for Jordan Durbin and Kirby Moore. Durbin completed 10 of 14 passes for 199 yards and 6 TDs. Four of those TD tosses went to Moore. That gives Durbin 26 TDs vs. just 1 interception. Moore finished the night with five receptions for 108 yards. He now has 35 catches for 583 yards and 13 TDs. As a UW grad, I'd love to see Moore wearing purple and gold, running down the tunnel of Husky Stadium with his buddy Cody Bruns. Alas, Boise State will be saying, "Moore to Moore for six more."

11:42 p.m.--Perdue can't stop chatting about his game. "Hanford's Kody Winsor also had a heck of a game. He scored two touchdowns and played strong on defense. He and (QB Travis) Chalk shared running duties, and he did an admirable job. On that key fourth-down play, I count four Bombers in the backfield. Chalk didn't have a chance."

That highlight clip is "Richland's Zorich stops Falcons on 4th down."

Winsor had 19 carries for 105 yards and 2 TDs. Chalk finished with 18 rushes for 108 yards, which includes his 36-yard TD run.

11:37 p.m.--Andy Perdue's video montage of Richland's 21-20 victory over Hanford has been posted. There are 23 clips. Pay particular attention to the bogus roughing the punter penalty. It's titled, "Key penalty helps Bombers in 3rd."

11:32 p.m.-- Our video package of the Eisenhower at Kamiakin game is now live.

11:28 p.m.-- Ellensburg 57, Quincy 0. My condolences to "Diamondback" Doug.

11:20 p.m.--The scoreboard is nearly complete. Thanks again to Dan in Moses Lake, Bill in Walla Walla, Ross in Prosser, the Royal High broadcast team, and the anonymous caller from either Spokane or East Wenatchee. You've helped us fill in the gaps. No one can locate this CWAC score -- Ellensburg (3-1, 3-0) at Quincy (0-4, 0-3), but it's a safe guess than E'berg came out on top. There's also the pesky Irrigon at Elgin tilt in Oregon's Blue Mountain League.

10:51 p.m.--Richard Dickin's 29-image photo gallery of the Richland vs. Hanford game also has been posted.

10:30 p.m.--Kai-Huei Yan's 30-image photo gallery of the River View at Columbia-Burbank game is live. Click here to get Kai's nice perspective of the pregame festivities, game action and candid shots of some soggy fans. Kai also feed a photojournalism blog, which he calls "Behind the Fold."

10:20 p.m.--My thanks to the glog reader who called us and supplied this final from East Wenatchee -- Ferris 21, Eastmont 12. Sounds as if Eastmont played well. Ferris was predicted to finish third in the Greater Spokane League.

10:09 p.m.--I am predicting that Herald preps editor Rene Ferran will scurry back into the office from Richland and say something akin to, "So much for the Herald jinx tonight!" It's a reference to Jack Millikin's section-front feature on Richland's Jamison Rowe.

10:07 p.m.--Herald field general Andy Perdue offers this quick analysis from Fran Rish...

"Helluva game. Hanford was the better team on the field, marching up and down Fran Rish, but untimely penalties and two key turnovers stopped drives and/or gave Richland points. Hand it to the Bombers, though. Good teams win when they are given the opportunity, even when they aren't at their best. Jamison Rowe was impressive on both sides of the ball. He was the game MVP. Hanford QB Travis Chalk gets a game ball for the Falcons. He shredded the Bombers defense, except on that key 4th down. ... One other tidbit, on Hanford's bad snap on the extra point, the holder scrambled and threw it to a receiver in the end zone. It looked for a moment that he'd caught it, but it apparently hit the ground."

10:05 p.m.--Richland has the ball 2nd and goal, but the Bombers choose to run out the clock. It's over at Fran Rish. Hanford suffers another gut-wrenching loss 21-20.

10:02 p.m.--Ross from Prosser reports a final from Art Fiker. Prosser 55, Toppenish 13. The Mustangs pulled their starters in the third quarter.

10:01 p.m.--There's 2:01 left at Fran Rish. Richland has the ball and a 21-20 lead over upstart and rival Hanford.

9:58 p.m.--Hanford's Kyle Wagar picks off a Richland pass, but the drive dissolves as the Bombers defense steps up. Richland middle lineback Quinn Zorich makes a tackle for a loss on 4th and less than a yard and the Hanford 39. That took place with 3:21 to play.

9:48 p.m.--Kody Winsor scores on a 32-yard run on 4th and 2, that gets Hanford to within 21-20 of Richland. The conversion attempt failed on a bad snap. There's 7:50 left in the fourth.

Andy Perdue reports, "The Falcons tore through the Bomber defense on that drive. It looked fairly effortless except for a stop on 3rd and short (which led to the 4th-down run). Frankly, the Falcons are the better team tonight. Some bad turnovers have kept them out of the end zone -- a turnover and a horrible call gave the Bombers 14 points.

9:46 p.m.--Ike runs out the clock in Kamiakin's red zone. Ike 10, Kamiakin 0.

9:41 p.m.--It's a final. Walla Walla beat West Valley 26-6 at Borleske Stadium.

9:37 p.m.--Richland has taken the lead over Hanford. Richland scores on a 1-yard sneak by QB Hayden Hilty. The play was set up by a great catch and run by Jamison Rowe. Richland leads 21-14 with 11 minutes left. The score was an indirect result of the bad call on Hanford running into the punter.

9:35 p.m.--Pasco enjoys a 31-0 lead over Sunnyside in the third quarter.

9:33 p.m.--Eisenhower's defense continues to stifle Kamiakin. The Braves lose 21 yards on a bad snap on fourth down as Ike takes over on downs with 5:52 to play in the 4th.

9:32 p.m.--Walla Walla has pulled away. It's now 26-0 over West Valley with 3:40 left in the fourth.

9:30 p.m.--Kamiakin takes over with 6:39 left in the fourth quarter. The Braves start at the Ike 27, trailing 10-0.

9:29 p.m.--The field at Fran Rish is really sloppy now. None of the players can hold their footing. It's still Richland 14, Hanford 14.

9:26 p.m.--Kamiakin got the ball to the Eisenhower 30 early in the fourth quarter, however Ike tacks a pair of 5-yard losses on Kamiakin. It went to 4th and 20 at the Ike 40. Kamiakin punts it inside the Ike 5.

9:23 p.m.--Perhaps the Richland Bombers have taken a page out of the Miami Dolphins playbook when they used Ronnie Brown to shock the New England Patriots. The Bombers are having good luck with the direct snap to flanker Jamison Rowe.

9:20 p.m.--The Richland/Hanford game may turn on a controversial penalty. Andy Perdue reports a roughing penalty on Hanford during a punt. Perdue said it was obviously that the Hanford player was blocked into the Richland punter. "Horrible call. Everyone knows it." He adds, "Brutally bad call. Unbelievable."

9:18 p.m.--Kamiakin's offense continues to struggle, and the Braves also lost standout receiver Dane Knapp when he went head-first into a Walla Walla defender. That game from Lampson Stadium is entering the fourth quarter with Eisenhower leading 10-0. The Cadets seem firmly in control.

9:16 p.m.--Walla Walla extends its lead over West Valley. It's now 20-0. Hessler scores again. That's his third of the game and 12th of the season.

9:13 p.m.--Royal takes it easy in the second half. The Knights scored just 7 points in the second half in defeating visiting Warden 61-0.

9:13 p.m.--It's a tie game at Fran Rish. Travis Chalk scampers 36 yards on a quarterback keeper for a TD as Hanford ties Richland 14-14 with 6:38 left in 3rd.

9:08 p.m.--An update from Borleske Stadium. It's Walla Walla 14, West Valley 0 at the end of 3 quarters. Spencer Hessler has scored both TDs.

9:02 p.m.--River View has jumped out on top of Burbank. It's 11-7 River View with 8:52 left in regulation. Matt Wilhelm threw a TD to junior receiver Brenden Hoch, then River View recorded a safety.

8:57 p.m.--KONA reported that Lampson Stadium emptied out somewhat at halftime. Fans are getting chased away by the rain. And I'm guessing that a heavy helping of Ike QB Taylor Elmo sent a few Kamiakin fans home.

8:54 p.m.--Burbank still leads River View 7-3 at the end of the 3Q. Jack Millikin reports that Burbank starting QB Neal Schuck took a lick while sliding for a first down. He left the game woozy and needing help to leave the field. That means junior Dillon Rice is Burbank's new QB.

8:45 p.m.--Royal has called off the dogs. Neither team scored in the third quarter, but Royal still leads visiting Warden 55-0.

8:43 p.m.--I had to double-check my notes because KONA and Coach Beverlin kept referring to the Ike quarterback, Taylor Elmo, as "Tyler." Has he changed his name?

I'm back tracking here. My correspondent at Borleske Stadium texted me at 8:29 p.m. that the Walla Walla/West Valley game had reached halftime. Wa-Hi leads 6-0. "Rain and slop," he reports.

8:39 p.m.It's sloppy at Fran Rish. Hanford's Ryan Craig recovers a Richland fumble at the Hanford 13. Then, Richland's Dan Jacobs intercepts a pass at the Hanford 40. "An ugly game of turnovers and penalties," reports Andy Perdue.

8:37 p.m.--Taylor Elmo is drawing lots of praise from Kamiakin coach Craig Beverlin during his intermission interview with KONA. That game is at halftime with Ike leading 10-0. Kamiakin had a touchdown reception called back late in the first half by penalty.

8:35 p.m.--Jack Millikin reports that Burbank takes a 7-3 lead over River View. Forrest Gordon, a sophomore, scores on a 1-yard run.

8:24 p.m.--Glad to hear from "Dan the Man" in Moses Lake. He's happy to report that Moses Lake leads Kennewick 14-0 with 3:49 left in the first half. Josh Loera provided the second score, a 17-yard TD jaunt. He also reports a slick and wet field, although it's not raining too much at the moment. Just sprinkling.

8:21 p.m.--It's a Royal drubbing. The Knights lead Warden 55-0 at halftime. Blair Collins has two TDs.

8:15 p.m.--Look out Kamiakin. Chad Brown catches a 13-yard TD toss from Taylor Elmo as Eisenhower takes a 10-0 lead at Lampson with 5:23 left before halftime.

8:13 p.m.--The Yakima Herald, at least that's the way it reads on their site, is reporting that White Swan leads LaSalle 16-12 at halftime. I'd have to check with Rene Ferran, but if that continues, I believe that would be a significant upset.

8:07 p.m.--Hanford fumbles inside its 5. Richland follows with three runs up the middle by Jamison Rowe. On fourth and goal at the 1, Hayden Hilty scores on a sneak. Richland leads Hanford 14-7 with 11:56 left in the second quarter.

8:05 p.m.--It's River View 3, Burbank 0 at halftime. Herald staff writer Jack Millikin reports that a slick ball has plagued both teams. River View has fumbled 3 times, lost 2, including once in the red zone. Burbank has fumbled once and lost it.

7:59 p.m. --Richland's Jamison Rowe grabs a 32-yard TD toss from Hayden Hilty. That makes it 7-7 with 2:09 left in the first quarter.

7:57 p.m.--Eisenhower ends the first quarter with a 3-0 lead over Kamiakin at Lampson Stadium.

7:53 p.m.--We've got some help at Borleske Stadium tonight, and the Blue Devils are happy. Wa-Hi leads West Valley 6-0 with 1:45 left in the 1Q.

7:51 p.m. --Kody Winsor scores on 13-yard carry for Hanford. The kick is good, so Richland trails 7-0 with 4:42 left in the first quarter.

7:49 p.m.--Thor Buchanan recovers a fumble for Hanford as the Falcons 16.

7:47 p.m.--Ike kicks a 36-yard field goal and takes a 3-0 lead over Kamiakin. There's 5:30 left in the 1st quarter at a soggy Lampson Stadium.

7:43 p.m. -- Jamison Rowe intercepts for Richland and runs it from midfield to the Hanford 12. However, a fumble and sack moves ball back outside the Hanford 20.

7:40 p.m. -- Both sides of Fran Rish Stadium are pretty much full now. Flynn has been helped off. Shepherd now making his way off the field. Shepherd looks woozy, while Flynn looks to be in serious pain.

7:37 p.m.--It was 3 and out for Richland after taking opening kickoff to the 40. Hanford has it inside its own 20. There were two Bombers injured on one play: Cody Shepherd and Cody Flynn. Both holding their knees.

7:25 p.m.--While the CBBN games just have a few minutes before kickoff, the outcome has virtually been determined in Royal. The defending 1A state champions lead visiting Warden 20-0 late in the first quarter. First, Connor Payssee scored on a 2-yard run. Next, it was Blair Collins on a 10-yard TD catch. Then it was Jeremy Edwards on a 27-yard TD run. And as I type this, the Knights have scored again. It's 27-0 with time left in the first quarter.

7:12 p.m.--Less than 30 minutes before kick-off and the Falcons' side was about 20% full. Richland side is about 40% full. A light rain is falling 18 minutes prior to kickoff. Most folks seemed to have dusted off their Gore-Tex and bumbershoots.

7:10 p.m.--Andy Perdue will be filing the reports from the Richland vs. Hanford game. Here are some of his pregame thoughts...

-- You gotta get to Fran Rish early if you want a good parking spot -- apparently more than 90 minutes early. Bombers old and new show up for these games, and apparently this rival brings out the best in them.

-- A sign coming into the stadium says, "Wipe the Falcons." Rude or did someone accidently leave off the word "out"?

-- I haven't covered a Falcons game since Hanford beat Davis early last year. I can't recall covering the Bombers last season. I tend to be assigned to Edgar Brown or The Lamp.

-- The new scoreboard is nice. I hope more upgrades are forthcoming. The lighting is a bit tough here, and the speaker standards get in the way of the action. And I'm guessing this press box predates some of the Alphabet Houses in 99354 Land.

4:04 p.m.--Burbank running back Seth Shelton is indeed out 4-6 weeks with a shoulder injury. Herald preps editor Rene Ferran just confirmed it with Columbia-Burbank athletic director Jay Aune.

3:35 p.m.--The Herald photo staff plans to produce photo galleries at Hanford-Richland and River View-Burbank. They will be posted online later tonight.

3:26 p.m.--There are postings on a Washingtonpreps.com message board that Burbank's Seth Shelton, one my "picks to click," has suffered an injury and is out for tonight's game at River View. We plan to staff that game, so we will chase this down.

2:30 p.m.-- Here are my three "picks to click" for Week 5 games.

1) Andrew Mendenhall, QB, Southridge
This game will get out of hand early, but I’m guessing Coach Troxel will leave his first-team offense in long enough to rack up some Prosserish numbers on Davis. Look for Mendenhall to spread it around liberally to Cam Sander, Devin Jones and Clayton Homme as the Suns tune up for Thursday’s crucial home game vs. Pasco.

2) Jacob McKinney, RB, Richland
The marquee meeting in the Columbia Basin Big Nine tonight is at Fran Rish Stadium, the arena formerly known as “The Bomber Bowl.” At least that’s what I remember it as about 30 years ago while growing up in Spokane.

I’m going off the board a bit for this. A look at Hanford’s team defense stats shows the Falcons have the speed and skill to defend the pass, which is Richland’s strength, so I’m guessing the RHS brain trust will devote more time to their ground game. McKinney, a sophomore, isn’t among the CBBN rushing leaders because of Richland’s aerial attack. I look for Hayden Hilty to hand it off more than usual tonight, especially with Hanford’s defensive front suffering a major loss in DE Jordan Friesz (fractured arm).

3) Seth Shelton, RB, Burbank
I agree with Señor Ferran that the Lake Wallula rivalry of River View at Burbank is difficult to call, and tonight brings together a pair of first-year coaches -- Lance Beeson for Burbank and Brett Jay for River View. Last week, Burbank struggled at winless Ki-Be, and Connell came into Finley and crushed River View. My guess is Beeson gives River View a steady and heavy dose of Shelton. A strong game for the senior tailback could lift him into the SCAC rushing lead.

11 a.m. -– Wow. Difficult to believe that after tonight, the 2008 regular season for Mid-Columbia high school football will have reached halftime.

Judging by the numbers, more prep football fans each week are visiting and returning to SportsTriCities.com for our running scoreboard, video highlights and photo galleries.

We start updating the scoreboard and this “glog” shortly after 7 p.m. That’s about 30 minutes before the Columbia Basin Big Nine games kick off, but Royal High School’s broadcast/webcast begins shortly before 7 p.m. Ryan Christensen and Mike Noftle provide play-by-play of the Royal football and scoring updates of other SCAC games, and the River View at Burbank rivalry takes on special interest tonight.

Our SportsTriCities.com video coverage is focused on Fran Rish for the biggest rivalry of the night – Richland (3-1, 3-0 CBBN) vs. Hanford (2-2, 1-1) – and "The Lamp" in Kennewick where Kamiakin (3-1, 2-1) entertains Eisenhower (1-3, 0-2).

I'll be providing game log updates for those games. We’ll gladly accept updates from any other games, and last week we got a big assist from a boys basketball coach who texted me scoring updates of Prosser’s pounding of East Valley.

Again, if you wish, I'll give you credit in the blog for the citizen journalism.

My address is edegerman@tricityherald.com.

If you'd like to go the text-messaging route, email me first and I'll pass along you my cell number.

And I’ll repeat this. Dear booster clubs: You faithful folks go to all the games that we can't be at -- there are 30 games on our scoreboard tonight -- so we'd really appreciate your help in getting us updates of your game.

Check back this afternoon for my “Picks to Click.”