Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009

Quick thoughts before I head home ...

A highly entertaining game at the Lamp tonight between Pasco and Kennewick.

The best part, though, came beforehand when I ran into Kennewick AD Ronny Coleman as I headed toward the press box.

Coleman was allowed a weekend pass from St. Luke's rehabilitation center in Spokane to attend the game and the tailgate fundraiser BBQ held before. Coleman has ties to both schools -- he was the girls basketball coach at Pasco about a decade ago -- and was in good spirits during our quick chat.

As for the game, both Pasco and Kennewick played desperate football -- which makes sense, considering the winner got to stay in the Tri-Cities next week to play a Kamiakin team that's seemingly destined to play nailbiters week in and week out, while the loser headed to Yakima to play No. 9 Eisenhower.

It's too bad the third team on the field didn't live up to the caliber of the football players. That would be the officiating crew, whom I am normally loath to criticize but in this case ...

Let's just say if this had been an SEC game, they would be suspended for next week.

The only good thing that can be said is that none of their mistakes ended up directly costing the game for either team.

It came down to Kennewick making the big plays in the second half that Pasco seemingly made in the first half, and the Lions getting the momentum along with the wind at their backs in the third quarter and keeping it.

"Mr. Momentum changed addresses in the second half," said Pasco coach Dustin Lamb. "It seemed like every time we got something going, there'd be a flag. Those were just momentum-killers. Penalties and turnovers -- we always talk about if we can win those two categories, we'll be in the game. Tonight, we didn't."

It wasn't just the eight penalties for 83 yards that hurt Pasco, but the timing of the flying flags. Holding calls negated a 33-yard run by Austin Wilborn to open the second quarter -- although Pasco did eventually score on that drive -- as well as another long run by DeVaunte Lamb. A roughing the passer penalty erased a Wilborn interception.

Then again, Kennewick had a couple of painful penalties as well, including two that kept Pasco's late first-half drive alive that ended in a 28-yard Emmanuel Martinez field goal, and the Lions had a sure recovery of a dropped backward lateral taken away when the linesman ruled it to be an incomplete pass .. so again, the officials didn't cost anyone the game. They just didn't look very good.

Of course, that wasn't the worst outcome involving officials at a game in the Mid-Columbia tonight. The end of the Quincy-Grandview game featured the Greyhounds getting penalized eight times in the final few minutes and the ejection of coach Jeremy Scroggins after his sideline finally erupted in frustration.

That means Scroggins will miss next week's game against Wapato.

For the most part this season, at the games I've attended, I've thought the officials have done quality work. Let's hope this was just a rough Friday night and that they'll be back to their usual selves by next week.

The most shocking outcome of the night had to be Prosser blowing a 27-7 third-quarter lead and losing to Selah 28-27, ending one of the longest postseason runs in state history.

The Mustangs had made the playoffs 22 straight years -- including state 21 times -- but that streak is over after the Vikings roared back in the fourth quarter and scored the winning points with 11 seconds left. Even if Selah were to lose its final two games, it beat the two teams that could finish tied with it (Grandview and Prosser).

Til next time ...