Bombers vs. Suns: It looked like a good matchup; then the first half happened
The Mid-Columbia Conference’s top passing team against the stingiest pass defense. On paper it looked like an enticing battle.
Richland held up its end Friday night, grounding the Southridge Suns en route to a 63-14 victory at Lampson Stadium.
“We didn’t start very fast,” Richland coach Mike Neihold said. “They had the ball and were moving it. They weren’t scared of us, and that woke us up. These 5 p.m. games take us out of our comfort zone.”
Offensively, the fourth-ranked Bombers took a page out of Southridge’s playbook, with Cade Jensen passing for 314 yards in the first half alone.
“They came in having some guys with some good stats, but we wanted to show we were the best team out there,” Jensen said. “Scary thing is, we could have played better.”
I was just going for the sack. I’ll take what I can get.
Richland lineman Geoffrey Robinson
who scored on a 23-yard fumble returnThe night started off in the right direction for Southridge, forcing a turnover on Richland’s opening possession.
The Suns drove down the field and capped the drive with a 2-yard scoring run by Mason Bond. The kick went wide, leaving the Suns with a 6-0 lead.
“We knew we were going to have to play perfect football to hang with these guys,” Suns coach Aaron Sonnichsen said. “We shot ourselves in the foot too many times. It was a chance for us to get better against a great team.”
It was all Richland from there in the first half.
Parker McCary opened the scoring for the Bombers with a 13-yard touchdown run. With Adam Weissenfels’ kick good, Richland took the lead for good.
Jared Whitby added touchdown runs of 4, 3 and 2 yards, and Josh Mendoza hauled in an 87-yard scoring pass from Jensen.
“I’m the powerhouse running back,” said Whitby, who had seven carries for 27 yards in the first half.
But the Bombers’ best touchdown of the night belonged to Geoffrey Robinson.
As Southridge quarterback Mason Perez got hit, the ball popped up into the air and into the hands of Robinson, a 235-pound defensive lineman.
The big man rumbled 23 yards for his first career touchdown.
“I was just going for the sack,” Robinson said. “I’ll take what I can get. For a lineman to score is the toughest job on this team.”
The Suns recorded a safety in the third quarter, and scored on a 14-yard pass play from Perez to Eric Stayrook in the fourth to account for the final score.
“We know they are a tough team to play,” Stayrook said. “I’m not going to lie. If you are giving it all you got, you can walk away knowing you did your best.”
Richland | 21 | 42 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
Southridge | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 |
SCORING PLAYS
S—Mason Bond 2 run (kick failed)
R—Parker McCary 13 run (Adam Weissenfels kick)
R—McCary 1 run (Weissenfels kick)
R—Cade Jensen 5 run (Weissenfels kick)
R—Ryan Kriskovich 2 pass from Jensen (Weissenfels kick)
R—Josh Mendoza 87 pass from Jensen (Weissenfels kick)
R—Jared Whitby 4 run (Weissenfels kick)
R—Whitby 3 run (Weissenfels kick)
R—Whitby 2 run (Weissenfels kick)
R—Geoffrey Robinson 23 fumble return (kick failed)
S—Safety, Richland intentional grounding in end zone
S—Eric Stayrook 14 pass from Mason Perez (kick failed)
STATISTICS
RUSHING — R, Jensen 2-3, Tyler Fishback 2-12, McCary 6-64, Whitby 7-27, MacDuff 1-(minus-4). S, Perez 3-(minus-8), Jake Newbry 11-44, Brimberry 3-(minus-3), Bond 2-3.
PASSING — R, Jensen 19-28-0-314, Taylor Johnson 4-3-0-6. S, Perez 19-39-2-191.
RECEIVING — R, Mendoza 2-101, Weissenfels 4-41, Fishback 1-4, Sam Cervantes 1-13, McCary 1-22, Whitby 2-17, Cody Sanderson 2-29, Kriskovich 2-21, Ryan Piper 2-38, Nathan Mitchell 2-9, Chris Matheson 1-23, Tsenga MacDuff 2-2. S, E.Stayrook 6-115, Peyton Monson 8-49, Mark Meier 4-27.
This story was originally published September 22, 2017 at 8:35 PM with the headline "Bombers vs. Suns: It looked like a good matchup; then the first half happened."