Prosser, Royal win football league titles. How they look heading into the playoffs
Prosser clinched its 33rd league title in football with a 28-21 victory over visiting Ephrata.
Kaiden Rivera’s 25-yard touchdown pass Friday to Chris Veloz with 39 seconds remaining in the game provided the winning score.
Rivera finished with four TD passes, in which Veloz caught two of them.
Now, the Mustangs play at Selah this week to finish the regular season. Then they’ll be seeded into the Class 2A state tournament field of 16 teams.
2A CWAC FOOTBALL STANDINGS
Prosser 5-0 CWAC, 6-1 overall
Othello 4-2, 6-3
Selah 3-2, 5-3
Ellensburg 3-2, 4-4
Ephrata 2-3, 4-5
East Valley 1-5, 1-8
Grandview 0-4, 1-7
Oct. 29: Ellensburg 28, East Valley 6; Prosser 28, Ephrata 21; Selah 42, Grandview 16.
Oct. 30: Othello 45, Quincy 0.
Thursday, Nov. 4: East Valley at Pullman, 6 p.m.; North Central at Ephrata, 6 p.m.; Prosser at Selah, 7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 5: Ellensburg at Grandview, 7 p.m.
Othello has a bye.
ROYAL 54, CONNELL 0: Royal’s defense held Connell star running back Carson Riner to just 73 yards rushing on 31 carries en route to an SCAC East victory at home on Friday.
Derek Bergeson once again had a good game, passing 11 for 19 for 209 yards and four touchdowns. On defense, Bergeson had nine tackles (one for loss).
Other Royal highlights included Gunnar Anderson catching 5 passes for 96 yards and a score; Luke Bergeson catching two TD passes for a total of 50 yards, and returning a punt for 54 yards and a touchdown; Avery Ellis rushing for 92 yards on 10 carries; and outside linebacker Dylan Allred had 10 tackles.
The Knights play host to Naches Valley at 7 p.m. Friday in a regional crossover game with a state playoff berth on the line. Connell is playing for a state berth too, and will visit Zillah at 7 p.m. Friday.
1A SCAC EAST FOOTBALL
Royal 3-0 SCAC, 9-0 overall
Connell 2-1, 4-3
College Place 2-1, 5-3
Kiona-Benton 1-2, 3-3
Wahluke 0-4, 2-7
Oct. 28: Kiona-Benton 6, Wahluke 0
Oct. 29: Royal 54, Connell 0
Oct. 30: College Place 63, Wapato 12
Friday, Nov. 5: College Place at Toppenish (regional playoff), 7 p.m.; Connell at Zillah (regional playoff), 7 p.m.; Kiona-Benton at La Salle (non-league), 7 p.m.; Naches Valley at Royal (regional playoff), 7 p.m.
EWAC PLAYOFFS SET: The three regional crossover games are set this Friday to determine the 2B Eastern Washington Athletic Conference representatives to the state 2B playoffs.
Top-seeded Columbia-Burbank will play host to Cle Elum-Roslyn at 7 p.m. Friday, while second-seeded River View will visit Kittitas at the same time. Mabton, the East’s third seed, will visit top West seed Goldendale, also at 7 p.m. Friday.
2B EWAC EAST STANDINGS
Columbia-Burbank 5-0 EWAC, 9-0 overall
River View 4-1, 7-2
Mabton 3-2, 3-4
Tri-Cities Prep 2-3, 4-4
Warden 1-4, 4-5
Oct. 29: Columbia-Burbank 53, Dayton-Waitsburg 14; River View 39, Warden 13.
Oct. 30: Mabton 48, Tri-Cities Prep 35.
Friday, Nov. 5: Cle Elum-Roslyn at Columbia-Burbank (regional playoff), 7 p.m.; Mabton at Goldendale (regional playoff), 7 p.m.; River View at Kittitas (regional playoff), 7 p.m.; White Swan vs. Tri-Cities Prep (non-league), Chiawana High, 7 p.m.
Army women’s soccer
Sixth-seeded Army defeated No. 3 seed Loyola of Maryland 2-1 on Sunday in the first round of the Patriot League tournament.
Army now advances to the semifinals, and will visit top-seeded Boston University at 4 p.m. Thursday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Hanford High graduate Dani Mendoza, who was featured in the Herald in Monday’s paper, is one of two co-captains playing for Army.
Bilodeau talks about OSU
Talked to Kamiakin senior Tyler Bilodeau last week after he announced he would play men’s basketball for Oregon State University next fall.
“It was a harder decision than I thought,” said Bilodeau, who was at the airport with his family, getting ready to fly to New Orleans to watch his cousin, Saints defensive end Payton Turner, play on Sunday. “I’ve developed a relationship with all of those coaches (who recruited him).”
He was offered scholarships from a number of schools, including Washington State University, Boise State, and St. Louis University.
But he felt Oregon State was the right fit.
“I love the coaching staff. I loved all of the players,” said Bilodeau. “It just had the right feeling. There is a family atmosphere there.”
Bilodeau came on strong as a prospect the past few years. As a sophomore, he played for Kamiakin at 6-foot-4. But before he hit the court again as a junior for the Braves, he grew to 6-7. And this past offseason, he added another inch to 6-8.
What’s that like, growing so fast?
“My knees are always hurt,” he said. “And there are a lot of Costco runs at my house.”
Bilodeau can make things official when he signs a letter of intent on Nov. 10.
With that out of the way — “it feels so good to be committed,” he said — he can concentrate on helping the Braves make a run to the 4A state title.
“That’s the goal,” he said. “We’ve got a good returning group.”