This Tri-Cities QB spent most of last season on the sidelines, now he’s dominating
There came a time last season where Andre Breedlove had to make a sacrifice for his Kennewick Lions football team.
At the time, Week 3 of the 2021 season, the Lions coaching staff made the decision to go with Dayton Davis as the team’s starting quarterback the rest of the way, leaving Breedlove on the sidelines.
“I think it was tough on him,” said Kennewick head coach Randy Affholter. “He wasn’t that far off from playing quarterback. We spent the first two weeks of the season trying to figure that out.”
In the end, though, Davis the senior won the job, and he helped lead the Lions to the state championship game.
“Once we decided on Dayton, one of my defensive coaches wanted Andre to make him into a strong safety,” said Affholter.
Breedlove stepped up in Week 8 — the Chiawana game was his coming out party — and he was a big part of a tough Lions defensive unit.
“It was a little rough,” said Breedlove about losing the QB starting spot. “But you put the team first.”
Fast forward to this season, where we’ve already completed the first third of the regular season.
Kennewick is off to another fast start with a 3-0 record.
And a big reason is Breedlove, who has the starting QB spot all to himself now.
His patience in waiting for his time at quarterback has resulted in some impressive numbers:
- In a 43-0 season-opening win at Pasco, the senior rushed three times for 49 yards, passed for another 148 yards, and fired four touchdown passes.
- In a 48-6 road win at Walla Walla, Breedlove rushed for 97 yards on just 7 carries, scoring three TDs. He passed for 182 more yards and tossed three TD strikes. “He’s a great player that can extend plays with his feet,” Wa-Hi head coach Greg Lupfer told the Herald.
- In a 54-20 win over Sunnyside — again on the road — Breedlove rushed 10 times for 81 yards and three touchdowns; was 9 for 14 for 189 yards passing and two more TDs; and for good measure, he intercepted a pass on defense.
The running has been a new twist for Breedlove, who has always been a pocket passer since he first fell in love with the QB position as a seventh grader playing Grid Kids.
It’s done both by design and freelancing of plays.
“After the first game, we made some (running) plays for me. We hadn’t had any run plays for me before that,” said Breedlove.
“Andre has always had a live arm,” added Affholter. “He could always wing it. But it’s his ability to pack (run) the football that’s shined too. He uses his feet. Some of the stuff is designed for him to run on a read-option. Other stuff, he can look downfield and find nothing there with the pocket closing in.”
And that is when he’s become dangerous.
Affholter said that last spring, Big Sky Conference coaches were looking at Breedlove as a possible strong safety or outside linebacker for their teams.
“Now, they’re starting to look at him as a quarterback,” said Affholter.
Affholter couldn’t be more proud of how Breedlove has played. But it’s not just his statistics that have made an impression.
“His maturity level has improved a lot. That’s the biggest leap he has had,” said Affholter. “It’s his team. His opportunity. He did a lot of work in the offseason. He had to take ownership, and he’s our leader.”
He’s the one leading the team on long runs during practices. He’s the one talking up his teammates.
And he’ll be the first to tell you that this success so far is certainly not just him.
“Teams can stop any one player. But we have so many weapons,” he said.
He mentions how happy he is with who he calls “the stepper-uppers,” the guys who are replacing talented seniors who graduated. Players such as receiver Nate Bass, or running backs Zaydel Capetillo and sophomore Alex Roberts.
And then there are the guys who’ve done a great job of protecting him so far: his offensive line.
Led by senior right guard Ashton Tripp — who has already verbally committed to playing next year for Washington State University — the line has surrendered just one QB sack in the first three games.
Left tackle Nathan Knapik and left guard Vea Moala have done a great job of protecting Breedlove’s blind side, and newcomers Marco Acevedo (center) and Isaak Gay (right tackle) have acclimated themselves well.
“I’m really proud of our offensive line,” said Breedlove. “My left side is stacked with Knapik and Vea. That line makes me feel way more confident in throwing the ball downfield.”
The Lions begin a three week stretch of games with some of the Mid-Columbia Conference’s better teams — Kamiakin, Chiawana and Richland.
The Kamiakin game is set for 7 p.m., Friday, at Lampson Stadium.
“It’ll be like playing backyard football,” Breedlove said. “Everyone knows each other since we were little kids. Now it’s on Friday nights, playing each other in high school. Now it’s for bragging rights.”
▪ While the Lions are 3-0, Kamiakin has gotten hot in recent weeks.
The Braves lost their opener, falling to visiting Chiawana 22-19 in overtime.
But since then, they won a 36-29 shootout on the road at Moses Lake, before taking down a tough Southridge team 28-2 last weekend.
Carter Poland has done a good job running the Braves’ offense, while defensive lineman Devin Crow has anchored a strong defense.
▪ If Kennewick was to win, it would give Affholter his 200th career victory as a high school head coach.
Affholter, who also coached at Toppenish and Ellensburg, has a 199-101 record over 29 seasons. He is 31-5 in his time at Kennewick since arriving for the 2019 season.
Kamiakin head coach Scott Biglin (who spent time as head coach at Kiona-Benton) has a 129-42 record over 16 seasons.
▪ Meanwhile, it would be great if cloning were possible, so that football fans could be in two places at the same time.
While the Kamiakin-Kennewick game is kicking off at Lampson on Friday night, Richland is doing the same against Chiawana at Edgar Brown Stadium.
The Bombers and Riverhawks are each actually 3-0, so this is a game for the sole first-place position atop the MCC (since one of Kennewick’s wins is over non-conference opponent Sunnyside).
Richland has used some late-game heroics of junior quarterback Josh Woodard to win two of its games — a late TD pass by Woodard to beat Southridge 17-16, and a Woodard 1-yard dive with 16 seconds remaining to beat Hanford 21-14.
Meanwhile, the Riverhawks have a lethal 1-2 punch of quarterback DJ Duran and running back Ian Mohl leading them.
After its OT win over Kamiakin, Chiawana has easily handled Hanford (48-0) and Pasco (42-6).
▪ Other MCC games this week: Hermiston played at Southridge on Thursday night, while Pasco visits Walla Walla at 7 p.m. Friday in a game where one of those teams will get their first victory of the season.
Hanford has a non-league game at home Friday against Mountain View of Vancouver. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.