Chiawana comes from behind to beat Southridge, clinches MCC regular-season title

DJ Duran admittedly didn’t have his best game Friday night, throwing four interceptions.

But the junior quarterback from Chiawana never let mistakes keep him from leading the Riverhawks to a come-from-behind 21-20 Mid-Columbia Conference victory over Southridge at Edgar Brown Stadium.

It was Duran who connected with sophomore Michael Hansen twice in the second half for touchdowns — including a 6-yard strike with 1:21 left in the game that gave his team the victory.

It also clinched the MCC regular-season title for the Riverhawks, who overcame seven turnovers and still found a way to win. Chiawana is now 7-0 in MCC play (7-0 overall) and hosts Mt. Si next Friday night in a non-league game.

“You can’t let a handful of throws define the whole game,” said Duran, who finished at 10-for-20 for 149 yards passing and the two TD throws to Hansen. “We talked about how bad of a week we had at practice. But it all came together at the end.”

It didn’t look good for Chiawana in the first half.

The visiting Suns (3-3, 4-3) opened the game with a touchdown on the game’s first play, as senior Jimmy Rush took a handoff and pretty much raced untouched 84 yards for a score.

Rush would finish with 203 yards rushing on 28 carries.

“Some of our guys on defense were not doing what we had coached them to do all week, especially on that first play,” said Chiawana head coach Scott Bond. “Our front guys need to make a pile (of bodies) up front, and let the next guys come up and make the tackles.”

But it would get worse before it got better.

Southridge took advantage of a muffed punt to score another TD, as Rush scampered into the end zone for a 17-yard scoring run and a 14-0 lead.

Duran would finally get things untracked, and responded by leading Chiawana to a touchdown, when he scored on a 12-yard run.

Rush would add a third touchdown — another 17-yard rumble to the end zone — and Southridge went into intermission hellbent on an upset with a 20-7 lead.

“Our talk at halftime wasn’t crazy,” said Bond. “The first thing I said to them was ‘Before I get going, we’re down 13 points.’ For us, 13 is a magical number. We’ve been down 13 points a number of times this season and we’ve always come back.”

And suddenly, things started to change in the second half.

Chiawana’s defense stiffened, not allowing anymore Southridge points. Riverhawks junior linebacker Hunter Taylor led the way, with an unofficial 15 tackles (one for loss).

Riverhawks senior running back Ian Mohl started reeling off big chunks of yardage to keep drives going. As good as the Suns’ Rush was, Mohl was just as impressive, rushing 21 times for 172 yards.

But it was Duran who started righting the ship. And he didn’t let the interceptions he threw — three alone by Southridge standout Lucien Cone — get him down.

With his top receiver, Kade Smith, on the sidelines in street clothiers and in concussion protocol after last week’s win over Hermiston, Duran connected with Hansen for a 15-yard touchdown pass at the end of the third quarter to cut the Suns lead to 20-14.

And then the two connected for the game-winner late in the game, as Hansen ran a quick slant pattern and Duran placed it perfectly into his hands in the end zone.

“I love Michael’s height,” said Duran of the 6-foot-4 sophomore who finished with 5 catches for 77 yards. “He’s still working on his hands, but he’s doing great.”

And Bond loved the grit of his quarterback.

“I tell DJ all of the time to keep plugging away,” said Bond. “That’s the luxury of having an ex-quarterback as your head coach. I had games where I threw 5 interceptions before. I chewed his butt out good. He and I weren’t on the same page tonight. I wanted him to do one thing, and he wanted to do another.”

But Bond wouldn’t change what he has — Duran, Mohl, his defensive unit — for anything.

“I love this team,” Bond said. “I haven’t seen a team like this in a long time. I love its resilience.”

For Southridge head coach Matt Johnson, the loss was tough to take. The Suns had the lead 19 seconds into the contest, and held it until there was just 80 seconds remaining.

“It’s not a moral victory anymore,” said Johnson, who prepped at Tumwater, played at Eastern Washington University, and spent some time with the Dallas Cowboys as a player. “As a coach, I feel I didn’t do enough to put these guys into a chance to win.”

Southridge plays Kennewick next Friday, and the Suns will look to be the MCC’s No. 2 seed into the Class 3A Round of 32 in Week 10, while the Lions look to have the top MCC seed sewn up.

“These kids love competition,” said Johnson. “We want to play together for as long as we can.”

NOTES:

Rush was equally adept at defense. The linebacker had 5 tackles (1 for loss), and two QB sacks. … Besides Rush, Cone also had a great game for Southridge, rushing 11 times for 71 yards. He also had those three interceptions. … Brian Beardsley added 4 tackles, a cover, a pass breakup, and the other interception of Duran. … Suns DL Bryer Hughes added 2 tackles and 2 fumble recoveries. … Besides Taylor’s monster night at linebacker, other Chiawana defensive standouts included DL Lane Hedrick with 6 tackles (2 for loss) and a pass breakup; LB Cooper MacPherson with 4 tackles and a forced fumble; DB Braxton Feldmann with 5 tackles; and DL Landon Bolson with 4 tackles and a pass breakup.

KENNEWICK 13, HANFORD 7

Ambrose Driver completed 5 of 7 pass attempts for 116 yards and two touchdowns to lead the visiting Lions over the Falcons on Thursday night.

Driver connected on one score with David Wacenske, and found Alex Roberts for a 76-yard TD play.

The Lions lost starting quarterback Andre Breedlove for the next 2-4 weeks.

The senior separated his clavicle early in the game.Hanford’s defense loaded the box to shut down the run, packing the box and holding the Lions’ running game to 21 attempts on 38 yards.

“We are going to see more of that,” said Kennewick coach Randy Affholter.

The Falcons, in fact, outgained the Lions 198-154.

“We struggled with their wide receiver screen,” Affholter admitted.

Hanford QB Eli Perkes was 13-for-20 passing for 114 yards, while receiver Preston Bryant caught 4 passes for 44 yards. Kevin Hester added 15 carries for 45 yards rushing.

Defensively, Hanford linebacker Caden Wilson led the Falcons with 10 tackles (3 for loss), and a quarterback sack.

More scores

RICHLAND 42, WALLA WALLA 0: Josh Woodard tossed six touchdown passes as visiting Richland routed Wa-Hi on the road.

Brody Bocek caught two TD passes of 6 and 34 yards; Colson Mackey added TD catches of 8 and 26 yards; while John Simons (43 yards) and Seth Shook (29) had TD receptions too.

KAMIAKIN 44, HERMISTON 0: Host Kamiakin held Hermiston’s offense to just 16 yards of total offense, and the Braves went on to roll over the Bulldogs.

Devin Crow scored three rushing touchdowns of 1, 24, and 10 yards; Makram Altahir added 84 yards rushing and an 8-yard TD run; while Isaac Williams caught 4 passes for 75 yards.

FERRIS 20, PASCO 14: The visiting Bulldogs lost a close non-league game on Friday night in Spokane.

MCC STANDINGS

Chiawana 7-0 MCC, 7-0 overall

Kennewick 5-1, 6-1

Richland 5-2, 5-2

Kamiakin 4-2, 5-2

Southridge 3-3, 4-3

Hermiston 2-4, 2-5

Hanford 1-5, 2-5

Walla Walla 1-5, 1-6

Pasco 0-6, 0-7

Thursday, Oct. 13

Kennewick 13, Hanford 7

Friday, Oct. 14

Chiawana 21, Southridge 20

Ferris 20, Pasco 14Kamiakin 44, Hermiston 0

Richland 42, Walla Walla 0

Thursday, Oct. 20

Richland at Kamiakin, Lampson Stadium, 7 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 21

Mt. Si at Chiawana, Edgar Brown Stadium, canceled

Pasco at Hermiston, 7 p.m.

Southridge at Kennewick, 7 p.m.Walla Walla at Hanford, Hanford High School, 7 p.m.

This story was originally published October 17, 2022 at 12:58 PM.