2 Tri-Cities teams score fierce victories to decide who could head to WA state playoffs
High school football fans who spent the weekend at Lampson Stadium got two outstanding games to see, with both being high-scoring affairs.
On Thursday, Kamiakin held off visiting Richland to earn a 32-28 win, giving the Braves the Mid-Columbia Conference’s No. 2 berth to the 4A regional crossover playoffs.
Richland is settled into the MCC’s No. 3 playoff position.
Chiawana, by virtue of its winning the MCC title already, will hold the No. 1 MCC berth in the regionals.
Hanford clinched the fourth and final MCC berth a few weeks ago.
Meanwhile, Southridge rallied late in the game to beat Kennewick 38-37 on Friday night at Lampson.
That gives the Suns the tiebreaker over the Lions — but Kennewick has a 5-2 record, while Southridge is 4-3 in MCC play.
Only if Kennewick should lose to visiting Hermiston this Friday, Oct. 28 — and if Southridge beats visiting Hanford on Thursday — would the Suns overtake the Lions as the MCC’s top 3A seed.
Those two teams will advance to the WIAA 3A Round of 32 for Week 10, games that will determine which teams advance to the actual state football playoffs.
MCC games
KAMIAKIN 32, RICHLAND 28: Kamiakin scored two touchdowns in the third quarter to pull away from the visiting Bombers on Thursday night.
Braves QB Carter Poland was 20 for 32 passing for 206 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 68 yards on 17 carries and another TD.
Kamiakin senior Fabian Hernandez caught 7 passes for 90 yards and a touchdown, while Makram Altahir rushed 13 times for 93 yards.
Richland QB Josh Woodard led the Bombers, passing for 178 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing 5 times for 43 yards.
The Bombers got great special teams play, as Seth Shook returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown. Later in the game, teammate Landon Charlton returned a kickoff 65 yards for a TD.
SOUTHRIDGE 38, KENNEWICK 37: Austin Guier connected twice with Gunner Beauchamp for touchdown passes in the final 3:20 of the game, as the Suns overcame the Lions on Friday.
Trailing 37-24 with with 3:20 to play, Guier found Beauchamp for a 40-yard scoring strike to cut Kennewick’s lead to 37-31.
Then, with 28 seconds remaining, Guier and Beauchamp connected again for a 17-yard scoring play for the game-winner.
Southridge once again got big games from seniors Lucien Cone and Jimmy Rush.
Cone rushed 18 times for 172 yards and two touchdowns, including a 55-yard scoring run.
Rush carried the football 25 times for 118 yards rushing.
Kennewick was led offensively by Alex Roberts, who rushed for 115 yards on 24 carries and had two touchdowns.
Ambrose Driver, playing for injured starter Andre Breedlove at quarterback, added 109 passing yards, two TD passes, and 45 yards rushing for Kennewick.
HERMISTON 44, PASCO 20: Sophomore quarterback Issac Corey had his hand in on six touchdowns to lead host Hermiston over Pasco.
Corey passed for 196 yards and two TD passes. He rushed 12 times for just 37 yards, but found the end zone four more times.
Dale Krebs caught 3 passes for 59 yards, while Landon Shilhanek added 2 catches for 58 yards. Ben Larson rushed 12 times for 51 yards.
Pasco was led by Devon Valdivia, with 82 yards rushing on 16 carries. Teammate Joey Goin added 65 yards rushing with a touchdown.
HANFORD 28, WALLA WALLA 0: Four different Hanford Falcons scored touchdowns en route to an MCC shutout at the Hanford High School campus on Friday.
Kevin Hester led the way for Hanford, rushing 16 times for 121 yards and a touchdown.
Caden Wilson added a TD on a blocked kick return.
Defensively, lineman Malakai Silva led the Falcons with 7 tackles (3 for loss), and three quarterback sacks. Teammate Colton Whitmore added 6 tackles and a fumble recovery.
CHIAWANA GAME CANCELED: The Riverhawks lost their non-league Homecoming last Friday when Mt. Si needed to play a rescheduled conference matchup on the previous Monday.
The Wildcats’ conference game, scheduled for Oct. 14, was postponed because of air quality issues in North Bend. The game was pushed back to Monday, Oct. 17.
Mt. Si officials didn’t want to play two games in the same week.
Chiawana head coach Scott Bond decided that rather than find a new opponent, the team would take the week off and heal for the coming postseason.
MCC STANDINGS
Chiawana 7-0 MCC, 7-0 overall
Kennewick 5-2, 6-2
Kamiakin 5-2, 6-2
Richland 5-3, 5-3
Southridge 4-3, 5-3
Hermiston 3-4, 3-5
Hanford 2-5, 3-5
Walla Walla 1-6, 1-7
Pasco 0-7, 0-8
Thursday, Oct. 20
Kamiakin 32, Richland 28
Friday, Oct. 21
Hanford 28, Walla Walla 0
Hermiston 44, Pasco 20
Mt. Si at Chiawana, canceled
Southridge 38, Kennewick 37
Thursday, Oct. 27
Hanford at Southridge, Lampson Stadium, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 28
Chiawana at Walla Walla, Borleske Stadium, 7 p.m.
Hermiston at Kennewick, 7 p.m.
Kamiakin at Pasco, Edgar Brown Stadium, 7 p.m.
Mountain View at Richland, 7 p.m.