These Mid-Columbia football teams are ready to battle for WA state tournament berths

Eighteen Mid-Columbia high school football teams battle this weekend for potential state playoff berths as the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association unveils its Round of 32 (Round of 24 for Class 1A) playoff games.

The format allows teams a chance to qualify for the state tournament, which begins the weekend of Nov. 15-16.

Those playoff teams number six in class 4A and 3A around here: Chiawana, Kamiakin, Kennewick, Richland, Southridge and Sunnyside.

Chiawana play host to Sunnyside at 6 p.m. Friday.

Meanwhile, one team that won’t be playing this weekend is Liberty Christian of Richland.

The Patriots have been ranked No. 1 in Class 1B pretty much all season long in the state Associated Press poll, and they were supposed to play host to Mary Walker of Springdale at 5 p.m. Friday at Fran Rish Stadium in Richland.

Liberty Christian coach Craig Lukins said Mary Walker officials called him on Thursday to let him know they needed to forfeit.

“They don’t have enough healthy kids,” he said. “However, we should be the 1 or 2 seed (going into the state playoffs).”

Here are this weekend’s playoff matchups, as well as the non-league contests for local teams not qualifying for the playoffs:

CLASS 4A-3A

Tuesday, Nov. 5

4A play-in game: Kamiakin 48, Lewis & Clark 13

Friday, Nov. 8

4A Round of 32 — Richland at Yelm, 7 p.m.; Sunnyside at Chiawana, Edgar Brown Stadium, 6 p.m.

3A Round of 32 — Peninsula at Kennewick, 7 p.m.; Southridge at Enumclaw, 5 p.m.

Non-league: Hanford vs. Shadle Park, ONE Stadium, Spokane, 5 p.m.; Hermiston at Cheney, EWU, 7 p.m.; Pasco at Davis, Zaepfel Stadium, Yakima, 7 p.m.; West Valley-Yakima at Walla Walla, Borleske Stadium, 6 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 9

4A Round of 32 — Kamiakin at Moses Lake, Lions Field, 1 p.m.

2A CWAC

Thursday, Nov. 7

Non-league — Grandview at East Valley-Spokane, 5 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 8

2A Round of 32 — East Valley-Yakima at North Kitsap, 6 p.m.; Steilacoom at Prosser, 67 p.m.

Non-league — Ellensburg at Ephrata, 6 p.m.; Quincy vs. North Central, ONE Stadium, Spokane, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 9

2A Round of 32 — Rogers-Spokane at Othello, 2 p.m.; Toppenish at Orting, 4 p.m.

1A SCAC

Friday, Nov. 8

1A Round of 24 — Connell at Omak, 7 p.m.; Klahowya at Royal, 5:30 p.m.

2B EWAC

Friday, Nov. 8

2B Round of 32 — Granger vs. Tri-Cities Prep, Chiawana High, 7 p.m.; Manson at Columbia-Burbank, 6 p.m.; River View at Liberty Bell, 4 p.m.; Warden at Okanogan, 7 p.m.

1B SOUTHEAST B-8

Friday, Nov. 8

1B Round of 32 — Curlew at DeSales, 7 p.m.; Dayton at Almira-Coulee-Hartline, 7 p.m.; Sunnyside Christian at Odessa, 6 p.m.

Non-league — Touchet at Columbia (Stevens), 1:30 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 9

1B Round of 32 — Waitsburg at Inchelium, 3 p.m.

State cross-country correction

I gave Kamiakin’s Ezra Teeples one too many individual state cross country titles.

Teeples, a senior, won last year’s 4A race in Pasco. That is the only one he has so far.

Girls soccer

For the first time in seven years, the Chiawana girls have qualified for the 4A state tournament.

The Riverhawks defeated Lewis & Clark 1-0 on Tuesday night at ONE Stadium in Spokane to take the 4A district tournament championship.

After a scoreless first half, junior forward Mylie Anderson found the back of the net for the only goal of the game.

Chiawana will find out its state first-round opponent when the pairings are released on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Richland stayed alive in the tournament by defeating Gonzaga Prep 2-1 in a shootout on Thursday.

The Bombers will visit Lewis & Clark at ONE Stadium on Saturday in a match that will determine the final state berth.

Also on Saturday, Walla Walla will play host to University at 1 p.m. in a chance for a 3A state tournament berth.

CBC

The winning just continues at Columbia Basin College.

For the first time in 25 years, all three fall sports at CBC — men’s and women’s soccer, and volleyball — won East Region regular-season titles.

Not since 1999 has that happened; long before any of the current Hawks were born.

The CBC soccer teams will play in the NWAC quarterfinals — both hosting Clark College — on the Pasco campus on Saturday. The men play at 11 a.m., while the women’s battle at 1:30 p.m..

Winners of these matches advance to the Final Four in Tukwila.

The Walla Walla men are also still alive after beating Skagit Valley 2-1 in the first round. The Warriors play at Highline at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Meanwhile, CBC’s volleyball squad will play host to one of the four regional tournaments on Nov. 16-17.

The Hawks will host Bellevue, Lower Columbia, and the South Region’s No. 4 team. The top two of these teams will advance to the Elite 8 at Pierce College.