Chiawana leads 6 area teams into WA state high school football quarterfinals

Chiawana continues its torrid run into the Washigton state high school football playoffs.

Forcing a hot Puyallup team into five turnovers in a 56-14 victory on Saturday, the Riverhawks now advance into the Class 4A state quarterfinals.

Chiawana, seeded No. 3 in the 4A playoffs, will play host to No. 6 Lake Stevens — the two-time defending state champion — at 1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 23, at Edgar Brown Stadium.

Last Saturday’s first-round win over the visiting Vikings was not so surprising, but perhaps the Riverhawks’ complete dominance over Puyallup was.

Chiawana was up 35-0 at the end of the first quarter, and it forced Puyallup into those turnovers that translated into 35 points.

“Top to bottom, this is one of the most physical teams we’ve ever had,” said Riverhawks coach Scott Bond.

It is also one of the most enjoyable teams he has ever been part of.

“These guys,” said Bond, “just love to play football.”

There were plenty of standouts in this game:

• Tristan Breier, who set the tone by opening the game with an 88-yard kickoff return to the Viking 3. He also had 3 tackles and an interception;
• Gage Williams who — playing quarterback in the Riverhawks’ short-yardage package — scored touchdowns on his first three touches of runs of 3, 5 and 1 yards;
• Braxton Feldmann, who rushed 13 times for 167 yards and two touchdowns;
• Sawyer Sommerville, who picked off two passes;
• Cole Hultgrenn, who had five tackles, one for loss.

And then there was senior standout Cooper MacPherson, who recovered two fumbles — including anticipating a swing pass behind the line of scrimmage that he batted down, scooped up and ran 15 yards for an early touchdown.

MacPherson was recently named the Mid-Columbia Conference Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Bond related that the MCC coaches are happy to see him graduate.

“One coach said ‘MacPherson is the Defensive Player of the Year, and good riddance,’” said Bond. “The thing about Cooper, his quick twitch muscle is there. He’s tall and lanky. Eastern has offered him and WSU has offered him a preferred walk-on spot.”

Now, the Riverhawks (10-1) face Lake Stevens in the quarterfinals and the Vikings’ star quarterback Kolton Matson.

Lake Stevens (8-3) held off a game Mead team last weekend in the first round with a last-second field goal and a 52-49 win.

Chiawana is one of six area teams still alive in the state playoffs.

Kennewick (Class 3A), Royal (1A), Tri-Cities Prep (2B), DeSales (1B) and Liberty Christian (1B) all have state quarterfinal games this upcoming weekend — with DeSales and Liberty Christian playing each other.

Other 4A playoffs

Both No. 15 Kamiakin and No. 13 Richland were eliminated in first-round contests.

Kamiakin’s Michael Kori scooped up a fumble and returned it 40 yards to open the scoring against No. 2 Sumner.

The teams were knotted at 14-all with just 4 seconds left in the first half. But the Spartans blocked a Kamiakin punt and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown and a 21-14 lead en route to a 38-21 victory.

Richland scored the game’s first TD Friday night at No. 4 Kennedy Catholic, but it was all Lancers after that with a 49-7 victory.

Class 3A

No. 8 Kennewick rolled to an early lead en route to beating No. 9 Enumclaw 40-20 on Saturday at Lampson Stadium.

Canaan Hays scored four touchdowns for the Lions, now 9-2.

Dawson Gebers also scored a touchdown for Kennewick, while Dominic Driver connected with Cooper Neer on a TD pass.

The Lions will travel to No. 1 Bellevue (10-0) at 3 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 23.

Class 2A

Both Prosser and Othello lost in last-minute heartbreakers on Saturday.

No. 9 Sehome, trailing 21-14, scored a touchdown in the final minute. The Mariners then decided to try for a 2-point conversion, and were successful.

Meanwhile, Jacob Rainer passed for 238 yards and three touchdowns, and scored on a 26-yard TD run, but it wasn’t enough as visiting Prosser lost at No. 7 West Valley of Spokane 29-28.

Class 1A

Royal (10-0) was the No. 1 seed in the tournament, and the Knights had a first-round bye last weekend.

They’ll end up playing No. 8 Lynden Christian (7-4), which took down No. 9 Cascade Christian 40-14.

Kickoff is at 2 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 23, at Royal High School.

Class 2B

No. 8 Tri-Cities Prep beat No. 9 Toledo 13-10 last Saturday at Grandview High School.

The Jaguars got the win on the game’s last play and with time expired, as Jacob Sherfey bulled in from the 1-yard line.

Now Prep (9-2) must travel to play No. 1 Okanogan (11-0) at the Apple Bowl in Wenatchee. Kickoff is at 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 23.

No. 14 Columbia-Burbank saw its season end last Saturday with a 52-0 loss at No. 3 Napavine.

Class 1B

Top-ranked Liberty Christian of Richland rolled over No. 16 Ocosta 66-0 last Friday.

Perry Pottle was 10 for 13 for 207 yards and three touchdowns, while Charlie Branning added 122 yards of offense (94 rushing and 28 receiving) and scored two touchdowns.

Addison Lyle led the Patriots defense with 15 tackles, while Ashton Hardenbrook added 10.

LC (10-0) will take on No. 8 DeSales (10-1) — a 30-0 victor last weekend over No. 9 Quilcene — in a quarterfinal game at 7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 22, at Fran Rish Stadium in Richland.

The two Southeast 1B Grape Division rivals met Oct. 24 at Hanford High, in which the Patriots beat the Irish 52-0, forcing eight turnovers.