Undefeated Chiawana in the lead as Mid-Columbia playoff push heats up

There are two weeks left in the regular season of high school football in this state, and then we all get to the good stuff: the playoffs.

But these final two weeks in Mid-Columbia Conference will give fans some pretty good stuff too.

Take, for instance, this Friday night: Unbeaten Chiawana (7-0) plays host to Richland (6-1) at Edgar Brown Stadium; meanwhile Kennewick (6-1) visits Kamiakin (6-1) at Lampson Stadium.

Both games kick off at 7 p.m.

As is evident with a look at the MCC standings, those teams are on top of the conference.

A win by the Riverhawks on Friday will give Chiawana the MCC title. Meanwhile, a Richland win throws the race for the title into disarray.

Preps writer Jon Manley of The Tacoma News Tribune told me this week he considers this Richland-Chiawana game the top contest in the entire state.

It makes sense. The Riverhawks stellar defensive unit must find a way to stop the Bombers’ high-powered passing attack. And that Richland offense has to find a way to move the ball against Chiawana’s D.

To top it off, in Week 9, Kamiakin visits Richland at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 30.

So it’s possible we have an orderly finish, or clogged standings — whatever it is.

Regardless, it’s highly likely we’ll see all four teams in the Round of 32 playoffs for Week 10 (Nov. 6-8), with Chiawana, Kamiakin and Richland in the 4A playoffs; Kennewick in 3A. (More on this later in the roundup).

Last Friday, in one of the season’s biggest games, Chiawana scored three unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter to overcome a 10-3 deficit to beat host Kennewick 24-10.

For the first three quarters, Kennewick seemed to dominate.

“We played well,” said Kennewick coach Randy Affholter. “I thought we controlled the game. But in the last 8 minutes of the game, (Chiawana) saw something and took advantage of it.”

Sophomore quarterback Emmett Osterdock connected on touchdown passes of 32 and 40 yards with senior wideout Angel Colon. Sophomore Cooper Cissne would add a 33-yard TD run to finish the scoring.

“Our defense played well all game,” said Riverhawks coach Scott Bond. “Our offense sputtered a bit. But late in the game, we finally had some guys make some plays. Before that, we could not get any rhythm going.”

Part of Chiawana’s success lately becomes of Gage Williams’ selflessness.

The Riverhawks senior began the season starting at quarterback. But Williams is maybe more valuable on the defensive side of the ball as a linebacker.

“Gage came up to me a few weeks ago and said ‘Hey Coach, I think we need to put Emmett in.’ That takes a lot of maturity to say something like that,” said Bond.

Williams moved to tight end on offense, and he has stepped in with Wildcat situations in the Red Zone to run the football.

Playing quarterback is as much mental as it is physical. Bond, a former quarterback for Pasco High, knows this.

“It’s very mentally draining,” he said. “But from that moment on, Gage became that physical presence we needed.”

For Affholter, his staff and Lions players, the next two weeks are about finishing strong and then get ready for the 3A state playoffs.

“For us, in the next few weeks we can keep on improving. If we can keep it up, I think we can do well in the (state) tournament,” he said.

Last week’s standouts

Here are 10 players who had outstanding performances last weekend in MCC contests:

•Brody Bocek, Richland. Thanks to being double- and sometimes triple-covered, the senior wide receiver got off to a slow start this season. Now he’s probably the most dangerous wideout in the MCC if not the state. In Richland’s 28-7 Homecoming win over Walla Walla, Bocek caught 6 passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns. He now has 37 career touchdown receptions at Richland, a school record.

•Gabe Borisch, Southridge. The senior running back had over half of the Suns’ 532 offensive yards in a 48-27 victory over Hermiston last Thursday. Borisch, who led the MCC in rushing in 2024 and is on top this season, carried the football 21 times for 286 yards and four touchdowns. They were all long scoring runs of 39, 48, 52 and 55 yards.

•Cooper Cissne, Chiawana. Yes, he had the final TD in a run against the Lions. But the sophomore safety was all over the place on defense, getting involved with 16 tackles.

•Angel Colon, Chiawana. He had 4 catches for 105 yards and those two important touchdowns of 32 and 40 yards against Kennewick.

•Dominic Driver, Kennewick. The Lions’ senior quarterback was responsible for 216 of the team’s yards — 174 passing yards, 42 rushing. It all starts with Driver on that Kennewick offense.

•Sione Nuku, Hanford. I’m not sure who gets more involved on defense in the MCC than this senior linebacker. Nuku has 53 tackles this season for the Falcons. That’s No. 1 in the MCC. But in a 41-7 win over Sageview, Nuku’s legs were the weapons used. He rushed for 174 yards on 10 carries and scored four touchdowns — including TD runs of 56, 59, and 21 yards.

•Diego Vargas, Kamiakin. The Braves took down Pasco 42-14 last Thursday. Vargas was one of four running backs who gained yardage. The junior running back rushed 12 times for 128 yards, and he scored a touchdown. As a matter of fact, six different Braves scored a TD in the game.

•Gage Williams, Chiawana. Probably the two biggest plays in that game against Kennewick were his two blocked punts on special teams. Those plays turned the tide of momentum. Oh yeah. He also had 8 tackles (1 for loss).

•Jackson Woodard, Richland. The junior quarterback was 17 for 29 for 228 yards and three touchdowns, as the Bombers beat Wa-Hi. Richland’s passing game gets better each week.

•Charles Wutzke, Walla Walla. The junior linebacker was a bright spot in the Blue Devils’ loss to Richland, getting in on a team-best 11 tackles. Each week, Wutzke seems to be the leader of Wa-Hi’s defensive unit.

Upcoming key dates

Keep an eye out for the Round of 32 pairings on Nov. 2.

That’s when a committee for the WIAA will get together and rank the top 32 teams in four classifications — Class 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A.

From there, the teams are paired (1 vs. 32, 2 vs. 31, 3 vs. 30, etc.) and play in the window of Nov. 6-8.

The winners will qualify for the first round of the state playoffs, and those same committees will meet on Nov. 9 to re-pair those remaining 16 teams.

The Class 2B and 1B levels maintain their same playoff system.

4A-3A MCC FOOTBALL STANDINGS

Chiawana (4A) 7-0

Kamiakin (4A) 6-1

Kennewick (3A) 6-1

Richland (4A) 6-1

Southridge (3A) 3-4

Hanford (4A) 2-5

Hermiston (3A) 2-5

Walla Walla (3A) 2-5

Pasco (4A) 1-6

Sageview (3A) 0-7

Oct. 16 — Kamiakin 42, Pasco 14; Southridge 48, Hermiston 27.

Oct. 17 — Chiawana 24, Kennewick 10; Hanford 41, Sageview 7; Richland 28, Walla Walla 7.

Oct. 23 — Walla Walla at Sageview, Edgar Brown Stadium, 7 p.m.

Oct. 24 — Kennewick at Kamiakin, Lampson Stadium, 7 p.m.; Pasco at Hermiston, 7 p.m.; Richland at Chiawana, Edgar Brown Stadium, 7 p.m.; Southridge at Hanford, Hanford High Stadium, 7 p.m.

Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.