Hanford hoping for a signature win against Chiawana
A pair of 2-1 teams get top billing in the second week of conference football play in the MCC as as Hanford High School (1-0 MCC) hosts Chiawana (0-1) on Friday night at Fran Rish Stadium.
The Falcons and Riverhawks come into this Week 4 meeting riding vastly different waves, as Hanford handled Walla Walla 42-6 last week, and Chiawana lost a double-overtime heartbreaker to reigning Class 3A champion Kamiakin, 26-20.
Now, obviously, there’s a pretty big discrepancy in the strength of those two opponents — Walla Walla is 0-3 so far, Kamiakin is undefeated — and the one common opponent these teams have faced this year (Moses Lake) Chiawana beat 24-14 at home in the season opener, and Hanford fell to 31-7 in Moses Lake the following week.
But these Falcons are a much more complete team this year than the ones who went 4-6 in 2016 and got smoked by Chiawana 49-14. Junior quarterback Garrett Horner is completing a higher rate of passes (66 percent) and has cut down on interceptions (two in first 88 attempts); Thomas Kitchens and Dmetri Kennedy-Woody have effectively led a deeper receiving core; Jared Devine has piled behind an improved offensive line to give the Falcons the No. 2 rushing offense in the league, while averaging a whopping 153.7 yards from scrimmage per game; and the defense has been phenomenal, ranking second against the run (allowing 121.3 yards per game) and pass (104.7 ypg), and in points allowed (13.3 per game).
Don’t sleep on the Riverhawks, though. For all the struggles their touted offensive line has faced this season, Tayden Jenkins still leads the league with 374 rushing yards and six touchdowns on his 43 carries, and Ethan Garcia has been effective running the ball as well. Quarterback Enoch Vargas rose to the occasion last week against Kamiakin, throwing for 205 yards and picking up his first career touchdown pass, proving the team can effectively move the ball through the air. And although the defense ranks in the middle of the pack, that’s mostly because of the three competitive teams they’ve faced this season (30-12 win over West Valley in Week 2).
Either way, it should be an entertaining game with Chiawana hoping to bounce back from its Week 3 loss, and Hanford looking to prove it belongs among the ranks of the elite MCC squads.
Chiawana (2-1, 0-1) at Hanford (2-1, 1-0)
When, Where: 7 p.m., Fran Rish Stadium
Last year: Chiawana 49, Hanford 14
Team offense: Chi—611 rush (1st in MCC), 422 pass (5th), 344.3/game total (5th), 74 points (5th). Han—479 rush (2nd), 695 pass (4th), 391.3/game total (1st), 90 points (3rd).
Team defense: Chi—331 rush (4th), 623 pass (7th), 318/game total (5th), 52 points (4th). Han—364 rush (2nd), 314 pass (2nd), 226/game total (2nd), 37 points (2nd).
Key players: Chi—RB Tayden Jenkins (43-374, 6TD); QB Enoch Vargas (40-64-2—411, 1TD); RB Ethan Garcia (47-219, 2TD); WR Daylen Storaci (15-163, 1TD); DB/WR Riley Cissne (5INT); K Ryan Lowry (8XP, 2FG); OL/DL Ford Powers; OL/DL Josh Alvarez; OL/DL Julian Benitez; OL/DL Joey Aikala; DL Nelson Cardenas. Han—QB Garrett Horner (57-90-1—694, 8TD); RB Jared Devine (51-332, 2TD rush; 17-144 rec); WR/DB Thomas Kitchens (12-196, 2TD); RB/LB Drezdyn O’Daol-Lyons (21-142, 1TD); LB/FB AJ Wiegand; WR/DB Dimitri Kennedy-Woody.
Last week: Kamiakin def. Chiawana 26-20 (2 OT); Hanford def. Walla Walla 42-6
Next week: Kennewick at Chiawana; Hanford at Kamiakin
This story was originally published September 21, 2017 at 9:14 PM with the headline "Hanford hoping for a signature win against Chiawana."