Kamiakin cruises past Wa-Hi to clinch top 3A seed
Freshman Tuna Altahir shined once again in his second week as the Kamiakin High School football team’s feature running back, this time pounding the ball 26 times for 113 yards and the game’s opening touchdown, as the Braves took down Walla Walla 33-7 on Friday in an MCC game at Borleske Stadium.
With the win, Kamiakin (7-1, 5-1) clinched the MCC’s top 3A seed — with help from Southridge’s 12-7 loss to Kennewick. Walla Walla (2-6, 2-4) was eliminated from postseason contention with Hanford (5-3, 4-2) beating Pasco.
Payton Flynn completed 19 of 31 passes for 238 yards with an interception for Kamiakin, and threw a 20-yard touchdown to Benson Smith and a 25-yarder to Colten Chelin in the second quarter to give the Braves a 20-0 lead at halftime. Chelin finished with a game-high six catches for 108 yards.
The Braves defense did the rest of the scoring, with Chase Kissell and Champ Grayson returning interceptions by Nicholas Zehner to make it 33-0 midway through the third quarter. Jared McAlvey prevented the shutout when he caught the Blue Devils’ first touchdown pass of the year, 68 yards from Keldan Swant.
Walla Walla’s Edwin Romero had the game’s longest play, a 76-yard run, and finished with 85 yards on his eight carries.
Kamiakin plays Southridge at 8 p.m. Friday at Lampson Stadium in the regular season finale, and Walla Walla travels to Chiawana on Friday.
Kamiakin | 13 | 7 | 13 | 0 | — | 33 |
Walla Walla | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 7 |
SCORING PLAYS
K—Tuna Altahir 1 run (Kaden Shymanksi kick)
K—Smith 30 pass from Payton Flynn (kick failed)
K—Colten Chelin 25 pass from Flynn (Shymanski kick)
K—Chase Kissell 25 INT return (Shymanski kick)
K—Champ Grayson 30 INT return (kick blocked)
WW—Jared McAlvey 68 pass from Keldan Swant (McAlvey kick)
Dustin Brennan: 509-582-1413, @Tweet_By_Dustin
This story was originally published October 21, 2017 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Kamiakin cruises past Wa-Hi to clinch top 3A seed."