Inspired Kennewick closes season with another must-win vs. Pasco

Winning seems to be a cure-all for football teams — just ask the Kennewick Lions.

After losing five consecutive games to open conference play, they headed into last week’s rivalry game against Southridge with a 1-6 record and only a glimmer of hope to play a meaningful Week 10 game.

But all that changed with a 12-7 Lions victory, led by a relentless defensive effort. Now, a home win over Pasco (0-8, 0-6 MCC) at 5 p.m. Thursday will likely send Kennewick (2-6, 1-5) into the postseason.

“It would kind of right some wrongs through this entire season, and kind of through last season when we didn’t make the post ,” Kennewick senior running back/defensive lineman Moses McAninch said. “It rights a lot of wrongs, like not winning games that we should have won and not bringing Lion pride to our school and our team.”

To advance, Kennewick needs to beat Pasco and have Southridge (3-5, 2-4) lose to No. 5 Kamiakin (7-1, 5-1) in the nightcap of Thursday’s doubleheader at Lampson Stadium, scheduled to kick off at 8 p.m. Whichever team clinches the MCC No. 2 seed plays at the loser of Thursday’s game between Mt. Spokane (6-2, 2-0 GSL) and Shadle Park (3-4, 2-0), on Tuesday.

As much of a grind as the season has been to this point, beating a cross-town rival to keep the season alive seems to have given Kennewick a much-needed shot in the arm.

“That was huge, such an important game,” said Cedric Riel, Kennewick’s starting running back and safety. “Statistics aside, it was just fun to beat our rivals from across town. We know all of those guys.”

Riel was resting a sore knee Monday, but said he’ll be back for Thursday’s game. That’s big for the Lions, who have leaned on the senior since AJ Templeton went down with an ankle injury in a season-opening loss to Prosser.

“I love Cedric,” Kennewick coach Bill Templeton said. “That kid is one of the most coachable, hardest-working kids I’ve ever been around. He had some great plays against Southridge, and one at the end of the game that really inspired our kids, broke four, five, six tackles, and got a first down for us. Can’t even say how happy I am for him.”

A bit of a different style ball carrier than Kennewick’s power-run game was built for, the shifty Riel thrives in space and has a knack for creating big plays, like the 97-yard touchdown run he had against Richland on Sept. 16, or the 93-yard kickoff return he scored on against Chiawana two weeks later. In total, he’s gained 664 all-purpose yards this season.

“Moving me to some of the receiver positions has definitely helped get me the ball on the outside and let me use my speed,” Riel said. “It’s definitely been fun. We’ve made some changes to our offense just so I can get the ball, and I think that’s really helped get us in better positions to score.”

ON DEFENSE

Kennewick will focus on slowing down Pasco running back Efrain Farias when the Bulldogs have the ball. The senior has gained 581 yards and scored seven total touchdowns this season, while leading the league with 142 carries.

McAninch (five tackles, one for loss, a sack and a QB hurry vs. Southridge) will likely pace the defensive effort up front, along with linebacker Isaac Ruiz (nine tackles, one for loss), and Riel will clean it up on the back end.

If all that goes according to plan, linebacker Emilio Ramos could add to his takeaway total for the season, as he leads Kennewick with three interceptions, and scored the go-ahead touchdown last week on a 4-yard fumble return.

“He’s a great wrestler, and that mentality and all that leverage and everything come through on the defensive side of the ball,” coach Templeton said of Ramos. “We’re very proud of Emilio. He’s one of our team leaders, and one of those guys who was no small part of why we were able to get the victory on Friday.”

3A PLAYOFF GLANCE

The winner of Tuesday’s crossover game between the MCC and GSL’s No. 2 teams gets a nightmare matchup in the state round of 32 later in the week, as it will face No. 2 O’Dea (7-1, 2-1 Metro-Mountain) at 3 p.m. Nov. 4 at Seattle’s Memorial Stadium. The Irish lost last year’s 3A championship to Kamiakin, 14-7 in overtime.

Having already clinched the top 3A seed for the conference, Kamiakin will play the loser of Friday’s game between Lakes (6-2, 5-1 PCL) and Bethel (7-1, 5-1).

This story was originally published October 25, 2017 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Inspired Kennewick closes season with another must-win vs. Pasco."