Prep football preview: Chiawana’s nonleague tilt with No. 3 Union the prime matchup

Normally, Mid-Columbia Conference football teams welcome a bye week with a non-conference game.

It gives a team a break from the weekly battles in the standings, and in some cases, a chance to pad its record against an easy opponent.

Not Friday. Not for Chiawana.

The Riverhawks (3-0), ranked No. 4 in Class 4A in this week’s Associated Press High School Football Poll, plays host to No. 3-ranked Union at 7 p.m. at Edgar Brown Stadium in Pasco.

“You’ve got to have a game that prepares you for later in the season,” said Chiawana Coach Steve Graff. “You don’t want the kids overconfident. We might just get our butts kicked.”

Graff keeps his players in check when it comes to overconfidence.

Last week in a 48-3 win over Walla Walla, Graff benched some starters for the first quarter when they missed morning weightlifting sessions during the week’s walk up.

They got the message, and played with reckless abandon.

Defensively, the Riverhawks held Wa-Hi to just 20 yards of offense.

“We brought some pressure,” Graff said.

They’ll need that same pressure against Union, which is 3-0 with a 17-14 win over Mountain View of Vancouver, a 27-23 road victory at El Cerrito, Calif., and a 43-18 home win over Eastlake.

“They’re pretty good,” said Graff. “They have a lot of guys back (from a team that made the state playoffs).”

Two guys who worry Graff on film are Union’s quarterback, Lincoln Victor, and receiver-defensive back Darrien Chase.

Victor has thrown for 454 yards and rushed for another 163, while Chase has caught 14 passes for 169 yards.

Graff expects junior Preston Vine to be back at QB for the Riverhawks, after he injured his non-throwing shoulder in the season opener on Aug. 31.

“But we’ll also get (freshman JP Zamora) in there too,” said Graff.

Zamora has been the starter the past two weeks in Vine’s absence.

Chiawana also got Riley Cissne back last week. Cissne, who was a first-team All-MCC defensive back last season as a sophomore, broke an elbow at a late summer wrestling camp.

“(Doctors) said he’d be back around Oct. 1, but they are always are cautious,” said Graff. “Riley has a big brace on his arm, and he looks like a Smurf.”

Big Bulldog win

Congratulations to the Pasco Bulldogs, who beat the Southridge Suns 48-6 last Friday.

It was Pasco’s first varsity win since October of 2015, and the first for Leon Wright-Jackson as a head coach.

“It was really important to the kids,” said Wright-Jackson, who said it was nice to see the kids rewarded for their hard work.

Wright-Jackson praised the quarterback play of Armani Reyes, who started over Emilio Davilla.

“It’s just one of those things where those two were battling for the position, and we felt it was important to move Emilio to the defensive side of the ball,” he said.

Reyes had 309 yards passing and four TD passes. Senior Riley Brown caught eight passes for 209 yards and three TDs.

“Riley has put in a lot of work and bought into our process,” said Wright-Jackson.

The younger Bulldogs also seem to be doing well. The junior varsity team has a 2-1 record, while the freshmen are 1-1.

But Wright-Jackson is quick to caution this is a marathon and not a sprint.

Pasco plays at Richland on Friday – 7 p.m. kickoff at Fran Rish Stadium.

“We have a 24-hour rule,” Wright-Jackson said. “Win or lose, we move on to the next game.”

The Bombers (1-2) also picked up their first win of the season, holding off host Sunnyside 28-27 in a non-conference game.

Kennewick (1-2) and Kamiakin (2-1), 7 p.m., Lampson Stadium

Last week’s MCC 3A race was thrown a bit into disarray, as Kennewick went down to Hermiston and handed the Bulldogs their first loss of the season, 26-25.

Meanwhile, Kamiakin showed that while it lost a lot of big names last year to graduation, the next standouts are ready for their turn.

The Braves used a great defensive effort to hamper Hanford’s high-octane offense in a 28-14 win. And Kamiakin quarterback Lucas Castilleja shined, tossing three touchdown passes and running 30 yards for another.

Prosser (2-1) at Selah (3-0), 7 p.m., Selah.

Best small-school game of the week.

It’s the CWAC South opener for both teams, and the winner has the path to the division title.

Last year, Selah won this game at Fiker Stadium and earned the CWAC South title.

After a slow start to the season, losing 22-19 to Class 4A Sunnyside, the Mustangs have started to get their game untracked.

Prosser QB Will Weinmann passed for 362 yards and five TDs in a win over Ephrata last Friday. Kord Tuttle and Tyler Durbin are playing well on both sides of the ball as well.

Selah counters with its vaunted passing game too. However, the Vikings’ Jake Weber rushed for 190 yards and scored two TDs in a 24-13 win at Class 4A Davis last week. And that shows Selah can have balance on offense.

Big Week 3 numbers

Hanford’s Garrett Horner threw for 496 yards and 2 TD passes in Falcons’ 28-14 loss to Kamiakin. … Richland’s Dhuanye Guice got the Bombers’ running game going, rushing for 170 yards in the win over Sunnyside. … Bombers teammate Cody Sanderson had seven catches for 165 yards. … Freshman Myles Mayovsky doubled his Week 2 output of 166 yards rushing for Kennewick. Mayovsky rushed for 169 yards in the Lions’ big win at Hermiston. … In that loss, MCC leading rusher Wyatt Noland carried the ball for 120 yards for the Bulldogs. … Kamiakin receiver Jaxon Nichols caught eight of QB Castilleja’s passes in that win over Hanford for 112 yards.

Other games (All 7 p.m., kickoffs unless noted otherwise)

Columbia-Burbank at Lind-Ritzville: The Coyotes hit the road for this non-conference game with a 3-0 record.

Connell at Wahluke: The host Warriors finish a tough two-week stretch against a powerful Connell team.

Dayton-Waitsburg at Medical Lake: Non-conference 2B D-W (1-2) goes up against an 0-3 Class 1A Medical Lake.

DeSales at Liberty Christian, Hanford High: Class 2B EWAC showdown between neighborhood rivals.

East Valley-Yakima at Grandview: Host Greyhounds are 3-0 entering this non-conference contest.

Hanford at Southridge, Lampson Stadium: Game was played Thursday night.

Hermiston at Walla Walla, Borleske Stadium: Visiting Bulldogs look to bounce back on the road.

Kiona-Benton at College Place: Looks like a toss up; both similarly talented SCAC East teams.

Mabton at Tri-Cities Prep, Chiawana High: For state-ranked Prep, this 2B EWAC game marks its third contest in eight days.

Quincy at Othello: Othello’s 1-2 record against tough non-conference opponents should make this CWAC North opener a cakewalk.

River View at Warden: Visiting Panthers lost a 14-0 lead last week to Ki-Be; Warden (2-1) opens SCAC East play.

Royal at Okanogan: Non-league battle of unbeatens; both 3-0, but visiting Knights have won 44 straight.