Week 4 takeaways: 2 Tri-Cities football teams remain undefeated

Chiawana’s defense once again shut down an opponent Friday night, surrendering just 7 points en route to belting visiting Walla Walla 35-7 in a Mid-Columbia Conference football game at Edgar Brown Stadium in Pasco.

With the win, the Riverhawks raise their MCC record to 4-0 with just two games remaining.

They are tied for first with Kennewick, which is also at 4-0. Chiawana and Kennewick are not scheduled to play each other this spring.

Chiawana quarterback JP Zamora — a junior who has verbally committed to the University of Utah — threw for 223 yards and four touchdown passes, two to Kobe Young.

Most of the damage happened in the second quarter, as the Riverhawks scored on three of their first four possessions in the quarter.

Zamora had TD passes of 36 and 30 yards to Young, then a 33-yard scoring strike to Jalen Webber.

That was enough cushion for the Chiawana defense, which held the Blue Devils offense to just 104 yards of offense for the entire game.

The stats on defense were evenly distributed for Chiawana, which plays host to Hermiston this coming Thursday at 7 p.m.

Chiawana won despite losing standout running back-receiver Cameron Breier on the third play of the game, as he sprained his ankle.

RIVERHAWKS 35, BLUE DEVILS 7

Walla Walla 0 0 7 0 — 7

Chiawana 0 21 7 7 — 35

SCORING PLAYS

Chi – Kobe Young 36 pass from JP Zamora (Michael Kot kick)

Chi – Young 30 pass from Zamora (Kot Kick)

Chi – Jalen Webber 33 pass from Zamora (Kot kick)

WW – Ethan Zehner 4 pass from Ryan Martuscelli (Seamus Hall kick)

Chi – Jose Madrigal 7 pass from DJ Duran (Kot kick)

Chi – Aiden Mason 14 pass from Zamora (Kot kick)

Individual statistics

▪ RUSHING – WW, Jake Humphrey 19-51, Dash Sirmon 6-10, Martuscelli 3-6. Chi, Aidan Villarreal 7-57, Samuel Buggs 6-29, Ian Mohl 4-28, Cameron Breier 2-5, Duran 1-minus 2, Zamora 5-minus 3.

▪ PASSING – WW, Martuscelli 4-10-1-25, Sirmon 2-6-0-12. Chi, Zamora 16-28-1-223, Duran 4-5-0-60.

▪ RECEIVING – WW, Zehner 5-30, Aaren Lindsey 1-7. Chi, Young 5-85, Madrigal 3-56, Mason 4-39, Webber 2-38, Valdovinos 3-35, Jayden Martinez 2-13, Kade Smith 1-17, Villarreal 1-8.

▪ FIRST DOWNS – WW, 5, Chi 20. FUMBLES-LOST – WW 1-1, Chi 1-1. PENALTIES-YARDS – WW 4-40, Chi 11-107.

▪ DEFENSE – Logan Ashbeck 9 tackles (1 for loss), 1 forced fumble; Sirmon 5 tackles, 3 pass breakups. Chi, Buggs 3 tackles (1 for loss), 2 pass breakups; Luke Leavitt 4 tackles (1 for loss), Judah Bishop 5 tackles; Aarloh Valdovinos 2 tackles (1 for loss), 1 interception; Isaiah Anderson 3 tackles (2 for loss); JT Munoz 3 tackles (2 for loss).

More Mid-Columbia games

▪ KENNEWICK 35, HERMISTON 8: Quarterback Elijah Tanner passed for 243 yards and three TDs, plus ran for another score, to lead the visiting Lions over Hermiston in an MCC game.

Kennewick, now 4-0, also got 5 catches for 130 yards (including an 81-yard touchdown play) from Simeon Howard. Max Mayer added two more TD catches, while Erick Mora — stepping in for an injured Myles Mayovsky — rushed for 75 yards on 16 carries and had 3 catches for 35 more yards.

Defensively, Lions linebacker Josiah Barajas recovered a fumble for a score.

Hermiston, now 1-2, was led by Chase Elliott. The QB passed for 116 yards and rushed for another 116. Teammate Spencer Juul caught 8 passes for 59 yards.

▪ KAMIAKIN 42, SOUTHRIDGE 0: Tuna Altahir rushed for 78 yards and scored three touchdowns, Messiah Jones caught 4 passes for 130 yards (including a 60-yard TD play), and QB Henry Mercado added 212 passing yards, as the host Braves beat the Suns in MCC play.

Luis Salgado added a 45-yard interception return for a TD for the Braves, now 3-1.

Maxton Martin led the Suns with 131 passing yards.

▪ RICHLAND 58, PASCO 0: Cameron Kitchens passed for 6 touchdowns — two each to Deacon Boyce and Ben Fewel — as the host Bombers won the MCC game.

▪ HANFORD 28, DAVIS 0: Easton Wise-Hyde threw two touchdown passes in the first half, and the visiting Falcons never looked back in a non-conference win over the Pirates.

▪ PROSSER 28, SUNNYSIDE 21: Kaiden Rivera tossed two touchdown passes, Kase Tuttle rushed for two more, and the visiting Mustangs hung on at the end to beat the Grizzlies in a non-league game.

Logan Rodriguez fired TD passes of 14 and 72 yards to keep Sunnyside close, but Prosser’s defense held the Class 4A team out of the end zone as the game ended.

▪ ELLENSBURG. 22, GRANDVIEW 14: Ferrell Medina passed for 129 yards and one TD, and ran for another, but it wasn’t enough as the Greyhounds lost their season finale to the Bulldogs in a CWAC contest.

Noe Medina added 4 catches for 87 yards — including a 37-yard scoring play — for Grandview.

▪ ROYAL 52, WENATCHEE 6: Class 1A Royal continued its dominance, beating another Class 4A team on the road.

Knights quarterback Caleb Christensen passed for 290 yards, 4 touchdowns, and ran for another in the victory, which makes Royal 3-0.

Luke Bergeson caught 5 passes for 98 yards and two scores, while brother Derek Bergeson added 6 catches for 82 yards.

▪ COLLEGE PLACE 20, WAPATO 12: Cole Stubblefield rushed 14 times for 110 yards and two touchdowns, as the visiting Hawks won the SCAC game.

▪ NACHES VALLEY 20, KIONA-BENTON 8: Jorge Mondragon rushed for 150 yards on 29 carries, and tossed a 47-yard TD pass to Ruvim Ilin, but it wasn’t enough as Kiona-Benton lost the SCAC contest to Naches Valley.

▪ TOPPENISH 26, CONNELL 20: Joshua Perez’s 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter gave the visiting Wildcats the SCAC win over the Eagles, giving them the conference title.

Carson Riner scored all three touchdowns for Connell, and rushed 29 times for 149 yards.

▪ TRI-CITIES PREP 47, WHITE SWAN 0: Kaden Harrison starred on both sides of the ball to help the host Jaguars win the 2B EWAC game over the Cougars.

Harrison rushed 9 times for 70 yards, scoring four touchdowns. On defense, he led Prep with 11 tackles.

OTHER SCORES: In 2A Greater Spokane League play, host Othello pounded Clarkston 34-19. … Brewster took a 1A verdict from Wahluke, beating the Warriors 38-6. … River View went on the road Friday and beat Dayton-Waitsburg 41-6 in the 2B EWAC game. … Warden fell to Okanogan in 2B play, losing 40-6.

MCC STANDINGS

Through games of 3/19

Chiawana 4-0, 4-0

Kennewick 4-0, 4-0

Kamiakin 3-1, 3-1

Richland 2-2, 2-2

Walla Walla 2-2, 2-2

Hermiston 1-2, 1-2

Hanford 0-3, 1-3

Pasco 0-3, 1-3

Southridge 0-3, 0-4

Friday, March 19

Chiawana 35, Walla Walla 7

Hanford 28, Davis 0

Kamiakin 42, Southridge 0

Kennewick 35, Hermiston 8

Richland 58, Pasco 0

Thursday, March 25

Hanford at Richland, 7 p.m.

Hermiston at Chiawana, Edgar Brown Stadium, 7 p.m.

Pasco at Kamiakin, Lampson Stadium, 4 p.m.

Southridge at Kennewick, Lampson Stadium, 7 p.m.

Walla Walla, bye.

This story was originally published March 22, 2021 at 2:54 PM.