Chiawana Riverhawks clinch Mid-Columbia conference crown as football season ends

Scott Bond, as head coach in his first year, was able to watch his Chiawana Riverhawks beat Richland 24-6 on the road Tuesday night.

At the same time, he got a bonus: Kamiakin hung on to defeat Kennewick 20-19 at Lampson Stadium, handing the Lions their only loss of the season.

And according to the Mid-Columbia Conference standings, that leaves Chiawana the only unbeaten team in the conference at 6-0, giving the Riverhawks the MCC title in this shortened season this spring.

Unfortunately, there was no game scheduled between Kennewick and Chiawana this spring.

In Chiawana’s win, JP Zamora tossed two touchdown passes, Aiden Mason tossed another one on a trick play, and Jalen Webber caught two TD passes — including a 73-harder from Zamora.

Kobe Young also caught a TD pass, and the Riverhawks defense held the Bombers to just one score.

“When you have good players and a good staff, good things happen,” Bond told the Herald on Tuesday night.

In the game of the night, Kamiakin’s defense came up with some big plays to give the Braves the victory.

Messiah Jones, playing defensive end, came up with an interception of one of Elijah Tanner’s passes deep in Braves territory in the first quarter.

The big guy then rambled 86 yards for a touchdown, tying the game at 7-7. Kamiakin would never trail again.

Jones caught an 11-yard pass from Henry Mercado in the second quarter to give the Braves a 14-7 lead.

Tuna Altahir, who finished the game with 105 yards rushing on 13 carries, completed Kamiakin’s scoring with a 50-yard touchdown run.

The Braves forced five turnovers — four interceptions and a fumble recovery — and all of Kamiakin’s points were set up by those turnovers.

But even though Kennewick quarterback Elijah Tanner threw all four of those interceptions, it was the senior who had a big hand in the Lions’ success.

Tanner had connected with Max Mayer on a 17-yard TD pass on the game’s opening drive to get an early score. He later would rush in from 16 yards out for a second score.

And it was his 28-yard run down to the 5 — on a 4th-and-6 situation, no less — that set up a potential game-tying 5-yard TD run by Myles Mayovsky with 1:45 left in the game.

Kennewick head coach Randy Affholter made the gutsy call to go for the 2-point conversion and the win.

But on the Tanner rollout to his right, Kamiakin LB Luis Salgado blew the play up, taking off on a dead sprint from the snap on the far right side of the line.

Salgado almost caught the scrambling Tanner, who was forced to throw the pass quickly back to his left and watch helplessly as the ball fell to the turf incomplete.

The Braves then ran out the clock, finishing the season with a 5-1 record — their only loss a 15-14 verdict a few weeks ago at Chiawana.

Kennewick also finishes tied for second with Kamiakin at 5-1.

BRAVES 20, LIONS 19

Kamiakin 7 7 0 6 -- 20

Kennewick 7 0 0 12 -- 19

SCORING PLAYS

Ken – Max Mayer 17 pass from Elijah Tanner (Gaven Mattson kick)

Kam – Messiah Jones 86 interception return (Braeden Staniszewski kick)

Kam – Jones 11 pass from Henry Mercado (Staniszewski kick)

Ken – Tanner 16 run (kick failed)

Kam – Tuna Altahir 50 run (kick failed)

Ken – Myles Mayovsky 5 run (pass failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

• RUSHING – Kam, Altahir 13-105, Luis Salgado 5-21, Mercado 7-18, Team 1-minus 7, Totals 26-137. Ken, Tanner 7-73, Mayovsky 20-69, Erick Mora 2-5, Totals 29-147.
• PASSING – Kam, Mercado 6-20-2-118. Ken, Tanner 18-36-4-194, Dayton Davis 0-1-0-0.
• RECEIVING – Kam, Salgado 2-53, Jones 2-51, Aidan Canada 1-7, Woodley Downard 1-7. Ken, Mayer 6-78, Austin Stoddard 5-60, Simeon Howard 4-32, Trevor Ridley 2-16, Tony Cervantes 1-8.
• FIRST DOWNS – Kam 9, Ken 16. FUMBLES-LOST – Kam 2-0, Ken 2-1. PENALTIES-YARDS – Kam 9-95, Ken 8-83.
• DEFENSE – Kamiakin: Elijah Allen 5 tackles, 1 pass breakup, 1 fumble recovery; EJ Hawkins 5 tackles, 1 hurry, 1 forced fumble; Aaron Tano 6 tackles, 1 hurry; Kennewick: Simeon Howard 4 tackles (1 for loss), 1 interception, 1 pass breakup; Josiah Barajas 4 tackles, 1 pass breakup; Kannon Ness 3 tackles (1 for loss), 1 quarterback sack.

▪ PASCO 19, SOUTHRIDGE 3: Kaden Watanabe tossed two TD passes, one a 26-yarder to Des Licon and the other a 38-yarder to Alex De Leon, Isaiah Arline rushed 5 yards for another TD, as host Pasco earned its first MCC win of the year.

Watanabe finished with 142 yards passing, while Licon caught 4 passes for 70 yards.

Maxton Martin led Southridge with 126 yards passing, while Albersh Kuwa rushed 20 times for 70 yards.

▪ HANFORD AT WW: The Falcons’ final game was canceled Monday night when a Walla Walla player tested positive for COVID.

MCC STANDINGS

Through games of 3-30

Chiawana 6-0, 6-0

Kamiakin 5-1, 5-1

Kennewick 5-1, 5-1

Richland 3-3, 3-3

Walla Walla 2-2, 2-2

Hermiston 1-3, 1-3

Pasco 1-4, 2-4

Hanford 0-4, 1-4

Southridge 0-5, 0-6

Tuesday, March 30

Chiawana 24, Richland 6

Hanford at Walla Walla, cancelled

Kamiakin 20, Kennewick 19

Pasco 19, Southridge 3

Hermiston bye

END OF SEASON

Cross country

The Kamiakin boys, led by junior Isaac Teeples, Kennewick’s Macy Marquardt, and the Richland girls were all crowned Mid-Columbia Conference cross country champions Saturday at the district meet in Umatilla.

Teeples, who won the 2019 Class 3A state title in November 2019, easily covered the 5,000 meters at the Big River Golf Course in 15 minutes, 35.20 seconds. That was 41 seconds ahead of runnerup and teammate Grayson Wilcott.

When they included another top-10 finish by another Braves teammate, senior Jordan Sanguino (who placed eighth), Kamiakin easily won the team title with 39 points. Chiawana was second with 60 points.

In the girls race, the junior Marquardt crossed the finish line in 18:06.10, finishing almost 12 seconds ahead of Richland junior Natalie Ruzauskas at 18:18.00.

Ruzauskas, a second-place finisher at the 4A girls state race in 2019, and three other Bombers teammates — Andrijana Fundak, Madilynn Carr, and Emma Summers — placed in the top 10 to easily give Richland the team title with 39 points.

Boys team scores — Kamiakin 39, Chiawana 60, Southridge 94, Hanford 96, Walla Walla 134, Hermiston 141, Richland 162, Pasco 170.

Top 10 boys (74 total runners) — 1. Isaac Teeples, Kamiakin, 15:35.20; 2. Grayson Wilcott, Kamiakin, 16:16.70; 3. Brody Hartley, Walla Walla, 16:25.70; 4. Owen Stigge, Chiawana, 16:42.50; 5. Ethan Stout, Hanford, 16:44.20; 6. Logan Springstead, Hermiston, 16:59.20; 7. Micah McCollum, Southridge, 17:01.50; 8. Jordan Sanguino, Kamiakin, 17:07.20; 9. Miles Sumner, Southridge, 17:13.70; 10. Bryant Hales, Chiawana, 17:16.70.

Girls team scores — Richland 39, Kennewick 84, Hanford 97, Hermiston 102, Kamiakin 108, Walla Walla 120, Southridge 146, Chiawana 190, Pasco 264.

Top 10 girls (77 total runners) — 1. Macy Marquardt, Kennewick, 18:06.10; 2. Natalie Ruzauskas, Richland, 18:18.00; 3. Ella Nelson, Walla Walla, 18:32.90; 4. Andrijana Fundak, Richland, 19:32.50; 5. Sariah Hepworth, Walla Walla, 19:53.60; 6. Madilynn Carr, Richland, 19:56.60; 7. Carley Nelson, Chiawana, 20:08.90; 8. Alexia Serna, Hermiston, 20:21.90; 9. Emma Summers, Richland, 20:24.10; 10. Mia Beightol, Hanford, 20:27.00.