Kamiakin remains unbeaten in MCC football. Who else is headed to the playoffs?
The preliminaries are complete for high school football.
Now it’s time for the main event: the postseason.
In the Mid-Columbia Conference, quarterback Henry Mercado tossed six touchdown passes in Kamiakin’s 54-19 non-conference win at Sunnyside on Friday night.
That gave the Braves a perfect 9-0 regular season (8-0 in MCC play).
Meanwhile, Kennewick clinched second place on Saturday with a 27-7 win over visiting Richland.
So come this week — dates and times haven’t been completely finalized — six of the nine MCC teams have a postseason game in which they could advance to the state championship.
In Class 4A, Kamiakin will face the winner of a Tuesday play-in game that features Pasco at Lewis & Clark (6:30 p.m., Union Stadium in Spokane. Kamiakin will play that winner at Lampson Stadium on Saturday, time to be announced.
Richland will be the MCC’s second seed in 4A, and the Bombers are set to play Central Valley. Details have yet to be set.
And Chiawana will be the No. 3 seed from the MCC, traveling to Spokane for a 6 p.m. game Friday at Greater Spokane League top seed Gonzaga Prep.
In Class 3A, Kennewick will play Saturday in the state’s Round of 32, awaiting the winner of Tuesday’s play-in game between Central Kitsap and Timberline. Kennewick’s game time has yet to be set.
Meanwhile, Southridge’s 21-0 win over Walla Walla on Thursday clinched a Round of 32 playoff berth, as the Suns became the second 3A seed out of the MCC.
Southridge will travel to play at Bellevue at 7 p.m. Friday.
Scores and highlights
KAMIAKIN 54, SUNNYSIDE 19: Mercado’s numbers were impressive: 22 for 37 for 310 yards passing, and those six TD passes.
Fabian Hernandez caught two TD passes and had six catches for 110 yards, while Payton Graham added eight catches for 101 yards.
Luis Salgado had a big game for the Braves, rushing 13 times for 79 yards, catching 3 passes for 42 yards, scoring four touchdowns, and collecting five tackles (one for loss) at linebacker.
Charlie Munns added 16 carries for 105 yards rushing.
“We’re not quite ready for the playoffs yet,” said Kamiakin coach Scott Biglin after the game. “We’ve got to get some guys healthy. But we are excited to get going in the playoffs.”
Sunnyside quarterback Logan Rodriguez passed for 303 yards and three TD passes. Noah McNair caught four passes for 111 yards, while Brent Maldonado added seven receptions for 108 yards and two TDs.
KENNEWICK 27, RICHLAND 7: Randy Affholter stood inside the Kennewick locker room after his Lions shut down visiting Richland on Saturday, reminding his players of what is to come.
“The games to remember,” he told his squad, “are played in November and December.”
But this victory over the Bombers on this 30th day of October was pretty memorable for the Lions, who finished second in the MCC standings with a 7-1 conference record, 8-1 overall.
“This was like a playoff game to us,” said Kennewick senior quarterback Dayton Davis, who finished with a 12-for-20 passing performance for 233 yards and three touchdown passes. “(The Bombers) are a good team, ranked in the top 10.”
It wasn’t just that Kennewick won. It was how dominating it was in the win.
Offensively, the Lions just hung on to the ball — their time of possession was 31 minutes, 23 seconds, to Richland’s 15:37.
That just wore down the Bombers defense, and it kept the ball out of Richland quarterback Cameron Kitchens’ hands.
“(Defensively) we just couldn’t get off the field in the third quarter,” admitted Richland coach Mike Neidhold, whose team is 6-2 MCC, 7-2 overall.
Davis credited the Kennewick staff for the long drives, one being over 8 minutes in the third quarter.
“That’s good coaching,” said Davis, who connected with six different receivers during the game. “It’s good clock management. Our play-calling has gotten so much better.”
Affholter said it’s been fun watching Davis run the offense.
“I was just talking with our offensive coordinator, Rich Harris, about this,” said Affholter. “In reality, this is Davis’ first season playing quarterback. As a sophomore, he broke his collarbone. As a junior, he played some defense.”
Meanwhile, Myles Mayovsky once again dominated. The Kennewick running back carried the football 30 times for 168 yards. He also caught a screen pass from Davis that turned into a 64-yard touchdown play.
But the Lions had some problems hanging onto the ball, fumbling it away three times.
That kept Richland in the game for awhile, trailing by just once score, 14-7, at the half.
In reality, though, Kennewick’s defense never let the Bombers offense get untracked.
Richland had 92 total yards of offense for the entire game. Standout running back Elijah Rodriguez couldn’t get loose, carrying 15 times for 18 yards.
“We were concentrating on stopping their option,” said Lions senior defensive lineman/linebacker Bronson Childs. “We worried about just coming out to win.”
Childs led Kennewick’s defense with 7 tackles (2 for loss), and many of them with hard hits.
Defensively, after Childs, the Lions leaders were spread out. DB Andre Breedlove had 4 tackles and a pass breakup; Mayvosky, at linebacker, added 4 tackles (one for loss); DB Austin Stoddard had 3 tackles (one for loss), and a cover; and LB Kellen Weibel added 2 tackles (one for loss), a quarterback sack and a p;ass breakup.
Richland’s defenders had some big numbers by virtue of being on the field so long. Landon Charlton had 8 tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery; Kalani Steward added 9 tackles (2 for loss); and Isaya Galvez had 7 tackles (one for loss), a fumble recovery and a cover.
CHIAWANA 63, PASCO 7: The host Riverhawks won the annual Gravel Pit bowl, taking advantage of four Bulldogs turnovers.
Ian Mohl scored three touchdowns for Chiawana — two rushing scores, and a 60-yard kickoff return.
JP Zamora had 135 yards passing, with 82 of them going to Marco Elizondo for a touchdown play.
SOUTHRIDGE 21, WALLA WALLA 0: The Suns defense forced four Blue Devils turnovers en route to the shutout Thursday at Lampson Stadium.
Albersh Kuwa scored on two 2-run touchdown runs in the first half, and Lucien Cone finished the scoring with a 47-yard TD run in the second half for Southridge.
Cone finished the game with 113 total yards — 69 yards rushing on 9 carries, and 44 yards of two catches.
HERMISTON 22, HANFORD 21: Chase Elliott connected on a 50-yard touchdown pass to Caden Hottman with 3:07 left in the game, leading visiting Hermiston to a win over the host Falcons.
Elliott finished the game with 283 yards passing and three TD passes.
Kevin Hester led Hanford with 143 yards rushing on 19 carries and three touchdowns.
MCC FOOTBALL FINAL STANDINGS
Kamiakin 8-0 MCC, 9-0 overall
Kennewick 7-1, 8-1
Richland 6-2, 7-2
Chiawana 5-3, 5-4
Southridge 3-5, 4-5
Walla Walla 2-6, 3-6
Hermiston 2-6, 2-7
Pasco 2-6, 2-7
Hanford 1-7, 2-8
Oct. 28: Southridge 21, Walla Walla 0
Oct. 29: Chiawana 63, Pasco 7; Hermiston 22, Hanford 21; Kamiakin 54, Sunnyside 19.
Oct. 30: Kennewick 27, Richland 7
Tuesday, Nov. 2: 4A regional play-in: Pasco vs. Lewis Clark, Union Stadium, Spokane, 6:30 p.m. (Loser out)
4A regional playoffs: Pasco/LC winner at Kamiakin; Central Valley at Richland; Chiawana at Gonzaga Prep (6 p.m., Friday).
3A Round of 32 regional playoffs: Central Kitsap-Timberline winner at Kennewick (TBA); Southridge at Bellevue, 7 p.m., Friday.
Non-playoff crossovers: Ferris at Walla Walla, 6 p.m., Friday; Ridgeline at Hermiston, 7 p.m., Friday.