Chiawana has inside track to MCC football title. Richland, Southridge shut out opponents
Granted, there are still four weeks left in the regular season.
But the post-season picture is becoming more clear after this past weekend’s Week 5 Mid-Columbia Conference football games. For starters, Chiawana came over to Lampson Stadium on Thursday night and beat Kennewick 24-13, giving the Riverhawks the inside track to the conference title.
With wins over Richland, Kennewick and Kamiakin — and with just contests left with potential contenders Hermiston and Southridge — Scott Bond’s Chiawana team has the short trek to the crown.
Meanwhile, Richland (49-0 over Pasco), Kamiakin (41-7 over Hanford) and Southridge (51-0 over Walla Walla) all kept pace in the standings with victories.
In the conference’s lone non-conference game, Hermiston lost at home to West Valley of Yakima by a 49-42 score.
This week
Two of the bigger contests this week are Kennewick at Richland on Friday (7 p.m. kickoff), as well as Chiawana visiting Hermiston on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Other games include Hanford at Pasco, in a game that could decide which team gets a Class 4A play-in playoff game in Week 10 (that game is set for 7 p.m. Friday); and there is a doubleheader set for Lampson Stadium on Friday, which Lewis & Clark of Spokane taking on Southridge in a non-league game at 5 p.m., followed by Walla Walla and Kamiakin at 8 p.m.
Weekend recap
It’s tough to win a football game if you consistently turn the football over.
That’s what Chiawana’s defense and special teams did against Kennewick. The Lions had seven — seven! — turnovers in the game.
There were two interceptions, two fumbles, one snap over the head of the Lions punter, one snap over the head in the shot gun formation, and a blocked punt.
Kennewick coach Randy Affholter has lost twice to Chiawana in his five years with the Lions.
In the other loss, Chiawana forced nine turnovers. That’s 16 in those two losses.
In Thursday’s win, the Riverhawks trailed the Lions 13-2.
But after halftime, Chiawana righted the ship, scoring 22 unanswered points on two Ian Mohl touchdowns and a DJ Duran to Kade Smith TD pass.
Mohl finished with 73 rushing yards, while Duran was 11-for-19 for 133 yards passing.
Hunter Azure-Pryce caught 5 passes for 80 yards. Azure-Pryce also had an interception, as did teammate Cage Sommerville.
Kennewick quarterback Andre Breedlove led the Lions with 171 yards passing, completing 16 of 24 passes, with one TD pass.
David Wacenske caught the TD pass, and had 6 receptions for 49 yards.
▪ The Bombers came back to Edgar Brown Stadium for the second consecutive Friday night, and this time they won.
The week before, in a battle of unbeatens, Richland lost 39-27 to Chiawana.
This time, the Bombers shut down Pasco 49-0.
Junior quarterback Josh Woodard was the epitome of efficiency, completing 10 passes on 12 attempts for 214 yards and five touchdown passes.
Brody Bocek had 3 catches for 52 yards and two touchdowns. Colson Mackey caught one pass for a 52-yard TD pass.
Rayce Reeves added a pick-6 for the Bombers.
▪ Kamiakin dominated from the outset in its 41-7 win on the road against Hanford.
Quarterback Carter Poland had four touchdown passes, and was 10-for-16 for 164 yards.
Poland also rushed five times for 59 yards and a score.
Top Braves receiver was Gavyn Buchanan, with 2 catches for 59 yards and a TD.
▪ Lucien Cone scored three touchdowns and Jimmy Rush added two more as host Southridge ran roughshod over Walla Walla 51-0 on Friday.
Cone accounted for 177 total yards — 79 yards rushing on 6 carries, and 2 receptions for 98 more.
Rush toted the ball 9 times for 134 yards rushing.
And Suns QB Austin Guier passed just 5 times. But he completed three of them for 145 yards and two TDs.
Southridge’s defense held the Blue Devils’ running game to negative yardage, as Wa-Hi rushed 26 times for minus 13 yards. Combined with QB Zach Wood’s 14 yards passing, Wa-Hi had just 1 positive yard from scrimmage.
▪ In this 49-42 shootout win by West Valley over Hermiston, the visiting Rams scored 22 points in the fourth quarter for the victory.
Skyler Cassel led West Valley with 320 passing yards and three TD passes, while Rams receiver Jackson May caught 6 passes for 129.
Isaac Corey led Hermiston with 273 passing yards (2 TD passes), and he rushed for 83 more yards.
Landon Shilhanuk caught 5 passes for 118 yards receiving for the Bulldogs.
Altogether, the two teams combined for 941 total yards.
MCC football standings
Chiawana 5-0 MCC, 5-0 overall
Richland 4-1, 4-1
Kennewick 3-1, 4-1
Southridge 3-2, 3-2
Kamiakin 2-2, 3-2
Hermiston 2-2, 2-3
Walla Walla 1-3, 1-4
Hanford 0-4, 1-4
Pasco 0-5, 0-5
Thursday, Oct. 6
Chiawana at Hermiston, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 7
Hanford at Pasco, Edgar Brown Stadium, 7 p.m.
Kennewick at Richland, 7 p.m.
Lewis & Clark at Southridge, Lampson Stadium, 5 p.m.
Walla Walla at Kamiakin, Lampson Stadium, 8 p.m.
This story was originally published October 3, 2022 at 12:59 PM.