Major showdowns set for Week 2 of Tri-Cities high school football

After an opening weekend where games weren’t really that close — save the Walla Walla-Kamiakin matchup — Week 2 in the Mid-Columbia Conference football battles features a couple of major showdowns.

Tonight at 7 p.m., Kamiakin takes on Chiawana at Edgar Brown Stadium in Pasco.

The game features two teams that won their openers, with the visiting Braves holding off Wa-Hi 26-21, and the host Riverhawks taking down Sageview 63-0 in the Lobos’ first-ever varsity football game.

Both Kamiakin and Chiawana have a rich history against each other the past few years.

In both 2022 and 2023, the two teams went to overtime to determine a winner, with the Riverhawks winning 22-19 in 2022, and the Braves taking the 2023 contest 20-13.

Last season, after Chiawana got run over by Rocky Mountain in Idaho during a season-opening 42-8 non-league game, Scott Bond’s Riverhawks went into Lampson Stadium and blasted Scott Biglin’s Braves 44-0 in Week 2.

That win set the tone for the rest of the season for the Riverhawks, who would advance all the way to the state semifinals before losing to eventual 4A state champion Sumner.

The question tonight is what adventure awaits the next Braves-Riverhawks winner.

• The second major MCC matchup will pit Southridge at Kennewick, set for 7 p.m. at Lampson Stadium on Friday.

Since 2019, Kennewick coach Randy Affholter has made it the Lions’ mission season (not counting the 2020 Covid season) to advance to at least the 3A state quarterfinals. The first step is to be the best Class 3A team in the mixed MCC.

But Matt Johnson and the Suns feel this could be their year, with a number of veterans returning in the lineup.

Both Southridge and Kennewick won their openers last week: the Suns taking down Pasco 61-23; and the Lions beating Hanford 35-7.

• Other MCC contests this Friday: Hanford (0-1) at Richland (1-0); Hermiston (0-1) at Walla Walla (0-1); and Pasco (0-1) at Sageview (0-1), at Edgar Brown Stadium.

The Walla Walla home game will be played at the new Blue Devil Field on the Wa-Hi campus. Walla Walla used to play all of its home games at Borleske Stadium.

Prep volleyball

This nugget comes from my friend David Schick: Pasco volleyball opened MCC play on Tuesday night by defeating Sageview 3-2 (19-25, 25-20, 25-23, 24-26, 15-5).

In winning the match, Jordan Lara’s Bulldogs snapped a 131-match losing streak. That includes non-league matches.

The last time before Tuesday night, the Bulldogs won a 3-2 match at Hermiston on Sept. 9, 2017.

So congrats to Pasco!

Prep polls

The first Washington State High School Football Poll, as voted on by a panel of sportswriters from around the state, was released this week.

In Class 4A, Chiawana is ranked fourth with a first-place vote. Lake Stevens is No. 1, followed closely behind by Gonzaga Prep, then Graham-Kapowsin.

In Class 3A, Bellevue has the top ranking. Kennewick is at No. 5.

In Class 2A, Anacortes received five first-place votes and is the No. 1 team. Othello enters the poll at No. 8, while Prosser is tied with West Valley of Spokane for 10th.

In Class 1A, Royal is the No. 1 team in the state. But South Central Athletic Conference foe Cashmere is right behind at No. 2.

In Class 2B, Napavine earns the top ranking to open the season. Tri-Cities Prep starts the season tied for fifth with Liberty Bell.

Finally, in Class 1B, defending state champion Wilbur-Creston-Keller opens at No. 1. Richland’s Liberty Christian, although losing a large number of seniors to graduation after placing second at state, enters the poll at No. 3, just behind Almira/Coulee-Hartline.

• The Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association just released its first state rankings this week, and Matt Rexus’ Kamiakin boys are once again among the best in Class 4A, opening at No. 3.

Hermiston’s boys are also ranked third in the Class 3A poll.

Here are the No. 1 teams for all boys classifications: Redmond (4A), Mercer Island (3A), Bainbridge (2A), Cedar Park Christian of Bothell (1A), and Chewelah (1B/2B).

The top teams in girls cross country are Redmond (4A), Seattle Prep (3A), Sehome (2A), Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls (1A), and Pope John Paul (1B/2B).

College update

Idaho has three players from this region on its football roster: redshirt sophomore wide receiver Davis Fry (College Place); redshirt sophomore quarterback Nick Josifek (College Place); and redshirt freshman linebacker Dylin McIntyre (Kennewick).

• Richland High graduate Emma Almquist has transferred to Nazarene University to play women’s golf at the NCAA Division II school in Nashville.

Almquist, a senior, had been playing golf for Saint Katherine’s in Minnesota these past three years.

• Kamiakin graduate Gracie Rainsberry scored a goal as Eastern Oregon defeated Dordt of Iowa 4-0 in an NAIA women’s soccer match on Aug. 21.

Rainsberry, a sophomore, is one of three area players on the Mountaineers roster this fall.

Also on the team are redshirt senior defender Delaney Pink, a Chiawana graduate; as well as redshirt senior defender Hailey Rogan, who played at Walla Walla Community College.

• The Columbia Basin College men’s and women’s soccer teams were voted third in the first NWAC coaches polls for the season on Aug. 18.

The men’s poll is topped by Peninsula, which received all 11 first-place votes.

The Hawks are third, while East Region foes Walla Walla (sixth) and Spokane (10th) are also in the top 10.

In the women’s poll, Peninsula is also tabbed No. 1, getting 14 of the 15 first-place votes from coaches.

Bellevue, which got the other first-place vote, is second.

CBC sits in third. Other East Region teams in the top 10 are Spokane (No. 4) and Walla Walla (No. 7).