MCC football Week 5: Richland meets Kennewick in Thursday night showdown

By the time high school football teams have finished their games this coming weekend, we will have reached the halfway point of the regular season.

What we’ve seen in the 4A-3A Mid-Columbia Conference season are that the usual suspects are atop the standings.

But we’ve also seen the gap closing between the teams in the lower half of the standings with the upper echelon.

Example: Chiawana, Richland and Kennewick are all 4-0, with Kamiakin right behind at 3-1, and Southridge sitting with a 2-2 mark. But Hanford, Walla Walla and Pasco have shown great improvement and have 1-3 records.

Only Hermiston and first-year school Sageview have yet to win a game.

Here are the current standings:

Chiawana (4A) 4-0

Kennewick (3A) 4-0

Richland (4A) 4-0

Kamiakin (4A) 3-1

Southridge (3A) 2-2

Hanford (4A) 1-3

Pasco (4A) 1-3

Walla Walla (3A) 1-3

Hermiston (3A) 0-4

Sageview (3A) 0-4

Thursday, Sept. 25 — Chiawana 18, Hanford 6.

Friday, Sept. 26 — Kamiakin 49, Hermiston 14; Kennewick 42, Sageview 0; Richland 49, Pasco 0; Southridge 49, Walla Walla 21.

Thursday, Oct. 2 — Richland at Kennewick, 7 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 3 — Chiawana at Southridge, Lampson Stadium, 7 p.m.; Kamiakin at Hanford, Fran Rish Stadium, 7 p.m.; Sageview at Hermiston, 7 p.m.; Walla Walla at Pasco, Edgar Brown Stadium, 7 p.m.

This week’s big game

The big showdown will feature Richland at Kennewick in a 7 p.m., Thursday, game at Lampson Stadium.

Both teams are unbeaten.

Richland has spent much of the season coming slowly out of the starting gate in the first half.

But the Bombers have found a way to get things going with a committee of running backs. And in last week’s 49-0 win over Pasco, Richland finally unleashed its passing attack full scale.

Jackson Woodard passed for 268 yards and five touchdown passes.

Four of those TD passes went to senior wide receiver Kiyen Williams, tying a Bombers school record for most touchdown receptions in a game. He also finished with 7 catches for 170 yards.

“We saw this from Ki last year in practice,” said Richland coach Josh Jelinek. “The question was ‘How do we get that out of him in a game?’”

The two others who have caught four in a game are Brody Bocek last season against Hanford; and Josh Jelmberg in 1996 against Kennewick.

Williams actually caught a fifth TD pass in the game, but it was called back because of holding penalty.

So the big question for Randy Affholter and his Lions is What do you do to defend Richland’s offense? Bocek — a senior who has verbally committed to NAIA-school Montana Western — has been double-teamed much of this season.

But with William’s rise, it’s hard to double cover both receivers.

“We spent a lot of time in the offseason analyzing what to do on offense,” said Jelinek. “We’ve been pretty stagnant, and it wasn’t good the last couple of years. We were trying to force the good old plays we’ve been good at.”

“Richland is for real,” said Affholter. “They like to put the ball in the air.”

To stop that, the Lions will have to set up their defense concentrating on the pass.

“But that means we’re gonna be light in the box for their running game,” Affholter added.

Affholter’s team has been fighting injuries. Senior running back Rivion Brooks got banged up against Pasco in Week 3. It was a game in which Kennewick led just 15-14 after three quarters before the Lions pulled away to win 31-20.

In stepped senior Jakob Gay.

“He basically had to become one of the guys in the mix. He had a hell of a game,” said Affholter. “He had 11 carries for 117 yards and a touchdown, plus two 2-point conversions. He had a 30-yard kickoff return, and 10 tackles on defense (at linebacker).”

Brooks returned this past week in Kennewick’s win over Sageview.

Jelinek remembers two years ago when, as the Bombers’ offensive coordinator, watched in pained silence as the Lions ran a flea flicker trick play late in the game.

And last year, Kennewick won 14-13.

“I’m super excited for this game,” said Jelinek. “Especially after last year’s heartache (of that loss). We can’t wait for this one.”

Things that have caught my eye

While still winning games, Scott Bond’s Chiawana Riverhawks haven’t gotten their offensive unit unleashed yet.

In Week 2, Chiawana beat Kamiakin 15-3. Last week, in Week 4, the Riverhawks beat Hanford 18-6.

The defensive unit is still as dominant as ever. The offense, Bond admits, needs work.

“A win is a win,” said Bond about the victory over Hanford. “We had a lot of opportunities that we missed. Offensively, we’re pretty bummed. Things were there. We’ve just got to make plays.”

In all fairness, Bond and his staff have had to patch the offensive line together.

Brady Knowlton couldn’t suit up. Isaiah Delgado and Fernando Perez Caballero are hurt.

“Cole (Hultgrenn), who plays left tackle for us, switched to center,” Bond added.

One thing Bond did this past week, was allow sophomore quarterback Emmett Osterdock a chance to step in during the middle of the game with a different offensive package and run the offense.

It gives starter Gage Williams — who is also a big part of the Chiawana D at linebacker — a chance to catch his breath for a bit.

Expect more of that to happen.

•Southridge senior Gabe Borisch, who led the MCC in rushing last season, is back to his old tricks. Against Walla Walla, Borisch rushed for 241 yards on just 10 carries. That included touchdown runs of 62 and 90 yards. …. The Suns also had two defensive TDs against the Blue Devils, both of them pick-6’s: 79 yards for DeMario Cruz, and 30 yards for Stockton Parrish.

Kamiakin freshman quarterback Jagger McEwen continues to impress, tossing four touchdown passes in the Braves’ win over Hermiston. …. In that game, receiver Mason Severson and running back Stephen Wadan each found the end zone three times: Severson had TD catches of 13 and 43, and he added a 90-yard kickoff return. Wadan had TD runs of 23 and 5 yards, and a 32-yard TD reception.

I watched Hanford linebacker Sione Nuku get in on the tackle on so many plays against Chiawana. Nuku, a senior, is all over the field. He currently leads the MCC in tackles with 31. … Richland defensive end Matthew Stanfield leads the MCC in tackles for loss, with 9.5 of them. That includes 4 quarterback sacks. … The MCC leader in interceptions is Pasco’s Max Valencia, with 4. Valencia has been all over the field for the Bulldogs on both sides of the ball. On offense, he is one of Pasco’s top receivers.

Pasco senior running back Jayden Williams has been a force to be reckoned with. Against Richland in the first half, Williams — using a stutter step to find the hole after taking the handoff — had 66 rushing yards to give the Bombers defense fits. He ended up leaving the game due to injury. But he’s one of the best rushers I’ve seen in the MCC this season.

Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Herald.