Battle of the undefeated. Chiawana vs. Kennewick in major MCC football showdown
The Mid-Columbia Conference has its regular-season football game of the year (to this point) on Thursday night at Lampson Stadium, when the two remaining unbeaten teams meet.
Chiawana (4-0 MCC, 4-0 overall) visits Kennewick (3-0, 4-0) for the inside track to the conference title.
Kickoff is 7 p.m.
Chiawana outdueled Richland 39-27 on Friday, while Kennewick edged Kamiakin 21-20.
Both the Riverhawks and the Lions have outstanding defensive units, as well as plenty of star power on offense.
For Chiawana, senior running back Ian Mohl rushed for 227 yards in the win over Richland.
It included a great 71-yard touchdown run in which it looked like Mohl would be tackled. However, he landed on the tackler, so he wasn’t down and he kept on going for the score.
Meanwhile, Chiawana also has gotten strong performances from DJ Duran the past few weeks. Against Richland, the junior quarterback passed for 202 yards and two scores.
Kennewick got head coach Randy Affholter his 200th career victory in that win over Kamiakin. But it came at a high price, when senior running back Zaydel Capetillo broke his leg in the game.
Capetillo was part of a tough 1-2 punch of Lions running backs this season — sophomore Alex Roberts being the other.
However, senior quarterback Andre Breedlove continues to shine behind a stout offensive line, led by Ashton Tripp and Nathan Knapik.
▪ Another game to watch Thursday is Kamiakin against Hanford at Fran Rish Stadium (7 p.m. kickoff).
The visiting Braves might just be the best 2-2 team in the state. Their two losses were a 22-19 overtime verdict to Chiawana; and last Friday’s 21-20 heartbreaker to Kennewick.
Meanwhile, the Falcons beat Mountain View of Vancouver 34-28 last Friday for their first win of the season. That might be just enough to get Hanford off and running for the rest of the season.
▪ I erroneously gave credit to Liberty Christian for a forfeit victory over Tekoa-Rosalia on Friday.
Patriots head coach Craig Lukins said the game was postponed on Friday because T-R didn’t have enough healthy or eligible players available.
The two teams are trying to find another date to play the game, but if it doesn’t work out, then LC gets the forfeit win.
So the correct standings have Liberty Christian, DeSales and St. John-Endicott all tied for first place in the Southeast 1B League. All three squads have 2-0 conference records, with 3-0 overall marks.
Hockey
The Tri-City Americans opened their 2022-23 Western Hockey League season in Prince George last weekend with a split in two games.
On Friday, the Ams fell to the Cougars 5-1. Ian Ferguson scored Tri-City’s lone goal in the loss.
But on Saturday, the floodgates opened for the Ams offense, as the team scored eight goals in an 8-3 win over PG.
Ethan Ernst was named first star of the game when he scored two goals and added an assist.
Dwayne Jean Jr., added two goals, while Jake Sloan had a goal and two assists.
Tri-City goalie Tomas Suchanek stopped 38 of 41 shots to earn the victory in net.
Tri-City continues its road trip this coming weekend, with a game at Everett on Friday (puck drop at 7:05 p.m.), and another one Saturday in Portland (6 p.m. start).
The Americans’ home opener is Saturday, Oct. 8, against the defending WHL champions, the Edmonton Oil Kings.
▪ Americans team captain Marc Lajoie was invited by the Los Angeles Kings to stay on with the main team training camp last week.
Lajoie, a defenseman, had been in the Kings’ rookie camp too. The Kings sent Lajoie back to the Americans on Monday, so he should be ready to play this weekend.
▪ From Geoffrey Brandow’s twitter account: The Tri-City Americans rank sixth among all Western Hockey League teams in the best home record over the past 20 years.
The Ams are 402-229-6-30-17 in that time period, which is a .626 winning percentage.
Soccer
Claire Potter, a freshman at Western Washington University, scored the game-clinching goal to lead the Vikings women’s soccer team to a 3-2 over Western Oregon on Sept. 17.
Potter, who played for Pasco High School and attended Tri-Cities Prep, had 4 shots and 2 shots on goal.
Two days earlier, on Sept. 15, Potter scored a goal in Western’s 3-0 win over Simon Fraser University. Potter had 4 shots and 2 shots on goal.
Cross country
Congratulations goes out to Walla Walla senior Brody Hartley, who has committed to running for Notre Dame next year.
Hartley is the area’s top returning distance runner. Last year as a junior, he placed fifth in the 3A boys race at the WIAA state high school cross country championships at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.
Hartley covered the 5K course in 15 minutes, 51.70 seconds.
▪ Kamiakin sophomore Ezra Teeples was the first runner to cross the finish line at last Wednesday’s first Mid-Columbia Conference boys cross country race.
Teeples covered the 5,000-meter course at Fort Walla Walla in 16 minutes, 17.70 seconds.
Finishing second was Hermiston sophomore Jaysen Rodriguez at 16:21.11; and Hanford senior Troy Russo placed third at 16:58.97.
Hermiston won the team title, scoring 43 points. Kamiakin was second at 55 points, while third-place Richland had 96.
Hanford junior Mia Beightol was the first to cross the finish line in the girls varsity race, covering the 5,000 meters in 20:13.52.
Chiawana sophomore Emma Gis was second at 20:20.66, while Kennewick sophomore Morgan Thompson was third at 20:22.62.
Kamiakin won the team title with 71 points, while Hermiston was second with 87, and Walla Walla was third with 96.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
