2 Mid-Columbia teams left in WA football playoffs. 1 was a blowout, the other a squeaker
The Mid-Columbia is down to two football teams left in the WIAA Washington state playoffs.
Kamiakin defeated Mt. Si 8-6 last Saturday in North Bend in the 4A state quarterfinals, while Royal continued its runs through the 1A field after routing Omak 49-0 last Friday.
Three other area teams — Kennewick, River View and Liberty Christian — all saw their seasons end.
Here’s a quick roundup for all five teams:
KAMIAKIN 8, MT. SI 6
The visiting Braves used a strong defensive effort against the Wildcats to hold on for the victory.
Because of that win, Kamiakin (seeded No. 6) will play at No. 2 Lake Stevens this coming Saturday at 1 p.m. in a 4A state semifinal.
Lake Stevens is the defending 4A state champion.
In the win over Mt. Si, Kamiakin picked up a safety early in the first quarter to take a 2-0 lead.
In the second quarter, Braves junior quarterback Trent Woodhouse scrambled into the end zone from 6 yards out for Kamiakin’s lone touchdown.
The PAT failed, but Kamiakin had an 8-0 lead.
During that second quarter, on back-to-back plays, the Wildcats lost their starting quarterback, Nate Donavan, and then starting running back, senior CJ Rose, to injuries.
Still, Kamiakin couldn’t pull away from Mt. Si. The Wildcats were able to score a touchdown in the second half. But they failed to get the 2-point conversion.
EASTSIDE CATHOLIC 17, KENNEWICK 7
This Class 3A quarterfinal game at Memorial Stadium in Seattle was another defensive dominated game.
The teams played to a scoreless tie in the first half.
On the first drive of the third quarter, EC drove down the field and found the end zone, as David Lene rushed in for a 10-yard touchdown.
The Crusaders added a field goal near the end of the third quarter for a 10-0 lead.
But the Lions finally responded in the fourth quarter, as quarterback Dominic Driver connected with Kyler Witkowski for a 20-yard TD pass to cut the lead to 10-7.
There was still 8:24 left to play.
However, Eastside Catholic’s defense stiffened, and the Crusaders had four interceptions in the seconds half (five for the game).
The Crusaders’ Jeremiah Burroughs broke loose for a 41-yard touchdown run late in the game to clinch the victory.Kennewick finishes with a 10-2 record.
ROYAL 49, OMAK 0
The host Knights are headed for a possible fourth consecutive 1A state football title.
They had little problem of dispatching Omak on Friday. It was 28-0 after one quarter, and 49-0 at intermission.
Jared Lee rushed for three touchdowns for Royal, while Lance Allred passed for two more, as well as running in for another and returning an interception 35 yards for another score.
Altogether, Allred was 10-for-15 passing for 150 yards; rushed 8 times for 48 more yards; and he added 5 tackles and the interception.
Ethan Ellis led the Knights (now 11-0) with 82 yards rushing on just 8 carries, while Case Christensen caught 3 passes for 60 yards.
Linebacker Benson Jenks led the defense with 10 tackles (3 for loss) and two quarterback sacks.
Wiley Allred’s Knights, ranked No. 1 in the state, will play host to No. 12 Seton Catholic at 4 p.m. Saturday in a 1A semifinal.
NAPAVINE 43, RIVER VIEW 14
Kris Welch’s Panthers ran into the No. 1 Tigers last Saturday in the 2B state quarterfinals, seeing their season end with a 10-2 record.
Napavine led 36-0 at halftime.
Aiden Tyutyunnik fired two touchdown passes for River View in the fourth quarter — one for 12 yards to Cody Brown, and the other for 10 yards for Connor Harper.
Harper finished the game for RV with 5 catches for 52 yards, while Hyatt Clark threw for 73 yards on 8-for-20 passing. Brown added 25 yards rushing on 9 carries.
NEAH BAY 52, LIBERTY CHRISTIAN 20
For the second straight year, Neah Bay eliminated Liberty Christian from the 1B playoffs.
This time, it was at Fran Rish Stadium in Richland on Saturday in the quarterfinals (last year, it was the semifinals), and was the only quarterfinal set in the Tri-Cities.
Craig Lukins, LC’s head coach, knew this Neah Bay team was going to be tough.
“Their running backs (JoJo Wimberly and Tyler Swan) were just so tough,” Lukins said. “(Swan) is only a sophomore, too. Defensively, they were blitzing us on the back side, and we weren’t picking it up.”
That proved too much in the first half, as the visiting Red Devils jumped out to a 20-0 lead and never looked back.
The Patriots finally got on the board in the second quarter, as Joey Isley took a handoff and then fired a 43-yard TD pass to Hunter Cole. Isley also connected with Ryan Powell for the 2-point conversion, cutting Neah Bay’s lead to two scores at 20-8.
But the backbreaker came in the final seconds of the first half.
With 8 seconds left, Wimberly took a pitch and found Cayden Smith for a 22-yard pass down to the Patriots’ 21 with 1.8 seconds left.
Red Devils QB Josh Greene then placed a perfect pass into the arms of Adan Ellis in the left corner of the end zone for a touchdown as time expired. Swan bulled into the end zone on the 2-point conversion play, giving Neah Bay an insurmountable 28-8 halftime lead.
Wimberly finished with 28 carries for 138 yards rushing and scored three touchdowns.
Swan added 123 yards rushing on 19 carries. He had two TD runs.
Ellis also scored twice for the Red Devils — one on a 15-yard fumble return; and that late receiving TD in the first half.
Swan also led NB defensively with 7 tackles (2 for loss), and a quarterback sack.
Charlie Branning led LC with 20 carries for 118 yards rushing.
Linebacker Addison Lyle paced the Patriots on defense with 11 tackles (2 for loss), two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery.
Branning added 11 tackles and a pass breakup; and Dax Mercure had 8 tackles, 2 pass breakups, and a fumble recovery.
Neah Bay, now 9-2, will play No. 1 seed Liberty Bell next week in the semifinals.
Liberty Christian finishes its season at 10-1 — a pretty good season considering the Patriots lost all-everything Keegan Bishop, as well as the team’s top three receivers, all to graduation.
“We didn’t know how good we would be,” said Lukins. “But I think when we beat Pomeroy and DeSales to open the season, we knew we might be good.”
What’s better is that LC only loses two players to graduation.
“We’re bringing back almost everybody,” said Lukins. “We feel great about next year.”
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
