Another big Mid-Columbia football matchup. This time it’s unbeaten Kennewick at Chiawana
Week 5 of the high school football season includes another major battle in the Mid-Columbia Conference, with Kennewick visiting Chiawana at 7 p.m. Friday at Edgar Brown Stadium.
The Lions stand alone atop the MCC standings with a 3-0 MCC record (4-0 overall), while the host Riverhawks (3-1, 3-1) have won three straight games after losing their season opener to Kamiakin.
Both squads are in the middle of a gauntlet concerning the MCC schedule.
Next Friday, Oct. 6, Chiawana will play host to upstart Hermiston; while Kennewick is set to entertain highly explosive Richland next weekend.
What Friday’s big showdown pits is two strong offensive units facing two of the top defensive squads in the MCC.
Kennewick currently has the MCC’s defensive unit, surrendering an average of 195 yards a game. Chiawana has the league’s No. 3 defense, averaging 242 yards surrendered a game.
Offensively, the Lions pile up about 354 yards a game, third best in the MCC. Chiawana is sixth at 280 yards.
If you’re heading to Edgar Brown Stadium for this contest on Friday, here’s what you need to watch:
▪ The Lions need to move the ball against Chiawana. The Riverhawks may be ranked lower than Kennewick on defense right now, but their performance against Richland last week was nothing less than outstanding.
Chiawana held Richland’s high-octane offense to negative yards rushing. The Bombers, however, found a way to move the ball through the air with Richland QB Josh Woodard.
Meanwhile, Kamiakin found a way in the second half last Friday to stop the Lions on offense.
Kennewick must find a way to move the ball.
▪ Chiawana needs some offensive balance. Riverhawks senior QB DJ Duran is good. He’s just having a tough time getting untracked.
Part of the problem is two of his top receivers — Justin Webber and Michael Hansen — have missed a combined three games lately. And it could be more.
▪ Who wins the line of scrimmage battle. Yeah, yeah. That’s always in a game’s keys. But both offensive lines can get some surge.
The Lions’ offensive line is a big reason running backs Alex Roberts and Canaan Hays are a deadly 1-2 punch.
Meanwhile, at a certain point, Chiawana went back to its old days against Richland last week: We’re going to run the ball with Hunter Taylor. You know it. We know it. Now try to stop us. Richland’s defensive front couldn’t do it.
Key offensive players
Passing — Ambrose Driver, Kennewick, ranked 4th in the MCC with 650 yards passing, 11 TD passes against 1 interception; DJ Duran, Chiawana, ranked 5th with 576 yards-7 TD pass-3 interceptions.
Rushing — Hunter Taylor, Chiawana, No. 1 in MCC, with 459 yards rushing, averaging 5.5 yards a carry, and 5 TDs; Alex Roberts, Kennewick, No. 4, 344 yards, 7.5 average, 5 TDs; Canaan Hays, Kennewick, No. 5, 292 yards, 7.5 average, 4 TDs.
Receiving — David Wacenske, Kennewick, ranked No. 2 in MCC with 20 catches for 353 yards (17.7 yards per catch) and 7 TDs. Chiawana has no one in the top 5.
Four other prep football games to watch
College Place (1-3) at Connell (1-3), 7 p.m., Friday: Host Eagles had a brutal non-league schedule, and that should have Carson Lloyd, Jackson Forsyth and Kellen Riner ready as 1A SCAC East play begins.
Eastmont (4-0) at Sunnyside (2-2), 7 p.m., Friday: Visiting Wildcats are one of the favorites to win the Columbia Basin Big Nine conference title. But host Grizzlies opened CBBN play with a 27-0 shutout at tough West Valley.
Garfield-Palouse (3-1) vs. Liberty Christian (4-0), 3 p.m., Saturday, Kamiakin High School: Can anyone stop LC junior running back Charlie Branning in 8-man football? So far, nobody has.
Prosser (2-2) at Ellensburg (2-2), 7 p.m., Friday: Host Bulldogs are off to 2-0 start in 2A CWAC play, while visiting Mustangs are 1-0 in CWAC competition. It reminds of the old days.
Rest of weekend schedule
All games are 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 29, unless noted otherwise:
MCC — Hanford at Kamiakin, Lampson Stadium; Hermiston at West Valley-Yakima; Pasco at Richland; Southridge at Walla Walla, Borleske Stadium.
CBBN — Eisenhower at Davis; Hermiston at West Valley-Yakima; Moses Lake at Wenatchee.
2A CWAC — Ephrata at Cashmere; Grandview at Othello; Selah at East Valley-Yakima.
1A SCAC East — Naches Valley at Kiona-Benton; Royal at Wahluke.
2B EWAC East — River View at Warden; Tri-Cities Prep at Colfax; Columbia-Burbank at Mabton, 1 p.m., Saturday.
Southeast 1B — Moses Lake Christian/Covenant Christian at Tekoa-Rosalia, 3 p.m., Friday; Pomeroy at Touchet, 3 p.m., Friday; St. John-Endicott/Lacrosse at Dayton; Waitsburg at DeSales; Yakama Nation Tribal at Sunnyside Christian.
Fall Classic racing
The Fall Classic will run at Tri-City Raceway at Red Mountain Event Center this coming weekend.
It’s the 36th annual running of the event — the first 33 were at the old Yakima Speedway. But when the Yakima track closed down a few years ago, it was moved to the West Richland facility.
The event runs with two days of racing, Saturday and Sunday, with gates opening at 9 a.m. Qualifying each day starts at 11 a.m., while racing is set to begin at 1 p.m.
The schedule for Saturday is as follows: Northwest Vintage Modifieds, followed by the Tri-State Challenge Series (TSCS) Mini Stocks. The main event Saturday is the 80-lap TSCS Pro Late Models.
Sunday’s schedule: Tri-State Hobby Stocks, followed by the Elite 5 Modified Challenge Series, and finally the 125-lap Northwest Super Late Models’ Fall Classic 125.
The winner of that Fall Classic 125 gets $10,000.
To purchase tickets, go online to www.redmountaineventcenter.com/online-tickets.html
Event officials are expecting over 40 cars alone for the Fall Classic 125.
Be sure to read the details for parking if you decide to purchase tickets. There is limited parking at the RMEC.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
