Chiawana outsprints Richland in this MCC football showdown
Three things seemed pretty apparent during Thursday night’s Mid-Columbia Conference football game at Fran Rish Stadium in Richland.
First, Chiawana has a pretty good defense. Might be one of the best MCC defensive units in the last 10 years.
Second, it doesn’t matter what kind of defense you have. Richland quarterback Josh Woodard is gonna move the football.
And finally, when everything else fails, use your featured running back and the big fellas on the offensive line to move the ball and chew up the clock.
That’s what visiting Chiawana did to beat the host Bombers 27-14 in a big showdown.
With the win, the Riverhawks improve to 3-1 in MCC play, while the Bombers fall to 3-1.
The main difference in Thursday’s win?
Try Hunter Taylor, the senior running back for Chiawana, who took a handoff 31 times and rushed for 155 yards. He also scored on touchdown runs of 11 and 12 yards.
It was classic Chiawana football, dating back to the beginning of the program: hand the ball off to the running back, follow your linemen — and don’t even try to hide it. Basically tell the defense, we’re running the ball. Try to stop us.
“That’s Chiawana football,” said Taylor. “I owe everything tonight to my offensive line. I just had to be patient, wait for the block to develop, and then follow my blockers.”
Chiawana coach Scott Bond said using Taylor was the game plan, especially since the receiving corps was hurting.
“We haven’t had Justin Webber for two games, and Michael Hansen hurt his knee and missed this game,” said Bond.
Meanwhile, it’s becoming apparent that you can’t stop Woodard and the Bombers receiving corps. You can only hope to contain them.
Woodard was outstanding, completing 24 of 35 passing attempts for 391 yards and two touchdown passes of 8 and 85 yards to Colson Mackey.
Mackey, a junior, also put up video game numbers, catching 8 passes for 184 yards.
Rayce Reeves added 7 catches for 80 yards, while Brody Bocek had 4 receptions for 70 yards.
But the Riverhawks never trailed in this game.
Which brings us to the Chiawana defense. The Riverhawks are good at swarming and containing.
Richland’s rushing game was non-existent, as the Bombers totaled negative 35 yards on the ground.
The pressure was always there, as the Chiawana D totaled 13 tackles for loss, 4 quarterback sacks, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.
Moreover, half of Chiawana’s touchdowns were scored by the Riverhawks defensive unit. Brooks Zaro read a slant route perfectly in the first quarter, picking off Woodard and running it back 43 yards for the score.
In the third quarter, the Bombers snapped the ball well over Woodard’s head — 21 yards behind the line of scrimmage, in fact — as Chiawana’s Jaxson Baxter scooped it up and ran it the remaining 13 yards for a TD.
“That was a great defensive effort,” said Bond. “Our D coaches do a great job.”
Richland coach Mike Neidhold agreed.
“Chiawana D is chaos,” said Neidhold. “You gotta give (Chiawana defensive coordinator) Don Hogue credit for that. They’re maximizing their players. They find what those kids do well and put them in the right spots. And we just didn’t match up well up front.”
CHIAWANA 27, RICHLAND 13
Chiawana 14 0 7 6 — 27
Richland 0 7 7 0 — 14
SCORING PLAYS
C — Hunter Taylor 11 run (Aaron Lowry kick)
C — Brooks Zaro 43 interception return (Lowry kick)
R — Colson Mackey 8 pass from Josh Woodard (Jason Slack kick)
C — Jaxson Baxter 13 fumble return (Lowry kick)
R — Mackey 85 pass from Woodard (Slack kick)
C — Taylor 12 run (kick failed)INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Chi, Taylor 31-155, Braxton Feldmann 2-12, Cooper MacPherson 3-6, DJ Duran 5-minus 14, Totals 41-159. Rich, Woodard 16-minus 1; Sylen Kissel-Kauhane 2-minus 3, John Simons 10-minus 10, Team 1-minus 21, Totals 29-minus 35.
PASSING — Chi, Duran 3-10-1-46 yards. Rich, Woodard 24-35-2-391.
RECEIVING — Chi, Mason Tovar 1-22, Taylor 1-13, Baxter 1-11. Rich, Mackey 8-184, Rayce Reeves 7-80, Brody Bocek 4-70, Zach Rose 2-38, Kooper Schmitt 1-24, Chris Daniels 1-5, Simons 1-minus 5.
DEFENSE — Chi leaders: Feldmann 7 tackles (1 for loss); Baxter 4 tackles (3 for loss), QB sack; Zaro 4 tackles, pass breakup, interception; Ethan Edward 5 tackles (1 for loss), QB sack. Rich leaders: Reeves 4 tackles, pass breakup, interception; Ethan VanBeek 6 tackles, QB sack; Zach Rose 4 tackles, one cover; Cannon Weikum 5 tackles.
FIRST DOWNS — Chi 14, Rich 13. FUMBLES-LOST — Chi 1-0, Rich 1-1. PENALTIES-YARDS — Chi 9-86, Rich 12-93.
MID-COLUMBIA CONFERENCE
Kennewick 2-0 MCC, 3-0 overall
Kamiakin 2-0, 2-1
Chiawana 3-1, 3-1
Richland 3-1, 3–1
Hermiston 2-1, 2-1
Pasco 1-2, 1-2
Walla Walla 0-2, 0-3
Hanford 0-3, 0-3
Southridge 0-3, 0-3
Thursday, Sept. 21: Chiawana 27, Richland 13
Friday, Sept. 22: Hanford at Mountain View, Vancouver, 4:30 p.m.; Kennewick at Kamiakin, Lampson Stadium, 7 p.m.; Southridge at Hermiston, 7 p.m.; Walla Walla at Pasco, Edgar Brown Stadium, 7 p.m.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Herald.
