Kennewick beats Richland with trick play in last seconds. Chiawana shuts out Hermiston

It looked like a play drawn up on a sandlot. Or in the street in a game of touch football.

But it’s something the Kennewick Lions practice every Thursday at the end of practice.

“Every Thursday we run three plays — not against anyone out on the field — where if we ever come up in a situation like we had, we know what to do,” said Lions coach Randy Affholter, whose team pulled out a last-second 36-29 Mid-Columbia Conference victory over visiting Richland on Friday night at Lampson Stadium.

Let’s set the scene:

The Bombers, trailing 28-14, rallied to score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter — the last coming on a John Symons 1-yard TD plunge with just 21.8 seconds remaining.

That made the score 28-27 Kennewick, and everyone in Lampson was anticipating an overtime scenario.

But Bombers coach Mike Neidhold decided it was time to go for the 2-point conversion.

Richland quarterback Josh Woodard — who passed for 398 yards and three TD passes against the top defense in the MCC — fired a bullet into the end zone which Colson Mackey caught in the back to give Richland a 29-28 lead.

“We can’t stop anybody on defense,” said Neidhold. “We had to go for 2. I’m kind of a gambler in that regards too.”

On the precipice of losing their second consecutive MCC contest, the Lions didn’t panic.

Alex Roberts returned the kickoff from his 10 out to the 29.

What happened next will be talked about for a long time.

Lions QB Ambrose Driver took the snap in the shotgun formation and fired a 7-yard pass to David Wacenske running a quick slant route. The senior Wacenske is Driver’s top target and finished the night with 8 catches for 56 yards.

The Bombers also knew Wacenske would get the ball, and as he ran across the field from his left end spot to his right, he quickly pitched the ball to Kyler Witkowski — who was running full speed from his right end spot and going left. The old hook and ladder play.

It was the perfect pitch that Witkowski caught in stride. It caught the Richland defense — which was moving in to stop Wacenske — going the wrong way.

Witkowski took the ball and ran the remaining 64 yards untouched for the score with 5.8 seconds left in the game for the stunning victory.

“Witkowski is really fast,” said Wacenske. “If we hadn’t gotten (the TD) on the first play, we were ready to run that second play we do every Thursday.”

For Neidhold and his Bombers, it dropped them out of a first-place tie in the MCC with Chiawana (who beat Hermiston 49-0 on Friday). Chiawana has a 5-1 MCC record, while Kennewick and Kamiakin are both 4-1; Richland is 4-2; and Hermiston is 3-2.

“We probably should have been playing a prevent defense there at the end,” Neidhold said. “But hats off to them for making that play. And hats off to us for coming back to take the lead.”

Affholter will take the win.

“My dad always told me ‘When you’re good, you’re lucky. And when you’re lucky, you’re good.”

They were on Friday night.

KENNEWICK 36, RICHLAND 29

Richland 14 0 0 15 — 29

Kennewick 0 14 7 15 — 36

SCORING PLAYS

Rich — Zach Rose 50 pass from Josh Woodard (Jason Slack kick)

Rich — Brody Bocek 4 pass from Woodard (Slack kick)

Ken — Tyler Witkowski 49 pass from Ambrose Driver (Tanner Chavez kick)

Ken — Canaan Hays 6 run (Chavez kick)

Ken — David Wacenske 3 pass from A.Driver (Chavez kick)

Ken — Wacenske 10 pass from A. Driver (Chavez kick)

Rich — Rayce Reeves 52 pass from Woodard (Slack kick)

Rich — John Simons 1 run (Colson Mackey pass from Woodard)

Ken — Witkowski 71 pass from A.Driver (Alex Roberts run)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Rich, Woodard 8-25, Simons 9-16, Jakob Brannon 1-0, Total 18-41. Kenn, Hays 17-85, Roberts 14-84, A.Driver 2-3, Total 33-172.

PASSING — Rich, Woodard 28-39-2-398. Kenn, A.Driver 14-26-2-220.

RECEIVING — Rich, Bocek 9-119, Reeves 6-95, Rose 3-66, Mackey 4-61, Nathaniel Ruellas 2-28, Simons 3-20, Kooper Schmitt 1-9. Kenn, Witkowski 3-132, Wacenske 8-56, Dylin McIntyre 2-21, Roberts 1-11.

FIRST DOWNS — Rich 20, Kenn 17. FUMBLES-LOST — Rich 1-1, Kenn 1-1. PENALTIES-YARDS — Rich 13-105, Kenn 10-101.

DEFENSE — Rich, LB Cannon Weikum 9 tackles (1 for loss); DE Schmitt 3 tackles, 1 QB sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 1 pass batted down; DB Reeves 2 tackles (1 for loss), 1 interception, 2 pass breakups; DB John Corbin 5 tackles, interception. Kenn, DB Maddox Suitonu 7 tackles, 2 interceptions, pass breakup; DL McIntyre 8 tackles (2 for loss), 2 QB sacks; DB Damian Cervantes 7 tackles, 2 covers, pass breakup.

MID-COLUMBIA CONFERENCE

Chiawana 5-1 MCC, 5-1 overall

Kennewick 4-1, 5-1

Kamiakin 4-1, 4-2

Richland 4-2, 4–2

Hermiston 3-2, 3-3

Pasco 2-4, 2-4

Hanford 1-4, 1-5

Southridge 1-4, 1-5

Walla Walla 0-5, 0-6

Friday, Oct. 6: Chiawana 49, Hermiston 0; Hanford 40, Pasco 20; Kamiakin 42, Walla Walla 0; Kennewick 36, Richland 29; Lewis & Clark 44, Southridge 24.

Thursday, Oct. 12: Chiawana at Southridge, Lampson Stadium, 7 p.m.; Kamiakin at Hermiston, 7 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 13: Ferris at Pasco, Edgar Brown Stadium, 7 p.m.; Hanford at Kennewick, 7 p.m.; Walla Walla at Richland, 7 p.m.

CHIAWANA 49, HERMISTON 0

The host Riverhawks continued their defensive mastery with two more defensive touchdowns to stay atop the MCC standings.

Cage Sommerville returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown, and Rylen Blair picked off a pass and ran it back 72 yards for a score.

It gives the Riverhawks two defensive touchdowns for the third consecutive week, and eight for the season.

Chiawana played without senior quarterback DJ Duran, who has a foot injury. Senior running back Hunter Taylor was also sidelined.

But Braxton Feldmann picked up some of the slack offensively, rushing for 92 yards on 12 carries.

Issac Corey led Hermiston, completing 31 of 49 passing attempts for 250 yards. However, he was intercepted four times.

Justice Counsell led the Bulldogs receiving corps, catching 8 passes for 68 yards.

In other highlights, Kamiakin went on the road to rout winless Walla Walla, staying in the race for the MCC title; Hanford beat Pasco 39-19 to earn its first victory of the season; and Southridge fell short in a non-leaguer in Spokane, losing 44-24 to Lewis & Clark.

KAMIAKIN 42, WALLA WALLA 0

Camden Schmidt rushed for 179 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries to lead Kamiakin to a road victory at Borleske Stadium on Friday.

Schmidt also caught two passes for 46 yards and another score.

Trent Woodhouse led the Braves offense, completing 11 of 15 passing attempts for 189 yards and three TD passes.

Carter Poland led the way for Kamiakin’s receiving corps, catching 3 passes for 64 yards and a score.

Carter O’Dell led the Blue Devils offense, rushing 13 times for 52 yards.

HANFORD 40, PASCO 20

The host Falcons picked up their first victory of the year, jumping out to a 27-0 lead and never looking back.

Hanford QB Eli Perkes led the offense going 9-for-15 passing for 206 yards and three touchdown passes.

Kaden Castro rushed for 88 yards and seven carries for the Falcons, while teammate Preston Bryant caught 4 passes for 64 yards and a touchdown.

Bryant also liked Hanford’s defense with 4 tackles (1 for loss), an interception and a fumble recovery.

For Pasco, Junior Olvera was 13 for 36 for 150 yards passing and a touchdown pass.

Giovanni Bradley added 54 yards rushing on five carries for the Bulldogs.

Sophomore linebacker Jaydon Williams led the Pasco defense, earning 8 tackles (2 for loss) and two quarterback sacks.

LEWIS & CLARK 44, SOUTHRIDGE 24

The visiting Suns took to the air, but couldn’t catch the host Tigers in a non-league game in downtown Spokane.

Austin Guier was 13 for 29 passing for 297 yards and two TD passes.

Tight end Gavin Allen caught five of those passes for 182 yards, while Koven Burke added 6 receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown.