Mike Neidhold New Richland Football Coach

Richland alum Mike Neidhold is the new head football coach at Richland High School. You can find the article on the net at the Tri-City Herald.

Congratulations, Mike! I know you will do a great job.

Go Bombers!

Redden Stepping Down as Richland Football Coach

Rick Redden resigned as the football coach at Richland High School this morning. There will be a more formal announcement here on the website this evening.

From a personal note, Coach Redden has put his heart and soul into this program over the last three years and the community will miss him greatly. His focus has been to bring back the Richland Bomber traditions, and help his student-athletes learn about life, helping others and of course, about football.

Thank you, Rick. Your service to our community and to Richland High School is greatly appreciated.

Rowe, Mullen named to All State Team

Jamison Rowe named First Team All-State

Congratulations to Jamison Rowe and Joe Mullen for being named to the 4A All-State Football Team. Jamison was named to the First Team as a Defensive Back and Joe received Honorable Mention for his performance on the Offensive Line. Both players were outstanding in helping the Bombers win their first conference championship since 1999. Jamison is the first Bomber First Team member since Jeremy Bohannon and Jeff Stowe were named to the team in 2000.

For a short history lesson, check out our All-State Gallery to view the other 34 Bomber members of the All-State Team

The Big 11? The Massive 12?

The Kennewick School District voted last night to move Kennewick, Kamiakin and Southridge up to the 4A ranks for the 2008-2009 school year. Combined with Eastmont's reclassification by the state to 4A and the CBL athletic directors voting to disband the 4A/3A league, things just got a little messier.

Read more about it on the Tri-City Herald website. I think the Mongo 12 would be a great name for the new league!

Tri-City Herald All-Area Team

The Tri-City Herald came out with their All-Area High School Football team today and eight Bombers are included on the list. Congratulations, again, for such a fine season.

First Team

Marcelino Morales
Running Back
Joe Mullen
Offensive Lineman
Jamison Rowe
Defensive Back
Peter Girgis
Defensive Lineman

Second Team

Glenn Richmond
Offensive Line
Joe Biddle
Linebacker
Cody Shepherd
Punter

Third Team

Cody Shepherd
Tight End
Aaron Sevigny
Defensive Lineman

2007 Richland High School Football Award Winners

The Annual Richland Bomber Football banquet was held on November 28, 2007 in the school cafeteria. During the banquet, the following awards were presented to the varsity, junior varsity and freshman football teams.

Varsity Award Winners

Special Teams Player
Kris Casqueiro
Defensive Player of the Year
Jamison Rowe
Offensive Player of the Year
Marcelino Morales
Lineman of the Year
Joe Mullen
Bomber Pride
Tyler Masters
Most Inspirational
Marco Nicacio
JD Covington Most Valuable Player
Marcelino Morales
Varsity Team Captains
Joe Biddle
Patrick Wick
Glenn Richmond
Marcelino Morales

Junior Varsity Award Winners

Bomber Pride
Michael Severance
Kody Robbins
Most Improved Player
Brennen Creer
Junior Varsity Team Captains
Paul Sisk
Jeremy Knighten

Freshman Award Winners

Most Valuable Player
Jacob McKinney
Bomber Pride
Joel Teats
Coaches Award Offensive Player
Austin Armstrong
Coaches Award Defensive Player
Grant Galliger
Coaches Award Bomber Pride
Gage Reynolds

All-Conference Awards

The post-season awards are starting to roll in. The Richland Bombers are well-representated after a successful 7-3 campaign which also garnered a share of the Columbia Basin 4A League title.

Marcelino Morales was named co-MVP along with Wenatchee's Tyce Thomas and Jamison Rowe was named Defensive Player of the Year. Look below for a complete list of All-Conference players from Richland.

First Team All-Conference

Marcelino Morales
Co-MVP, Running Back, All-Purpose Special Teams
Jamison Rowe
Defensive Player of the Year, Defensive Back, Wide Receiver
Cody Shepherd
Tight End, Punter
Joe Mullen
Offensive Line
Peter Girgis
Defensive Line
Aaron Sevigny
Defensive Line
Joe Biddle
Linebacker
Ryan McKinney
Defensive Back

Second Team All-Conference

Glenn Richmond
Offensive Line
Evan Hood
Offensive Line
Marco Nicacio
Defensive Back
Marcelino Morales
Kick Returner

Tigers 28 - Bombers 0: ...and then it was over.

The Bombers broke out the gold pants for the first time in four years hoping to spark a long playoff run. Unfortunately, the Lewis and Clark Tigers showed up an spoiled the show in a 28-0 victory over Richland in the Regional Playoffs. The Tiger win—along with a 28-21 Ferris win over Moses Lake and a 21-6 Mead win over Wenatchee—saw the Greater Spokane League pitch it's first playoff shutout over the Columbia Basin League in anyone's recent memory.

The Tiger defense reared it's head from the opening Bomber drive. After a short punt on the Tiger's first possession, the Bombers started on the LC 30 yard line. Even with a late hit penalty that put the ball first and ten on the 15 yard line, the Bombers couldn't punch it in. Deciding to go for it on 4th and 3, Richland was stuffed by the Tiger line and the drive stopped at the nine. This was the first indication that the Bombers were going to have a very long, very unsuccessful against the GSL's best defense.

LC's Chris Mastin seemed to be in the Bomber backfield the entire night. The Bombers had several opportunities to score but could never break the Tiger defense which forced two fumbles and two interceptions including a back-breaking Doug Talkington interception that he ran back 24 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 lead. Jake Haworth seemed to have oodles of time to throw, but didn't have anyone available to catch the ball.

The Lewis and Clark offense was anchored by Alex Shaw's 110 yards rushing and Taylor Eglet's 101 yards passing.

This season may be over for the Bombers but once the dust settles, they can look back on a very successful year. Marcelino Morales finished the season with 1,483 yards rushing in another great year for him. But for a team that started three different quarterbacks, a 7-3 season is just short of a miracle. I know they were hoping to get further in the playoffs but some days you're the windshield and some days your the bug.

Congratulations, Bombers! We are definitely proud of you!

Richland 27 - Pasco 0: Co-CBL 4A Champions!

The Pasco Bulldogs came into their game on Friday night with nothing to lose. For the first time since 1999, the Bulldogs were on the wrong side of the playoffs but you sure couldn't tell in the first half against the Bombers. Playing inspired defense, the Bulldogs held Marcelino Morales to almost no yards in the first half.

Unfortunately for Pasco, the Bombers also brought their defense to the party. The first three Pasco drives were stopped by three Carlin Andrew interceptions: one each by Marco Nicacio; Patrick Wick; and Joe Biddle who was able to run his back 39 yards to the Bulldog 43.

Biddle's interception set up the only first half score. Jake Haworth hit Jamison Rowe in perfect stride for a 40 yard pass play to the Bulldog 2-yard line. Quinn Zorich finished the job with a 1 yard touchdown run to make the score 7-0 Bombers.

The two teams traded punts for the rest of the half.

The third quarter saw the Bomber offense start to take off, though you couldn't tell by the score. Pasco's first possession ended with a 49-yard Luc Graff punt that pinned the Bombers back to their own 1-yard line. That's when the Richland offense embarked on a long drive to nowhere. Marcelino found his groove, ripping off several nice runs including a 19-yard scamper. Jamison Rowe also got into the act, catching a 25 yard pass from Haworth. All went for naught as Marcelino fumbled the ball on the three yard line and watched the ball wiggle out of the end zone for a touchback. 96 yard drive. No points. Kind of like kissing your sister...on the cheek.

Well, it took awhile but the Bombers finally pulled out the whupping stick in the fourth quarter. Jake Haworth hit Jamison Rowe perfectly in stride for a 71-yard touchdown pass. On the next drive, Marcelino put the game out of reach pulling a Houdini out of a rugby scrum and running away from the surprised pile for a 46-yard touchdown run. Hunter Olveda capped off the scoring with an 18-yard touchdown run.

The usual suspects all got their yards—Marcelino Morales with a hard-fought 164 yards rushing; Jake Haworth with 189 yards passing; and Jamison Rowe with 153 yards receiving—but they've got some work to do if they are going to go very deep in the playoffs.

Speaking of the playoffs, the win over Pasco combined with Wenatchee's win over Walla Walla means the Bombers are in the playoffs for the first time since 2003 and own a share of the Columbia Basin League title for the first time since 1999. That's also the year they won the State Championship. I'm not saying this team is of that caliber but once your at the dance it's up to you to get that dance with the prettiest girl.

The first step in the playoffs starts at 4:00 PM on Saturday, November 3rd at Fran Rish Stadium against the Greater Spokane League's Lewis & Clark Tigers. The Bombers hold a 2-1 advantage in their playoff history with the Tigers but the two teams haven't played since 1994. Most of today's players were in pre-school or diapers.

Congratulations to Coach Redden and all of the coaching staff for their hard work this year. Let's have a big crowd next Saturday and show the boys our support for a job well done.

Go Bombers!

Guardian Angel

If you've explored the Bomber Football website much, you've noticed that we have news articles from games going back to the 1919 season and you're probably wondering where in the world I get that information.

Well, his name is Lorin St. John. Lorin is a Col-Hi graduate from the Class of 1955 and he enjoys research. In his spare time he combs the libraries looking for historical nuggets about high school sports in the Tri-Cities—some dating back to the time when they could hardly be called towns, let alone cities.

Today in my email, Lorin sent me a particularly valuable article from the October 18, 1912 edition of the Kennewick Courier. This article gives the review of the first ever Richland football game against the much more experienced—and I can imagine much larger enrolled—Kennewick High School. As Lorin states in his email, this article is defnintely from a Kennewick perspective but it is still a fascinating read. Take at look at the 1912 season.

Lorin has also sent me some articles from the second 1912 Kennewick game as well as games in 1915 and 1916 that I will try to get loaded this evening. I just wanted you to know about my historical guardian angel.

If you see Lorin at the next ballgame (Friday in Pasco), give him a high-five, or nuckles, or maybe just a nice 1912 handshake and thank him for his dilligent work.

Thank you, Lorin!

Richland 51 - Davis 0: Homecoming

On a cold and windy night, sometimes it's best just to get the game over quickly. Tonight, that is precisely what the Bombers did in dispatching the Davis Pirates 51 - 0.

Davis has run into hard times lately and entered the game with an 0-7 record and coming off an 80-7 defeat at the hands of the Wenatchee Panthers. The Bombers didn't waste any time scoring after the Pirates fumbled the ball on the third play of the game at their own 15. Marcelino Morales scored the first of his four touchdowns with a 1-yard run to make it 7-0. After that, Richland pretty much scored at will for the rest of the quarter. The Bombers held a 34-0 score at the end of the first quarter with two more Marcelino touchdowns, a 53-yard touchdown run by Quinn Zorich, and a 46-yard touchdown reception on Jake Haworth's only pass of the game. In the second quarter, they toned it down a little and scored on a 15-yard run by Jonathan Miller and a 20-yard field goal by Jacob Moreno.

The Bomber starters officially ended their night after the first play of the second half. The coaches were just hoping to let Marcelino stretch his legs a but he must have been anxious to call it a night because he took the ball the full 71 yards for the touchdown to make the score 51-0.

The coaches did a great job of giving the second and third stringers a chance at game action, all the while not trying to embarrass the depleted Pirate squad any further. Except for two passes by Davis, the entire second half was all about running. Even with the extended halftime for homecoming, the game still got over by 9:30 PM.

You've got to tip your hat to the Pirates for playing hard the entire game, even though they only suited up 23 players. Hopefully their day will come around soon.

Next week we have the final game in the Columbia Basin 4A schedule when the Bombers travel across the river to meet the Pasco Bulldogs. As they say in cliche-world, you can throw out the records on this one because the once-might Bulldogs are not going to be happy after getting blown out by Wenatchee. The Bombers are going to have to take it one game at a time and the good Lord willing, we'll come out on top.

See you at Pasco. Go Bombers!

Bombers 35 - Chiefs 14: Holy Haworth!

High school football has one intriguing element that cannot be found in the college or professional variety—one player really can make all the difference. If you remember my entry last week, I was talking about a new player on the Bombers named Jake Haworth (hay-worth) and how his presence in the Hanford game reminded me of Sunshine in Remember the Titans. Well, tonight, the real Sunshine lit up Lions Field in Moses Lake and guided the Bombers to a surprising 35 - 14 win over the Chiefs.

Appropriately enough, the game started with the Bombers getting an illegal procedure penalty. I say appropriate because both teams racked up 21 penalties for over 150 yards. There were so many yellow flags flying around the field it looked like Snoopy being surrounded by Woodstock and a boatload of his cousins—but I digress.

After that first miscue, the Bombers marched down the field in a very workmanlike manner starting at their own 29 and capping it off with a 13-yard touchdown run by Marcelino Morales. Not to be outdone, the Chiefs, starting from their own three, showed off the power of their spread offense and marched the length of the field for a touchdown of their own, finishing with a 7-yard pass from Josh Loera to Billy Brice for the score. The only difference in the two drives was that Richland took six minutes and Moses Lake only took three. At this point I figured we were in for one of those nights where the last team with the ball wins.

Then the Bombers blinked.

Richland started the next drive on their own 19 and started the march again. Quinn Zorich had two nice runs of 11 and 15 yards respectively and were maintaining a very nice drive that included five first downs. Just as the Bombers were about to score, a phantom non-call on a pass interference penalty stalled the drive and they were forced into attempting a 35-yard field goal. Unfortunately, Jacob Moreno's try was blocked and the Chief's Randy Koon picked up the ball and scampered 65 yards for a touchdown and a 14 - 7 lead.

The next Bomber drive went three-and-out and Moses Lake started another drive on their own 28-yard line. Again, the Chiefs were on the move and eating up large chunks of turf on their way. Enter Sunshine. With the Chiefs well inside the 20-yard line Jake intercepted the ball on the 2-yard line and ran it back 27 yards, ending the threat.

At halftime, the Moses Lake drill team performed a zombie routine to Michael Jackson's Thriller which introduced the second half quite nicely.

The first drive of the second half looked like more of the same from the Chiefs. Their drive started at the 23 and included a very nice 25-yard run by Michael Thomas. Once again, though, Josh Loera was intercepted deep in Richland territory, this time by Jamison Rowe.

That's when the Bombers really started to click and they were scary good for the rest of the game.

Marco Nicacio got the ball rolling with an amazing 49-yard touchdown run on a Haworth pass that would have looked beautiful from behind a duck blind. Marco caught the ball on the 25 and worked his way through several Chief defenders finally diving across the goal line, tying the score at 14. After a Chief three-and-out, the Bombers drove again and scored on a one-yard run by Marcelino. Quick-like-a-bunny, the Bombers turned around a 14-7 deficit into a 21-14 lead.

One more time, the Bomber defense was able to shut down the vaunted Chief offense and got the ball back on their own 23 yard line. On a third-and-eight, Jake found Jamison streaking down the sideline and hit him for a game-busting 74-yard touchdown pass. The previously raucous Moses Lake crowd was suddenly as quiet as a cemetery. Normally this would be creepy, but I found it to be kind of cool.

The Chiefs tried one more time to get their offense out of neutral and drove the ball swiftly to the Bomber six-yard line but Jake Haworth added the final shovel full of dirt, picking off a Josh Loera pass and returning it 95 yards for another touchdown. Utter silence is a beautiful thing.

The final totals were very impressive for Mr. Haworth: 183 yards passing; 2 interception returns for 122 yards and a touchdown; and topped it off with 53 yards rushing. Marcelino had 104 yards rushing as well, marking the first game this season he's had fewer yards rushing that the Bombers have had in passing. Thus, one player can make a huge difference in high school football. What an awesome night of high school football!

Next week sees the Davis Pirates stroll into town for the annual homecoming game. The Pirates are 0 and 7 so far this year and just suffered a humiliating 80 - 7 loss at the hands of the Wenatchee Panthers. I really hope the Panthers were playing freshman for most of the second half because otherwise that's not a very classy thing to do. In fact, in Massachusetts they'd be in a whole heap of trouble. Anyway, if we can get past the Pirates, the playoffs are almost a sure thing.

If you are within driving distance of Richland next weekend, I invite all Bomber alumni to come and check out the homecoming festivities. Come and see the Queen and her court riding in some really nice Ford Mustangs and catch the Bombers in their last scheduled home game of the 2007 season.

Go Bombers!

Bombers 19 - Falcons 0: Ugly But Satisfying

Win ugly. Win often. That was the theme of tonight's 19-0 victory over the crosstown Hanford Falcons.

In front of a full house, the Bombers and Falcons were ready to put on a show and Richland did just that with a 74 yard drive capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by Marcelino Morales. After the point after was shanked, the scoring dropped off until over half the third quarter was gone. There was plenty of offense from the Bombers but they just couldn't score. Every time they got within sniffing distance of the endzone a holding penalty would end the threat.

Hanford seemed snakebitten from the start of the game. For the season, the Falcons had lost the ball 20 times and tonight they added 3 fumbles and an interception to that total. The Falcons were able to cross the 50-yard line only once in the first half and that  was due to a short Richland punt. Just like the Bombers, though, as soon as the goal line was in view the holding penalties pushed them back. Give a lot of credit to the Bomber defense for being able to keep Hanford from getting anything started. The Falcons ended the game with only  104 yards of total offense.

The Bomber offense was clicking for most of the game. Marcelino Morales had his typical game running for 185 yards and all three Richland touchdowns. Hayden Hilty ran the offense for the first two and a half quarters until Jake Hayworth, a junior transfer from Burbank, came in at quarterback. His presence was felt immediately when he scampered for two nice runs including a nifty fifteen yarder and guided the Bombers to their second score. For some reason, it evoked memories of Ronnie "Sunshine" Bass in the movie Remember the Titans. We'll have to see, I guess.

Next week the Bombers visiti Moses Lake. The Chiefs might be a little testy, though, because their dream of an undefeated CBL 4A season was smoked by a 38-10 loss to the Wenatchee Panthers. Next week will go a long way toward clearing up the playoff picture. Meet us at the lake and find out!

Go Bombers!

Panthers 35 - Bombers 28: Beware Good Tidings in the First Quarter

It seems very odd to me but every game I have seen that starts off with one team running back the opening kickoff invariably deflates the very team it just pumped up. Just this year in the BCS Championship Game, Ohio State runs the opening kickoff back for a touchdown and then got gator-bit the rest of the game. 1980, Kennewick at Richland, the Bombers run back the opening kickoff for a touchdown but lose the game to Coach Troxel's Lions 34-14. Somebody working at PNNL could probably tell you about some research that says expending all of your adrenaline at the start of an activity causes and equal and opposite reaction over the course of said activity. Hmmm...

Well, tonight the Bombers came out shooting from the hip as Jamison Rowe ran the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. Later in the first quarter, Marcelino Morales returned a Panther punt for 85 more yards and another touchdown. Lickety split, 14 - 3 lead and confidence galore. Meanwhile, the Panthers were having their problems on special teams, not only giving up the two long home runs but also missing on their first three point after tries, doing everything they could to keep the Bombers in the game.

The Bombers were comfortably ahead for most of the first half, holding a 21-3 lead after a 23-yard touchdown run by Marcelino to start the second quarter. But after that, the fickle lady we know as "Big Mo" swung her eyes to the Panther bench and helped them run off the next 32 points in succession and the Bomber night just kept getting longer. You can't actually give Mo all of the credit, though. The Wenatchee offensive line pushed the Richland defense around to the tune of 453 yards in total offense with Tyce Thomas doing most of the damage. Tyce had 200 yards rushing and quarterback Derek Johnson added another 200 in passing. Oh, and the Panther special teams were just saving their best for last when they blocked a Cody Shepherd punt in the third quarter. Enrique Esquivel pounced on the ball and returned it five yards for the score.

Give it up for the Bombers, though, they hung in tough and scored their final touchdown with 14.4 seconds left in the ballgame when Marcelino marched across the goal line to make it 35 - 28 Panthers. Unfortunately for Richland, the onside kick failed to deliver and the game was over.

A big game ball has to go to Jamison Rowe because he had a game and a half. Not only did he return that kickoff for a score but he also intercepted a pass and blocked a PAT. I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere during the game we find out that he got a girl to go to Homecoming with him! Marcelino also had a pretty nice game with the punt return and 165 yards rushing. One last mini-game ball has to go to Hayden Hilty for doing an admirable job in replacing the injured Brett Jacobs at quarterback. He's only a sophomore and pretty soon those passes are going to start connecting.

Next week is another tussle with boys in purple and gold. This time, crosstown Hanford will take their rightful place on the visitor's side of Fran Rish Stadium and take on the Bombers. I still haven't forgiven the Falcons for flying a plane over my high school graduation so I won't mind it a bit if we're able to fly a few missiles over their secondary next Friday night. As my lovely wife would say, I'm not bitter, I just want revenge!

Until next week, Bomber Fans, have a good one. Go Bombers!

Richland 28 - Eisenhower 0: Now That's Richland Football

Richland Bomber football returned in style tonight. From start to finish, the Bombers dominated the previously undefeated Eisenhower Cadets in a 28 - 0 win that wasn't as close as the score would indicate. Marcelino Morales shredded the Eisenhower defense for 297 yards rushing as part of an attack that racked up almost 500 yards total offense. Given the fact that Morales had another 60 yards or so called back on penalties and Brian Gales 1993 school record of 322 yards would have been hopelessly shattered.

Not to be outdone, the Bomber defense not only pitched a shutout but also held the Cadets to 147 yards of total offense.  Eisenhower's eight drives in the game only produced eight first downs and never more than two in any possession.

The Bombers got on the board early in the first quarter when Brett Jacbos lofted a swing pass to Jamison Rowe who turned the play into a 57-yard touchdown. After a penalty, Quinn Zorich powered in for the 2-point conversion to make it an 8 - 0 game. Two possessions later the Bombers marched 90 yards, capped off by a nifty 19 yard run by Marcelino with Zorich doing the finish carpentry with a 5-yard run. A missed extra point put the score at 14-0.

The one bad break the Bombers had in the game came toward the end of the first half when Brett Jacobs sprained his ankle while getting sacked. This only seemed to pump the offense up that much more as Richland fired up behind sophomore Hayden Hilty. Hilty showed a great deal of poise considering the circumstances and though he did suffer two interceptions, neither one hurt the bottom line.

The only serious threat the Cadets could mount occured at the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth. Starting on their own 37-yard line, Eisenhower marched down the field but the defense rose up again and broke up a pass on a 4th and 5 at the 12. End of Cadet Threat and the start of the real Marcelino Morales Show.

On the next possession, Marcelino had twin runs of 32 yards apiece and capped it off with a flying 1-yard touchdown. Later in the quarter he had another outstanding 59-yard touchdown run negated by a very iffy (read: homer) clipping call.

The fourth quarter also showed off the offensive talents of Hunter Olveda and Kris Casquiero, who both had over 20 yards in late-game duty. Kris also scored the final points with a six-yard touchdown run to make it 28 - 0 Bombers.

Talking with the coaches after the game they were very pleased with four quarters of solid football. A score like this had to at least send shivers through the rest of the Columbia Basin 4A League that these Bombers are something to be reckoned with.

Next week: The Wenatchee Panthers at Fran Rish Stadium.

Have a great week! Go Bombers!

 

Richland 28 - Walla Walla 14: Punter's Paradise

For a game that was billed as a battle between the passing game of the Blue Devils versus the running game of the Bombers it actually turned out to be a demonstration of punters. In fact, the game turned on one misfortunate punt that gave the Bombers a 28 – 14 win and is going to give Walla Walla coach Mark Yonts many sleepless nights.

The ground versus air battle did turn out just as advertised with the Blue Devils David Weisner passed for 178 yards and a touchdown and the Bombers Marcelino Morales adding 188 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. But it was mostly a battle of punters until the start of the fourth quarter and the game tied at 14 apiece.

That's when Joe Webb pinned the Blue Devils to their own one yard line with an excellent 47-yard punt. After two relatively fruitless plays Walla Walla was faced with a third and six at the five yard line. That’s when the game got strange. The Blue Devils tried to surprise the defense with a quick kick but David Weisner’s attempt was blocked by a group of alert Bomber defenders and ball was recovered on the one-yard line. A Brett Jacobs quarterback sneak later and a game that looked as if it were going to last seven overtimes instead was looking for a good framing hammer to nail the coffin lid shut. The Bombers finished off the scoring on their next possession, marching 89 yards for a 28 -14 home victory and a tie for first place in the Columbia Basin 4A League standings.

So, the next time you are told that punting is boring, please take note of this game. No, this wasn’t a send-the-DVD-to-the-grandparents kind of game but anytime you can come away with a win against Walla Walla you've go to consider yourself blessed.

Next up for the Bombers are the undefeated Eisenhower Cadets. Please note, this game is on Thursday night in Yakima so get your road trip pants on and meet us at Miner’s.

Richland 12 - Southridge 7: Defense Rules

I’ve heard it said somewhere that the best offense is a good defense. Or is it the other way around? In tonight’s win 12 – 7 Bomber win over the Southridge Suns, the offense set the tone for the defense with an eleven minute, twenty play drive to start the game, keeping the Suns offense from getting on the field. Once Southridge was able to get going on offense, the Bomber defense took over.

It wasn't exactly that easy as the Suns held a 7 – 0 advantage for much of the first three quarters after Bracken Sorensen intercepted a Brett Jacobs pass and returned the ball 29 yards for a touchdown. Richland’s offense was able to move the ball fairly easily but was unable to get any points on the scoreboard until Quinn Zorich punched across the goal line with a 1 yard run in the third quarter. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough Bombers on the line for the extra point and Joe Webb’s point after attempt was blocked.

The game turned on the next Southridge drive. The Suns connected on a 40 yard pass and looked like they were going to score but Jamison Rowe knocked the ball out of the receiver’s hands and Ryan McKinney pounced on the ball before it could go out of bounds and the threat was over. On the next drive, Jamison Rowe struck again and intercepted a pass and returned it to the 20-yard line of Southridge. A few plays later, Marcelino Morales scored on a one-yard run to capture the lead for good.

That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a nail biter in the fourth quarter, though. Southridge mounted a long drive aided by a pass interference penalty that brought the ball well inside the Bomber 50. That’s when the defense rose to the occasion. With 1:05 left on the clock Austin Lomax sacked Andrew Mendenhall for a 10-yard loss. On the next play, Joe Biddle put the cherry on top of the Bomber’s first win, sacking Mendenhall again to end the game.

Marcelino Morales was the offensive star with 146 yards rushing and overall, it was good to see the offense get a little something going but it was definitely the Bomber’s defense that will receive the game ball.

Come and hang out with us next Friday night as the Columbia Basin 4A League gets going in earnest when the Walla Walla Blue Devils come to Fran Rish Stadium. See you next week.

Bombers Have Tough Start to 2007 Season

The Richland Bombers won the coin toss to start the game but that was the only advantage they had for the rest of the night. The Kamiakin Braves made easy work of the Bombers in a 34 -0 victory.

The Bombers were just not able to establish a consistent drive and only got as far as the twenty yard line once, and that was late in the fourth quarter. Marcelino Morales had 59 yards rushing and junior quarterback Brett Jacobs had 89 yards passing on a night when the Bombers were only able to squeeze out 179 yards in total offense.

On the bright side, it was a beautiful, warm night and the crowd of 7,000 seemed to be having a pretty good time and the weather man's prediction of evening rain never came to fruition. The Bombers next game is Friday, September 7 in Kennewick when they take on the Southridge Suns at Lampson Stadium in another non-league contest. Expect a better showing as the men in green and gold get six players added to the roster including Cody Shepherd. Those players didn't have enough practices on the books to make the Kamiakin game due to the Richland Knights extended season in Alaska.

See you next week!

Please install Flash and turn on Javascript.

2008 Varsity Schedule

Pasco Bulldogs
Friday September 5, 7:30 pm
Eastmont Wildcats
Friday September 12, 7:30 pm
West Valley Rams
Friday September 19, 7:30 pm
Eisenhower Cadets
Friday September 26, 7:30 pm
Hanford Falcons
Friday October 3, 7:30 pm
Kennewick Lions
Friday October 10, 7:30 pm
Kamiakin Braves
Thursday October 16, 7:30 pm
Walla Walla Blue Devils
Thursday October 23, 7:30 pm
All home games in bold type.

2007 Junior Varsity Schedule

Kamiakin Braves
L: Braves 40 - Bombers 14
Southridge Suns
W: Bombers 21 - Suns 20
Walla Walla Blue Devils
L: Blue Devils 31 - Bombers 6
Eisenhower Cadets
Cadets 20 - Bombers 14
Wenatchee Panthers
Monday, October 1, 5:00 pm
Hanford Falcons
W: Bombers 42 - Falcons 0
Moses Lake Chiefs
Monday, October 15, 5:00 pm
Davis Pirates
Monday, October 22, 5:00 pm
Pasco Bulldogs
W: Bombers 21 - Bulldogs 0
Kennewick Lions
W: Bombers 28 - Lions 6

2007 Freshman Schedule

Kamiakin Braves
L: Braves 52 - Bombers 22
Southridge Suns
W: Bombers 34 - Suns 7
Walla Walla Blue Devils
W: Bombers 28 - Blue Devils 20
Eisenhower Cadets
W: Bombers 20 - Cadets 14
Wenatchee Panthers
W: Bombers 33 - Panthers 7
Hanford Falcons
W: Bombers 40 - Falcons 20
Moses Lake Chiefs
W: Bombers 44 - Chiefs 14
Davis Pirates
W: Bombers 14 - Pirates 6
Othello Huskies
W: Bombers 28 - Huskies 14