In a night of firsts, the first item on the list is adding a notch in the win column for the boys in green and gold after a heart-pounding 21 to 14 win over the West Valley Rams at Clasen Field in Yakima. There were several other firsts for the Bombers in this victory: first lead; first time to score first; first blocked punt on defense; first come-from-behind victory; and first time singing the Bomber Fight Song after the game.

Well, first things first. As in each of their previous games, the Bombers came out and promptly shot themselves in the foot. In the first two games that was accomplished with ill-timed penalties including last week's clipping that negate a touchdown. This time the first drive ended with a fumble at their own 45 yard line. Unlike the previous two weeks this mistake did not come back to haunt them. After sharing a few three-and-out-and-a-punt drives, Richland took the ball at the 26 yard line. A methodical dismantling of the Ram offense ensued. Cordarius Ramsay caught an 11 yard pass and Jake McKinney scampered for another 20 to get the Bombers deep in Ram territory but the drive seemed to be stalling. Then, on a 4th and 5 on the West Valley 22 Hayden Hilty caught Ramsay on a pretty 22 yard pass play for a touchdown. Not only was it Hilty's first touchdown pass of the season but it was also the first time the Bombers had led a ballgame. The rest of the first half saw ample punting practice for both teams.

At the end of the first half, West Valley seemed suddenly snakebit losing 13 yards on a fumble, and unsportsmanlike celebration penalty negating a 25 yard pass play, offsides for five, and the last seven on a quarterback sack. This little bit of fiasco was then compounded by a short punt that gave the Bombers first and ten on the West Valley 24 yard line with only 24 seconds left in the half. Unfortunately, the Bombers couldn't capitalize and wound up losing a fumble on the 10 yard line after getting themselves well within Jacob Moreno's ample field goal range.  So, for the first time all year, the Bombers held a lead going into halftime. In fact, it was also the first time they had scored in the first half, too.

This game was West Valley's Homecoming, which means in high school football talk, a never ending halftime show including the crowing of the Queen and the parade of Corvette's. This must have fired up the hometown Rams because they came out and promptly marched the ball 79 yards for a touchdown. The coup de gras being a 49 yard touchdown run by Gilbert Plaith after the West Valley line opened up a hole roughly the size of a Buick. Just like that, the lead was gone.

The Bombers were able to pull out a nice trick play on the next drive when Hayden Hilty pretended the ball had been snapped over his head and Grant Gallinger rumbled 11 yards for a first down. Sadly, this just led to another punt a few plays later. West Valley then got the ball and started acting like they owned the place, and rightly so, marching the ball down to the 5 yard line. But, as anyone who has ever been on a diet can tell you, the last five are always the toughest  to conquer. The Richland defense stiffened like a board, grudgingly allowing the Rams to sniff the goal line. Despite their valiant efforts, though, Slate Diessner was able to reclaim the last six inches and West Valley owned a 13-7 lead. Fortunately for the Bombers, the extra point attempt sailed wide right and Opportunity knocked on the front door with his best girl Mo firmly attached to his arm. Having experienced the nightmare of wide-right before this was particularly painful to watch, even though it was in Richland's favor.

The one thing that I have noticed so far in the Mike Neidhold era is that his teams rarely give in and pride themselves on making their opponents play an entire game. Much like Cole Trickle in the last act of "Days of Thunder," the Bombers twisted linkage was suddenly straightend out and they took over the fourth quarter. Fired up by the missed PAT and a 37 yard kickoff return by Brandon Creer the Bombers needed only 3 minutes to take the lead when Jake McKinney scampered 21 yards for a touchdown. Jacob Moreno didn't dissapoint the faithful and Richland took the lead for good at 14-13.

On the next drive for West Valley, their punter dropped to one knee on a bad snap giving the Bombers a first and ten on the West Valley 16 yard line. After that lucky break, Hayden Hilty capped the short drive with a 3 yard touchdown run, shutting the pen gate on the Rams and preserving a precious entry into the win column.

A wonderful first win and hopefully some momentum going into next Friday's showdown with the suddenly potent Eisenhower Cadets at 7:30PM at Fran Rish Stadium.

My family and I are now headed out to Orlando to see a certain Mouse. Unfortunately, this means that the game updates for the next two weeks may be put on hold until I get back. If anybody out there would like to take over my duties for the Eisenhower and Hanford games, please contact me by using the Contact Us link in the left hand menu. It's a pretty easy gig, really.

Have a great week! Go Bombers!