Game Recap October 24, 2009
If you want a quote, I will give you one. "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." Okay, it's a cliche, but unfortunately for the Richland Bombers, it fits tonight's game quite well. After playing their best three quarters of football all year, the Bombers let the fourth quarter get away from them and the Walla Walla Blue Devils ran away with a 35-21 win on Senior Night at Borleske Stadium.
The first half saw the Bombers play their best half of football this year, though you wouldn't know it by the start of the game. On the third play from scrimmage, Wa-Hi's Brandon Porter raced 47 yards and with only 1:06 gone in the first quarter, the Blue Devils were ahead 7-0.
After that, the Devils must have been feeling quite generous, coughing up the ball like it carried swine flu. First, Gage Reynolds recovered a fumble by Austin Schilling on the Walla Walla 37. Six plays later, Jake McKinney scored from one yard out and the game was tied at 7 apiece. On the ensuing kickoff, Mike Burke recovered another fumble on the Blue Devil 42. Hayden Hilty made quick work of it and hit Elijah Gardaya for a 40 yard touchdown pass and a 14-7 Bomber lead.
Late in the second quarter, Gage Reynolds recovered another fumble off a Hayden Hilty punt and with just a few seconds left in the first half, Hilty then connected Andrew Kosuda on a 14 yard pass and the Bombers went into the locker room with a 21 to 7 lead and the Blue Devils were left shaking their heads.
The Bomber defense still had the advantage, shutting out the Blue Devils in the third quarter but Walla Walla was on the move and facing a 4th and 9 on the Richland 14, Michael Weisner completed a touchdown pass to Gary Winston to cut the lead to 7. The Bombers then quickly went three-and-out and were not helping themselves after a 16 yard punt gave Wa-Hi the ball on their own 47. Aided by a 27 yard pass to Aaron Flippo, Walla Walla took only six plays to tie the game at 21 on a 2 yard run by Schilling.
On the first play of the next drive, Jake McKinney lost the ball and it was recovered by the Blue Devils. Weisner struck quickly, connecting with Winston again on a 27 yard touchdown pass making the score Walla Walla 28, Richland 21.
The Bombers had plenty of time to engineer a scoring drive with well over five minutes remaining. But then things got weird. Jake McKinney blasted through the Blue Devil line for a nice nine yard gain. After he was tackled, he quickly got up and left the ball behind, trying to keep things moving. Several Blue Devil players then pounced on the ball and the referees called it a fumble. Now I'm not going to say anything negative about Walla Walla officiating but this call was simply incorrect. Unfortunately, it also effectively took any wind the Bombers had left in their sails. Four plays later, Schlling scored his second touchdown of the game on a five yard run and the game was finished.
It was very encouraging to see the Bombers play so well, though. For the second week in a row, their offense was balanced and looked to be in sync. Sometimes, though, the breaks just don't go your way.
Next Friday night, it looks like the Bombers will be travelling to Wenatchee to take on the Panthers in the Apple Bowl in the Big Nine Crossover series. The Bombers playoff hopes are dashed but they can still affect the rest of the league with a good showing. After that, it looks like Richland will be travelling to Spokane to take on a Greater Spokane League team in the finale. I will post another story tomorrow once I figure out how the pairings all shake out.
Go Bombers!
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October 23, 20091234Final
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Richland Bombers7140021
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Walla Walla Blue Devils7002835
- 1st Quarter
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Touchdown: Porter 47 yard run (Atkinson kick)
Walla Walla 7, Richland 0 -
Touchdown: McKinney 1 run (Klute kick)
Richland 7, Walla Walla 7 - 2nd Quarter
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Touchdown: Gardaya 40 pass from Hilty (Klute kick)
Richland 14, Walla Walla 7 -
Touchdown: Kusuda 14 pass from Hilty (Klute kick)
Richland 21, Walla Walla 7 - 4th Quarter
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Touchdown: Winston 14 pass from Weisner (Atkinson kick)
Richland 21, Walla Walla 14 -
Touchdown: Weisner 1 run (Atkinson kick)
Richland 21, Walla Walla 21 -
Touchdown: Winston 27 pass from Weisner (Atkinson kick)
Walla Walla 28, Richland 21 -
Touchdown: Schilling 6 tun (Atkinson kick)
Walla Walla 35, Richland 21
