The Richland Bombers and Hanford Falcons renewed their home town rivalry tonight at Fran Rish Stadium and though it's a tale about one city, this game was a tale of two distinct ballgames.

The first half was just plain fun.After trading three-and-outs to start the game, Hanford caught their first break when the Bombers center shot a low worm burner through the legs of Joe Payne. The 31 yard loss gave the Falcons the ball at the Richland nine. Jalen DeVine made short work of those nine yards and Hanford jumped ahead 7-0.

Richland settled down on the next posession and sustained a nice 8 play, 69-yard drive of their own, highlighted by two BK Robinson runs of 18 and 30 yards. Colter Quick capped the drive with a 1-yard sneak to tie the game at 7-7. Hanford wasn't appreciative of the Bombers trying to spoil their party and struck quickly. Austin Forsyth hit Kyle Lafon for a short gain but Kyle had a different agenda and shrugged off a few tackles and ran untouched for a 59-yard touchdown. Hanford 14, Richland 7.

Once again, though, Richland answered Hanford's call and marched down the field quickly and tied the score when Colter Quick found Ellijah Gardaya in the endzone for a 19-yard touchdown. Midway through the second quarter the Falcon's Josh Tayamen hauled in what would be the first of three interceptions off Quick and gave Hanford excellent field position on the Bomber 35 yard line. Two plays later, Forsyth threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Sanchez and the Hanford faithful were smelling upset as the Falcons seized a 21-14 halftime lead.

The Bombers, though, made a couple key adjustments at halftime: 1) stop giving the ball away; and 2) don't throw, just run. The latter adjustment was very evident on the first drive of the second half. Eight out of the ten plays in the drive were running plays with BK Robinson and Cameron Simpson sharing the commute. Focusing on establishing the run allowed Colter Quick to finish off the 74 yard drive with a nice 21-yard touchdown pass to Connor Egbert and tied the game at 21.

A short punt after the next Hanford posession gave the Bombers great field position at the Hanford 37. Taking a page out of the Falcon's first half playbook, the Bombers struck quickly finishing off a four play drive when Quick found Egbert again for a 30-yard touchdown pass. Finally, with 4:04 left in the third quarter, Richland had the lead.

Hanford wanted to answer quickly and did when Jalen DeVine scampered 27 yards for a first down inside the Bomber 50. Unfortunately, the drive stalled and then the wheels came off. Will Bishop's rollout rugby punt was blocked and Sawyer Powell chased the ball down at the 36 yard line and found himself with an open playground and Richland was finally able to get some breathing room. The Bombers were able to snuff any other hopes of a Hanford rally and the Bombers won the battle of Richland 35-21.

Hanford's stars of the night were Jalen DeVine with 111 yards rushing and a touchdown, and Josh Tayamen with his three interceptions. The Bombers offensive stars were BK Robinson with 136 yards rushing, Camerson Simpson with 90 yards rushing, and Connor Egbert with 3 catches for 55 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Next week, the Bombers take on the Evergreen Plainsmen. Last year the Bombers traveled to Vancouver and came away with a 34-14 win. So let me be your entertainment advisor for next Friday night. Why don't you start by visiting the Christ the King Sausage Fest, have a sausage or a bierrock and maybe some corn on the cob. Then, bring your family to the Richland/Evergreen football game at 7:30, finishing your night back at Sausage Fest for pie or funnel cakes. The weather is going to be beautiful so let's make a night of it! See you next week!

Go Bombers!