The first round of the state playoffs could have been the perfect storm for the Sunnyside Grizzlies, and through the first quarter it looked like they might have come up with a way to beat the Bombers. Three major players for Richland—WR/DB/punter Josh Mendoza, lineman Colton Michaels, and kick returner Gaven Brasker—were on the sidelines, and the Grizzlies had two weeks off due to a preliminary round bye. Sunnyside had not been shut out all season, even having played two other teams who would end up in the 4A playoffs, Moses Lake and top-ranked Camas, and was one of only two teams to hold Camas under 40 points all season. A summary of the game plan to upset Richland in the first round might have read something like, "Stop the run and make them beat us with the pass." Six touchdown passes by Paxton Stevens and 41 points later, the flaw in the plan was evident.

Respect is due to Sunnyside, despite the blowout score. Their defense keyed on the run from the start and didn't let up, holding all Richland runners under 100 yards individually, allowed very few big plays on the ground, and allowed no rushing touchdowns. Their offense was gutsy as well, targeting some of the best defensive backs in the MCC in Alex Chapman and Adam Weissenfels. The Grizzlies came out on fire, stuffing the run and intercepting a Stevens pass on fourth and one, and then went for the throat immediately with long passes to the end zone. Both teams stymied the other for most of the first quarter with very few bright spots for either. On third down at the 43 yard line with about six minutes left in the quarter, Stevens rolled right and saw Chapman cutting to the sideline. Chapman caught the ball in front of a diving defender at the 35, stutter-stepped another, side-stepped a third at the 20, and then beat a fourth the rest of the way to the endzone.

Some good defense marked the rest of the quarter and the first half of the next, including batted passes at the line by Brigham Whitby and Kyle Kirby, and Weissenfels popping a pass out of a receiver's hands in the endzone, but no one would score until halfway through the second quarter when Chapman lined up opposite no one wide on the left side. Richland's quick huddle and Sunnyside's determination to stop the run caused defensive confusion, and the scrambling DBs couldn't get to him in time. 14-0 with 5:32 left in the half. Apparently the Bombers felt uneasy enough about their lead to attempt an onside kick, which was well placed by Weissenfels and recovered by Jared Whitby just across midfield. After a 10 yard catch by Weissenfels and a 15 yard run by Ben Stanfield, the Bombers found themselves at fourth and ten from 20 yards out. Weissenfels and Kody Kjarmo ran a crossing pattern and Weissenfels cut inside, catching the ball in the center of the endzone to make the score 20-0 with just over three minutes remaining in the half. Tight coverage by Chapman and good gap filling by linebacker Garrett Guffey forced a Sunnyside punt, which, after three attempts, was finally returned by Parker McCary from the 30 yard line to the opposite 35. A throw-away pass by Stevens was picked off, but more good defense prevented Sunnyside from capitalizing and the half ended with the Bombers up 20 points.

The second half started with a Weissenfels interception and a couple good runs from Stanfield. Weissenfels would have two more touchdowns in the game, the first on a 10 yard slant, the second a 5 yard slant to the middle which he reversed once he saw the defense converging. Cutting back toward the left corner of the endzone, he followed Chapman's block to the goal line, where he plowed through a defender to put the ball over the corner pylon for a 34 point lead. With 5:33 left in the third quarter, any hope the Grizzlies had for an upset were rapidly fading, if not completely dead. Their second longest play came on the next drive, a 36 yard pass to a streaking receiver who was barely tripped up by a diving Ryan Piper, but once again they were shut down by the Bomber D (Sunnyside's longest play was 56 yards on a catch and run, late in the fourth quarter). The rest of the game was ground down by Victor Strasser's big runs. Sometimes you need a knife and sometimes you need a hammer, and Strasser was the hammer that proved to be effective against Sunnyside. His 70 rushing yards in the second half made him the game's top runner and burned enough time off the clock to keep the Grizzlies from having a chance to score. Tyler Fishback and Tsega McDuff also kept the clock going with runs up the middle. With seven minutes left in the game, Stevens found Blake Binns distancing himself from his defender in the deep right corner of the endzone, and from there, with a 41 point lead, the running clock was in effect. As Sunnyside tried to avoid their first shut out, Binns sacked the quarterback and caused a fumble, which was picked up by Charles Lookabill at the 50, who rumbled to the 15 before being brought down.

Richland's defense produced a second straight shut out, their fourth overall, and held Sunnyside to 213 yards of total offense and eight first downs. Chapman ended with only two catches, but both were for touchdowns and a total of 70 yards. The Bombers proved again that keying on single aspects of their game doesn't stop them, it only allows room for others to make plays.

The next game will be November 18 or 19 against either Moses Lake or Bothell for a spot in the semi-final game.

Go Bombers!