Game Recap September 3, 2018
There's a lot of pressure and a lot to live up to when your school has played in the state final two years in a row and registered only one regular season loss in the last three years. Richland's cross-river rivals, the Chiawana Riverhawks, saw their wildest dreams come true Friday night with their first victory over the Richland Bombers of the seniors' high school careers. The 19-0 shutout, Chiawana's first win since 2014, may have been disappointing to Bomber fans, but there were still signs of promise.
Richland's starting QB, Josh Fonner, went out early in the first quarter after being hit by a Riverhawk defender, and their offense struggled to find a rhythm for the rest of the game. The offense did flash some potential, with senior running backs Nathan Mitchell and Dhuanye Guice making a few good runs. The running game in general had decent success but didn't have the confidence of the play callers. One of the starting receivers, Drew Daves, replaced Fonner, which put the receiving corps at a disadvantage, and the reputations of Cody Sanderson and Ryan Kriskovich had the full attention of the Chiawana secondary. Couple that with the inexperience of the O line, and Daves didn't have nearly enough time to make a difference in the air.
Defensively, the team did well, holding Chiawana to two touchdowns despite the opposing offense holding the ball for over three quarters of the game. The defensive line saw a lot of rotation and a lot of players out of position due to the absence of team captain and line lynch-pin Aric Davison. Davison is a high caliber player, and not having him on the field threw a wrench in the works that was obviously difficult to recover from. Without his ability to overpower opponents and penetrate, more pressure was put on the new crew of linebackers to fill gaps and prevent gains. Following two years of the best defense in the state, it was an impressive effort overall. There was good coverage by players in the secondary, including Sanderson, Kriskovich, and junior Marshaun Davis-Copeland, and the D line showed a lot of depth at the end position. Kade Powell, Daniel VanGorkum, Garrett Gillespie, and Sam Stanfield all held their ground and made stops, while the interior line—including Jeff Robinson, Caden Glaze, and Brian Dean—held up as well. Stanfield filled in at tackle occasionally as well, even stripping the ball for Robinson to fall on. Chiawana punted more often than not, and settled for a field goal twice, both victories of a sort for the Bomber D.
Other bright spots included no fumbles lost by the offense and great punting by Mitchell. Great punting is not what Richland has been known for the last few years, as it hasn't really been needed, but a positive is a positive at this point.
Next up is the new school in the conference, the Hermiston Bulldogs. The Bulldogs play a sharp, disciplined game, and will be looking to make an impression by beating the big dog on the block at their own Fran Rish Stadium. Despite a rusty start, the Bomber faithful will be there en masse to cheer for their team.
Go Bombers!
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August 31, 20181234Final
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Richland Bombers00000
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Chiawana Riverhawks766019
- 1st Quarter
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Touchdown: Sisay West 12 pass from Preston Vine (Ryan Lowry kick)
Chiawana 7, Richland 0 - 2nd Quarter
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Field Goal: Lowry 37 yard field goal
Chiawana 10, Richland 0 -
Field Goal: Lowry 32 yard field goal
Chiawana 13, Richland 0 - 3rd Quarter
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Touchdown: Gabe Shiltz 1 yard run (kick fail)
Chiawana 19, Richland 0
- News/Media
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Starting the Season with a Bang
Tri-City Herald: Saturday September 1, 2018
September 1, 2018 picture from the Tri-City Herald taken by Noelle Haro-Gomez featuring Chiawana runnning back Gabe Shiltz and Richlands Duhaunye Guice.
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Chiawana defense rules the day in opener's battle of heavyweights
Tri-City Herald: Sunday September 2, 2018
Tri-City Herald article by Jeff Morrow in the Sunday, September 2, 2018 edition.
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