Friday, Sep. 12, 2008

Week 2: Friday night prep football updates

By Eric Degerman, sportstricities.com

We're back at SportsTriCities.com's prep central, offering coverage of Friday night football around the Mid-Columbia.

7:48 p.m. The WSU Cougars are on KONA-AM, so I'm monitoring KONA's coverage on 105.3 FM. Eastmont's first drive resulted in a 30-yard field goal with 7:09 to play. We're nearing the end of the first quarter, and Richland still trails in East Wenatchee 3-0.

7:57: Kennewick answers Wenatchee as senior receiver Jason Hanson scores. It's 7-6 pending the extra point. Wenatchee jumped ahead on a tailback Jacob Sealby.

8:00: Uh, oh. Eastmont's Malachi Roberts, a 6-foot-3 junior, makes a grab in the endzone over a Richland defender. It's Eastmont ahead 10-0, with 10 minutes left in the second quarter. The play covered 29 yards. KONA's radio crew talked early on about this being the first game of the season for many of Richland's skill players, those who played for the Twin City Titans baseball team.

8:03: Extra point for Kennewick was good, so it's tied at 7.

8:05: Pasco is on its way to dismantling Davis. It took the Bulldogs just 3 plays on their first drive to score a TD. It's now 14-0 early in the second at The Pit.

8:07: Bad news for the Bombers. Eastmont QB Jordan Osborn hooks up again with Malachi Roberts for a scoring reception. The PAT failed, but Eastmont leads 16-0 early in the second quarter. Ed Dawson for KONA again points out that Richland's receiving corp is not in sync with QB Hayden Hilty.

8:13: Update from Connell. The Eagles lead heavily favored Cashmere 14-13 at halftime. Carlis Bailon-Schubert, a senior running back, has both TDs for Connell, which once trailed 7-0. CBS scored on runs of 13 yards and 1 yard. The updates and game coverage are provided courtesy of Mark McKenna, who is retiring from the Herald after tonight's shift. Sucks for us. He's a great writer and even better person.

8:19: Richland's back in it. Hilty hits Brett Jacobs for a 13-yard TD toss. It's now Eastmont 16-7 with about 4 minutes to play in the half. KONA gave some love to Hilty for an eluding a sack on a third down play to keep the drive alive.

8:20: Kennewick uses another score from Jason Hanson to tie Wenatchee again. It's 14-14 now late in the first half.

8:23: Correspondent/boss Andy Perdue is sweating it out at The Pit, but the Pasco Bulldogs are coasting. It's 21-0 with 4:42 left in the half. Luc Graff is now in at QB for Pasco. "No Davis miracle," Perdue adds to his text.

8:26: McKenna added that he has Connell QB Nate Martinez, a junior, with 108 yards passing in the first half. That's pretty significant for high school.

8:27: Eastmont is milking the clock. It sounded as if they were moving the ball well on the ground with Bryce Bitterman (how do you forget a name like that). Anyway, I don't think he's returned to the game after leaving earlier after KONA reported an injury. It's halftime. Eastmont leads 16-7.

8:34: Now Pasco's defense is getting on the board. A safety gives the Bulldogs a 23-0 bulge over Davis.

8:35: Hanford is rolling over Sands, B.C. by a score of 38-3. I was hoping to catch some stats, but I must have tuned in too late. East Coast Bias and J.T. The Truth spent an entire segment talking about Baylor's 45-17 blowout of WSU. I really don't care to hear the male enhancement ads, either. Bad timing on my part all the way around.

8:41: Interactive Media reporter BethZilla checks in from The Lamp with news that Wenatchee has taken the lead 21-14 on a TD by Blair Dorn.

8:42: Connell is hanging on to its 14-13 lead. Connell blocked one field goal, and Cashmere just plain missed another. So the Eagles enter the fourth quarter still on top.

8:45: Luk Graff twirls a 54-yard TD pass so Pasco has built a 30-0 lead, and there's still 1:13 left to play in the half. Pasco has recorded 3 touchbacks on kickoffs. I am assuming that it's Jacob Ellsworth doing that booting.

8:52: More details from Pasco. Carlin Andrew started, but Luc Graff was switching in and out at QB. Graff threw a TD to Andrew to put the Bulldogs up 14-0. Andrew threw an INT in the second quarter, then came back and tossed a beautiful 56-yard TD right after that. The Pasco faithful were booing Andrew one moment, then cheering him the next. Graff completed 5 of 6 passes in first half. Andrew's only completion was the TD.

8:54: Hayden Hilty throws a 46-yard TD pass to Jamison Rowe as Richland scores on its first possession of the third quarter. Eastmont's lead is now 16-14 with just 2:02 gone in the third.

8:56: Catching up on the Lamp. Senior fullback Joe Griffiths scores just before the half to give Wenatchee a 27-14 lead.

9:00: An update from Connell: Christian O'Neal scores for Cashmere on a 6-yard run. A missed 2-point attempt gives Cashmere a 19-14 lead with 7:48 left in regulation.

9:02: Perhaps Hermiston's program is on the way up. I mention that because Walla Walla struggled to beat Hermiston 14-10 last week. Tonight, Wa-Hi is walloping Eisenhower in Yakima 34-14. That's a halftime score.

9:05: Pasco senior Mitchell Urlacher scores on a 64-yard TD run. It's now 37-0 with 9:33 left in the 3Q.

9:08: Richland's Dan Jacobs intercepts Eastmont QB Jordan Osborn. It's the second straight possession to end in an INT by Eastmont.

9:13: The studs are rising to the occasion for Richland. Jamison Rowe hauls in a 36-yard TD toss from Hayden Hilty as Richland takes the lead 21-16 with 3:16 left in the third quarter. For those who play CBBN fantasy football, you'd be a happy player with Rowe on your squad.

9:18: Davis nearly scores. They had it first-and-goal, but the drive stalls and the Pirates miss a 20-yard field goal.

9:24: The QB situation in Pasco reminds reporter Andy Perdue of the 2004 season when Shayne Kelly was a sophomore and he switched out with a senior -- Steven Martinez. Kelly was the better QB, but Coach Graff always started the senior. Perdue wonders if that will happen this season with Andrew (the senior) and Graff (a sophomore).

9:29: It's over in Connell. Cashmere rallies and holds off Connell to win 19-16. Cashmere gave up a safety, in the fourth quarter.

9:31: Eastmont catches Richland in a blitz on 4th down, and Jordan Osborn burns the Bombers. He throws a 38-yard TD to Matt Huylar. It was a fourth down play. Eastmont goes for 2 and makes it, so it's 24-21 with 10 minutes in the fourth quarter. If this lead holds, it will be No. 7 beating No. 1 in the Cascade Division, according to the preseason picks.

9:37: Richland goes for it on 4 and 2 at its own 49. Richland comes up short. Eastmont takes over on downs with 8 minutes left in regulation.

9:38: Brett Jacobs intercepts Wenatchee's Osborn and returns it for a TD. The play covers 47 yards. Richland retakes the lead at 28-24 with 6:45 left in the 4th.

9:40: Kennewick gets to within 27-20 to start the fourth quarter. Saul Soto scores. I'm trying to fill in some details on that play.

9:43: They've got the finger on the light switch at The Pit. Davis just punted. There's 1:54 left and Pasco will run it out. And it's Josh Morris under center for Coach Graff.

9:47: It's a final. Pasco 37-0. That's the 50th straight league loss for Davis. I can't wait for that tilt with Sunnyside.

9:50: Richland's got breathing room. Hunter Olveda scores on a 5-yard run with 2:45 to play for a 35-24 lead. And I'll take the off-key Bart's Auto Den jingle over a male enhancement ad any day.

9:55: BethZilla reports that Wenatchee is stretching out the lead. Jacob Sealy scores twice rather quickly to give Wenatchee a 40-24 lead late in the 4th.

9:57: It's a final. Richland 35, Eastmont 24. The first win for Mike Neidhold is a big win, and big relief. No doubt the Spudnut Shop would be abuzz had the Bombers fell in East Wenatchee. His senior studs helped keep things together when Eastmont got out to a 16-0 lead. KONA gives its MVP to QB Hayden Hilty. Perhaps this outing will keep some of the Bomber faithful off his back for a game or two.

10:00: Mike Noftle, a member of Royal's broadcast team, checks in with a report from Royal's 41-6 win over Omak. Royal led 27-0 at half, and Omak scored in the closing minutes of the 4th. Blair Collins returned three, yes three, punts for TDs. Each covered more than 40 yards. He also hauled in an 85-yard pass for a TD. More special teams stars included defensive end Jace Christiansen and OLB Angel Ledezma. It was Ledezma who blocked a punt, and Christiansen to returned it for a TD. Noftle credits Omak's Jacob Martin with a solid defensive performance. The radio broadcast, which Royal streams live at royalhighsports.com, has already been archived.

10:10: KONA reports that Coeur d'Alene defeated Moses Lake 23-13. They attributed the score to Southridge coach Andy Troxel who was scouting ML.

10:30: Trying to update our scoreboard. A shout out to the Kamiakin parent of the stat staffer who called into the Herald sports desk to give us the Kamiakin 30-3 final over West Valley. We had it posted before another other paper did. That's citizen journalism for you.

10:34: SportsTriCities.com overlord Andy Perdue has finished posting his video highlight package of the Davis/Pasco rout. It's a brief set, 13 in all. "And that's kicking your a--!"

10:57: Had to go grab a Nestea. They don't stock Country Time here any longer. As long as Coach Tom Moore is running the show at Prosser, I will be fascinated by the program. The Mustangs ran out to a 55-0 halftime lead and finished up 76-0. Jordan Durbin completed 16 of 21 for 266 yards and 6 TDs. Kirby Moore had 5 catches for 97 yards and 2 TDs. Anthony Flores was next with 4 receptions for 48 yards and 2 TDs. And for those who say Prosser piled it on, well, the Mustangs ran it 23 times and punted twice. Durbin's passer rating was 276.88. I didn't know it could go that high in high school.

11:10: I looked it up on wikipedia. The max passer efficiency rating for the NFL is 158.3. The max for the NCAA is 1,261. Herald prep guru Rene Ferran did not know the prep formula, which appears to be different than either of the above.

11:18: Walla Walla's Gary Winston and Eisenhower's Taylor Elmo will be two of the top basketball players in the CBBN this winter. They've got game on the gridiron, too. Winston scored four TDs in Wa-Hi's 54-35 win at Ike. He rushed 9 times for 93 yards, three of them for TDs. He also clinched the game with a 70 interception return for a TD. Elmo also scored 4 TDs, three of them on the ground where he ran 21 times for 151 yards.