Richland Beats the Devil out of Wa-Hi - By Luke Westerfield
One week after a heartbreaking loss to Kennewick, the Bomber's competition level was dialed up when facing the 0-7 Walla Walla Blue Devils, who have struggled immensely throughout this season, residing at the bottom of the Mid Columbia Conference while obtaining an abysmal -242 point differential.
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| Photo: Metcalf Media (@metcalfmedia_) |
Once the ball left the foot of Wa-Hi kicker Kooper Shields and into the hands of Colson Mackey, who returned the kick eighty yards, putting a move on one defender and quickly shedding a pitiful tackle attempt, racing up the far sideline for the first score of the game. After a Wa-Hi possession that ended at the 32, Woodard dialed up the long ball for a 42-yard reception by the sophomore Brody Bocek, who would also finish the drive off with a spectacular toe-tap right at the left side of the endzone showcasing excellent body control. Later in the half, the offense would score three more times with Jakob Brannon and Josh Woodard both breaking off long-running plays (37 for Brannon and 13 for Woodard off the option) for their prospective scores, a Rayce Reeves streak route where he managed to split the Wa-Hi zone for a 42-yard score, and a Nate Ruelas slant at the one ending the half with a lopsided score of 29-0. One player that ended up standing out to me for the Blue Devils was quarterback Rayden Reibel, who, despite throwing an interception, managed to squeeze the ball into tight windows even though a handful resulted in incompletions; they were not on Reibel, who placed the ball to where it needed to be.
Most of the Bomber faithful waited until after the halftime alumni ceremony to begin filing out. At the same time, the students waited patiently for the game to conclude for the post-game homecoming fireworks show underneath the dim pink lights to fit the student section theme.
After a pair of three-and-outs to start the third quarter, the Bombers decided to rest Woodard, and in came sophomore quarterback David Lee, who stands at a lanky six-foot-four Lee has the perfect frame to become a dominant quarterback with his ability to move outside the pocket and not to mention the potential for arm talent he has with that large wingspan I would be shocked if he isn't taking the top off of opposing defenses and throwing nukes to fellow sophomores Brody Bocek and Landen Northrop in a year or two.
Looking ahead at the postseason picture as it stands, being the third seed in 4A for the MCC, they are most likely to play either Moses Lake or Gonzaga Prep, that is unless the boys can pull out a win vs Kamiakin this Friday. The first playoff opponent would be either a rematch of last year's playoff win against Eastmont or a matchup with Lewis and Clark.
