Let's see, Halloween night, Senior night, and Homecoming rolled into one game and it is bound to make things interesting. The Bombers scored on their first posession of the game and their last posession of the game and pulled out a hard-fought 14-3 victory over the visiting Southridge Suns.

The Bomber faithful were promised a post-game firework show and were hoping to get one during the game as well. Instead, it turned out to be a physical, defensive battle. The fireworks? Well, those went off at halftime instead. I told you, it was an interesting game.

Southridge won the coin toss and elected to give Richland the ball. The Bombers got the ball on their own 33 yard line and methodically marched down the field. Jacob Heinen bore the majority of the load, but McKlane Elgin and Josh Phillips also got in the act taking the Bombers just inside the Suns 40 yard line.

Taylor O'Toole then connected with Savon Guajardo for ten yards, and Lakota Wills for another 16. O'Toole's last pass found Rhett Levin who sprinted past the Southridge defense for 18 yards and a 7-0 Bomber lead.

The Bomber defense, though, was the star of the game. The Suns first two posession ended on a fumble at the Richland 11 yard line and their second ended after one play when Griffey March intercepted a Jair Ealy-Thomas pass at the Southridge 27.

The Southridge defense, though, was equally up to the task. Taylor O'Toole was intercepted by Trenton Nett and returned it 41 yards to the Bomber 38 yard line. But as most of the evening the Suns were forced to punt and end the threat.

On their next posession, the Suns were again forced to punt but March lost the handle on the punt at the 10 yard line and Southridge recovered the ball at the Bomber three. But the Bomber defense held in a very impressive goal line stand, leaving the Suns with only 3 points on a Nate Newbry 20 yard field goal. Halftime came with the Bombers leading the Suns 7-3.

Homecoming always brings an extended halftime with a band performance, and the introduction of the Homecoming court being paraded around the track in Tim Bush BMWs. But the extra rest didn't help the offense on either side of the field.

Southridge opened up the second half determined to take the lead but the Bomber defense and their own penalties dashed their hopes. The dagger in the Suns heart came on a pass interference penalty that negated an Ealy-Thomas to Andrew Stayrook pass that would have delivered them to the Bomber 3 yard line. A bad snap on the next play finished their drive and they were forced to punt.

The next three drives for each team stalled on downs, the last of which gave the Bombers a first down on the Southridge 38 yard line. Jacob Heinen shouldered the majority of the load and 8 plays later he finished the job with a modified rugby scrum 2-yard touchdown that gave the Bombers the final score of 14-3.

Despite the weirdness of the evening it was a very fun game to watch. The Bomber defense only allowed 36 yards rushing and 80 through the air for a total of only 116 yards. Meanwhile, Taylor O'Toole led the Bombers going 21 of 31 for 240 yards and a touchdown. Griffey March caught nine of those balls for 92 yards and Jacob Heinan ran for 55 yards to give the Bombers 346 yards of total offense.

Next week is the final game of the 2014 Bomber football season. Due to their win tonight, Richland gets to play host to the Greater Spokane League. The Bombers will be taking on the Ferris Saxons in the Crossover Series. Richland knocked off the Saxons 35-7 in the first round of the playoffs last year. This year's contest, though, is for bragging rights only.

See you next week!

Tri-City Herald: Bombers win in MCC Finale

Go Bombers!