Thursday night at Lampson stadium had the makings of one of those B-movie upsets. The Bombers, with no conference losses, ranked in the top ten, and headed to the playoffs, versus the Southridge Suns, hovering near the bottom of the standings, with nothing to lose. One of the beautiful things about high school football is the potential for miraculous outcomes in any given game. Sadly for the Suns, this was not one of those games.

Receiving the kickoff, Griffey March ran straight up the middle for a 60 yard return, and nearly broke away for a touchdown before being caught by the kicker. Some good catches by Rhett Levin, Lakota Wills running left, and after a few plays it was Wills in the end zone to make it 7-0. Southridge was determined to put up a fight. Although they have struggled with their passing game all season, they started out with a big pass, but were shut down by the dominant Richland defense and forced to punt. Another good return by March gave the Bombers good field position, which they used to put Wills in for another touchdown. Credit should be given to the offensive line. Normally a thankless, less than glorious task, Hunter Grade, John Hardy, Dontae Powell, freshman Aric Davison, and tight end Brecken Galliher have been clearing space for their running backs all season.

Speaking of lines, the defensive line kept the pressure on Southridge, forcing a fumble to give Richland great field position yet again. Using short passes and scrambling runs to get down to the four yard line, McKlane Elgin finally found his way in, bouncing outside and to the left pylon to make it 21-0, with minutes still left in the first quarter.

Kicking off into the wind made for some interesting football. Ryan Wolski's third kickoff went high and to the right sideline, where it bounced out of Southridge hands, into the air, and was caught by Richland's Riley Mahoney in the middle of a mad scrum of players. Starting at the Southridge 40, catches by Levin and March and tough runs by Kyle Whitby got them down to the goal line, where they ended the quarter. The second quarter started where the first left off, with Whitby charging in unopposed for a 28 point lead.

The Suns, rightly fearing Wills and Hardy at end, and not wanting to risk throwing near top defensive backs March and Alex Chapman (who had an interception to end the first half), decided their best chance was to run it up the middle. Lineman Brigham Whitby, in his second game back after being injured in the opener, confirmed the futility of that undertaking by constantly occupying two blockers, leaving fellow interior linemen Jackson Conrad, Gage Allen, Powell, or Grade to plug the gaps. Linebackers Galliher and Tait Gillespie were there to finish off what the line started. The Suns manged a few first downs, but were held to less than 200 yards for the game and never really threatened to score.

From this point and throughout the second half, the Suns showed their frustration by playing extremely aggressively, resulting in a few personal foul penalties, and eventually necessitating separate end zone meetings between the third and fourth quarters, where each team was lectured by their respective head coaches. The Bomber JV took over in the fourth quarter and handled the Southridge offense respectably, allowing some yards up the middle but no points. The Suns' two points came when a low snap slipped by sophomore quarterback Cade Jensen and into the end zone. With Suns converging from both sides, running back Ben Stanfield jumped on the ball to prevent a touchdown, making the score 28-2, where it would stay until the final horn. The Bombers collected six turnovers, and despite only having one shut-out, this is the fourth game without an offensive touchdown against the Bomber defense.

Although there were some hiccups, Richland proved to be the best team in the MCC this year, winning the conference title outright and setting themselves up for a playoff run. With the offense continuing to solidify, and the defense always impressive, next week's game against either Mead or Lewis & Clark will hopefully be the first of plenty of playoff games.

Tri-City Herald: Bombers perfect in MCC at 7-0