PHOTO BY MEGAN KANE
The Hanford Falcons came into Kennison Field Friday night and extracted some revenge on the Hermiston Bulldogs with a 41-20 win.
Friday’s game in Hermiston was a role reversal from a year ago when the Bulldogs hammered the Falcons, 48-13, in the first game of their 5A championship season. The Falcons were winless a year ago.
The game started off much like it did a year ago. After forcing a three-and-out on the Falcons’ first possession, the Bulldogs struck quickly on a 55-yard touchdown pass from Dayshawn Neal to Vaemuvete Ena on just their second play of the drive with 9:51 left in the first quarter.
But Hanford came right back with a 65-yard drive that ended with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Desmond Samples to Josiah Richardson just over two minutes later to draw within a point after the extra point failed.
After forcing the Bulldogs to punt on their next possession, Hanford wasted no time in taking the lead on a 43-yard touchdown run by Elwood Davis to put the Falcons up 13-7.
Late in the first quarter, Hermiston tied it up thanks to some nifty scrambling by Neal that set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Omar Garcia with 1:31 left in the quarter.
Unfortunately for Hermiston, that was as good as it got. Around midway through the second quarter, the Bulldogs were forced to punt deep in their own territory. The snap, however, flew over punter Bob Coleman’s head and was recovered by Hanford in the end zone for a touchdown to give the Falcons a 20-13 lead.
Hermiston was unable to get any kind of rhythm or momentum going on offense – either being forced to punt or turning the ball over on downs for the rest of the half.
Hanford added to its lead late in the half on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Samples to Kevon Skinner to take a 27-13 halftime lead into the locker room.
Both teams failed to score in the third quarter, but the Falcons opened the final quarter with a sustained drive that resulted in a 10-yard scramble and dive into the end zone by Samples to increase the Falcons’ lead to 34-13.
That’s how the game should have ended, but after Hermiston turned the ball over on downs with 28 seconds left in the contest, Hanford chose not to kneel down and run the clock out. Instead, Hanford attempted a play, fumbled the ball and Hermiston recovered. Moments later, backup quarterback Nathan Hunsaker hit Bob Coleman for a 9-yard touchdown pass for the 41-20 final score.
The Bulldogs will try to bounce back next week on the road when they visit the Kamiakin Braves in Kennewick. It will be the first of three straight road games before they return to Kennison Field on Oct. 2 for a matchup against Coeur d‘Alene.
