Chiawana took full advantage of a slew of Hermiston mistakes Friday night as the Riverhawks turned back the Bulldogs, 34-10, at Edgar Brown Stadium.
Things went Hermiston’s way early in the game with the Bulldogs driving 61 yards on their opening possession, scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run by Wyatt Noland to give Hermiston a 7-0 lead with just over 8 minutes to go in the first.
That was about the lone highlight of the night for Hermiston. On their second possession, the Bulldogs fumbled a punt attempt and Chiawana recovered. The Riverhawks scored on their first play of the possession, a 22-yard touchdown pass from Preston Vine to Kobe Young to cut the Hermiston lead to 7-6.
After exchanging punts, Hermiston had the ball on their own 7 yard line when Andrew James threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown to give Chiawana a 14-7 lead following a 2-point conversion.
Thing went from bad to worse when Hermiston fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Riverhawks recovered and returned the ball to the 2. One play later, Vine plunged in from 2 yards out to give Chiawana a 21-7 lead.
A 27-yard field goal at the end of the half by Hermiston’s Juan Carlos Navarrete cut the Riverhawks’ lead to 21-10.
Chiawana increased its lead to 28-10 on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Vine to Bennie Alferness with 4:29 left in the third quarter.
The Riverhawks put the final points on the game late in the fourth when Vine connected with Dion Lee on an 18-yard pass to sew up the game.
Chiawana held Noland to under a 100 yards rushing for the first time all year. The senior running back was held to just 87 yards on 24 carries. James completed 13 of 23 passes for 155 yards and 3 interceptions. Jordan Ramirez led Hermiston receivers with 4 catches for 55 yards.
The loss drops Hermiston to 4-2 on the season while Chiawana improves to 4-2. Hermiston will have a non-conference game next week at home against the 3-3 Eisenhower Cadets, while Chiawana will take on the 0-6 Southridge Suns in Kennewick.
