By RayJaun Stelly, The Seattle Medium
Coming off their 38-7 win against Mountain View last week, Rainier Beach advanced to the sweet sixteen where they faced an 8-2 Kennewick Lions team who escaped last week with a two-point victory against Auburn Mountainview.
Rainier Beach came into this round ranked eighth and right after them was Kennewick ranked ninth, and with an opportunity to matchup against Yelm next week, both teams were in for a back-and-forth defensive fight.
Neither the Vikings nor the Lions have allowed their opponents to score more than 17 points per game, and with successful recipes defensively, this round of 16 clash didn’t involve much offensively.
Incomplete passes, a sack, tackles for losses, minimal yards gained and interceptions was the tale for the first half between both teams, which resulted in a scoreless first half.
Kennewick recorded two interceptions courtesy of Kael Ball and Dane McClure. Rainier Beach’s Scottre Humphrey managed to get into the backfield on defense to get tackles for losses and Nijawn Sterlings was able to come up with a sack.
The scoreless first half left players and fans confused considering these two teams have managed to score at will throughout the season.
The back-and-forth defensive battle would continue throughout the third quarter, Kennewick forced a turnover on downs, then Rainier Beach responded with another tackle for loss by De’Shaun Watkins and an interception by Marcell Burns.
The Vikings were finally able to put together a scoring drive as quarterback Chance Guadiz found Tywan Hills downfield for 40-yards and with the ball on the one-yard line following the completion, Rainier Beach would hand the ball off to Humphrey who’d punch it home for a one-yard touchdown, giving the Vikings a 7-0 lead late third quarter.
With all signs of momentum pointing toward the Vikings, Rainier Beach began the fourth quarter with another interception recorded by Ni’raye Ballard. But even with their miscues, Kennewick’s offense never wavered, and they’d put together a scoring drive of their own.
Scoring on a four-yard touchdown run, the Lions trailed 7-6 after a failed extra point attempt. Fortunately, Kennewick’s defense stood firm and was able to force Rainier Beach into a three-and-out to give the ball back to their offense.
The Lions offense put together another successful drive which originally was supposed to end with a 35-yard field goal attempt, but two consecutive offsides penalties by Rainier Beach gave Kennewick a much easier 25-yard field goal attempt with time running out in the game. With 33 seconds on the clock, Kennewick’s field goal was successful which gave them a 9-7 lead.
Rainier Beach with one last opportunity to save their season just didn’t have enough time, and Kennewick’s defense held firm until the clock struck zero’s.
With the win, Kennewick advances to the elite eight and put an end to Rainier Beach’s terrific 7-3 season. The ninth seeded Lions improve to 9-2, they’ll continue their season by competing against number one ranked Yelm.
Pictorial Highlights from Rainier Beach vs Kennewick
