CV rallies past Richland

RICHLAND – Central Valley had been there before, staring at a 14-0 deficit before it knew what happened. But just like that early-season game against Lewis and Clark, the Bears were unfazed Friday.

As coach Rick Giampietri watched his grandson Tyler Simmet turn in a season-high rushing performance and marveled again at the wizardry of quarterback Blake Bledsoe, the Bears reeled off 28 straight points on the way to a 35-20 victory over the Richland Bombers at Fran Rish Stadium.

“We started so slow again,” Giampietri said, harkening back to the win over LC. “It was an ugly first quarter, but great after that. The big thing is they didn’t get down.”

Simmet, a 5-foot-7, 158-pound scatback, had a career-high rushing night, scoring two touchdowns, and Bledsoe used both his legs and arm to spearhead an offense that may get down, but refuses to be out.

“Blake really is good about staying positive throughout the game,” said Simmet, who has an uncanny knack for slipping through minimal holes and if belted, somehow keeping his feet and gaining yardage. “He keeps the team up.”

He also threw for 225 yards and three touchdowns. Two were to Michael Williams, the latter a 25-yarder to give CV a 21-14 lead. He hit Brad Whitley from 28 yards for a 28-14 advantage early in the fourth quarter.

At the game’s outset, Giampietri’s worst pregame fears about succumbing to the big play were realized.

Speedy game-breaker Jamison Rowe took a punt and, after seemingly going down in the arms of the Bears, kept his balance and reversed field with a phalanx of blockers in front. Eighty yards later, the Bombers had an early 7-0 lead.

Late in the quarter, Jake McKinney burst up the middle on a delay for 42 yards and a 14-0 advantage. Quarterback Hayden Hilty sold the play perfectly, faking a pass to his right before handing off the other way across his body.

Two other times in the period CV dodged bullets, a 37-yard Bombers field-goal attempt hooked left and, following a fumbled kickoff, the Bears’ defense held at their 24-yard line.

Then, the second quarter and much of the rest of the game belonged to CV.

A time-consuming drive in the middle of the second period covered 52 yards in 11 plays. Key were two of four first-half catches for 73 yards by J.C. Agen, the first covering 29 yards on a third-and-12, the second for 12 yards down to the one, where Simmet got the Bears’ first score.

Agen and Bledsoe hooked up twice more and Simmet had a nifty 20-yard run that helped them cover 66 yards in 1 minute, 29 seconds.

Williams tied the score with just more than a minute remaining in the half.

Williams made a nice grab high over a defender for a TD on CV’s first series of the second half and Whitley gave them a two-TD cushion about a quarter later.

Richland cut the margin in half, but CV went 65 yards as Simmet got the final score.

“I’ve grown up around football,” Simmet said. “I was the ball boy when I was 5 and think I have a feel for it, I’ve been around it so much.”

After the early troubles, CV’s defense played well, including Taylor Price, who has been on that side of the ball for only three games.

His hit on Hayden Hilty late in the game put the Bombers’ quarterback out.

“We had to run the ball to keep them off balance,” Giampietri said. “Blake made some great throws and the protection was huge. It was just a great satisfying win for a team that wouldn’t quit.”