Blackhawks Hold Off Rams Late Flag Proves Beneficial For Cheney

The Cheney Blackhawks know they got lucky against the West Valley Rams of Yakima, and they have no problem admitting it.

The Blackhawks were behind by five points late on a frigid Tuesday night in Eastern Washington University’s Woodward Stadium .

Worse, they were facing a fourth-and-20 and their offense had sputtered the entire second half.

That’s when the Blackhawks proved that sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. As a result, they opened the State 3A football playoffs with a 17-14 win over West Valley.

Rhett Humphrey looked downfield, fired to receiver Ben Woodard and watched the ball bounce off Woodard’s face mask.

That’s when the little yellow flag hit the grass.

Pass interference.

Fifteen yards and a first down.

Less than a minute later, Humphrey hit running back Adam Pegg with a 6-yard touchdown pass with 2:19 remaining.

The win earned Cheney a trip to Prosser on Saturday. The top-ranked Mustangs (10-0) advanced by pounding Eastmont 21-0.

“It was luck,” Humphrey said of the call. “It was a desperation throw, and it paid off.

“They’re not supposed to work, but it did.”

“I would say it was a pretty lucky penalty on fourth down,” West Valley coach Bob Altshuier said.

“You gotta have a break,” Cheney coach Tom Oswald stated. “There are always three or four plays that decide the game.”

In the first half, Cheney looked like it would make most of those plays.

The Blackhawks opened up a 9-0 lead by halftime and held the Rams (6-4) to just 15 yards in the first half.

Woodard caught an 8-yard scoring pass from Humphrey late in the first quarter, and J.D. Larson added a 21-yard field goal late in the second.

But the third quarter didn’t go nearly as well for the Blackhawks.

“We kind of shot ourselves in the foot,” Woodard said.

“I think we kind of thought the game was over,” Humphrey said.

The Rams spent most of the third quarter on Cheney’s side of the field. A fumbled kickoff, a bad punt and a fired-up West Valley defense allowed the Rams to take a 14-9 lead midway through the fourth.

“When you get in the playoffs … you can’t give them the short field,” Oswald said.

Cheney waited until there was about 6:30 left in the game before piecing together its only sustained drive of the second half, taking it down for the winning score.

Prosser knocked Cheney out of the playoffs last season.

“It’s going to be a tough one,” Humphrey said.

Prosser 21, Eastmont 0

The Mustangs began their bid to repeat as state champions despite three turnovers at their Art Fiker Sadium.

Prosser held Eastmont (6-4) to 181 yards of offense. Meanwhile, Jake Hancock rushed for 126 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries for the Mustangs.