Pasco Bulldogs succeeding with 'All In' model: Central and Eastern Washington football notebook

On Saturday morning, it was difficult for Pasco High School football coach Leon Jackson-Wright to accurately recreate the locker-room scene after the Bulldogs

On Saturday morning, it was difficult for Pasco High School football coach Leon Jackson-Wright to accurately recreate the locker-room scene after the Bulldogs posted their biggest victory in a number of years.

So, he took the mindset of an illustrator.

"Those boys, if there was a cartoon of them out there," Jackson-Wright said, "it would be of them of running on the ceiling, they were so excited."

Once-proud Pasco, which has endured 27- and 21-game losing streaks over the past five years, posted a 16-14 victory over Mid-Columbia Conference rival Richland on Friday night.

The win ended a long streak of futility against the Bombers - a nine-game skid.

And the Bulldogs have not only won three games for the first time since 2014, they are off to their first 3-1 start in more than a decade (2008).

This is more of the feeling Jackson-Wright is used to around Pasco. He was the star tailback of the 2003 state championship squad under former coach Steve Graff.

But Jackson-Wright was off to college by the time the city's second high school - Chiawana - opened in 2009, draining the Bulldogs of their talent pool.

Since 2011 - the same year Graff took over at Chiawana - Pasco has had four winless seasons, and three one-win seasons.

Jackson-Wright returned to place Kevin Jolley as the Bulldogs' coach last season, and the team went 1-9.

But the former hometown standout has been vigilant about having his team follow the same "All In" motto promoted by Dabo Swinney at Clemson University.

"We sold that model," Jackson-Wright said.

Against Richland, the Bulldogs exploded for all 16 points in less than two minutes midway through the fourth quarter.

"It was kind of like, 'Bang, bang:' The crowd suddenly got really into it (after our first touchdown) - almost like the '12s' over in Seattle," Jackson-Wright said.

The Bombers self-destructed. Twice, they were called for false-start penalties. And then, they gave up a safety when a snap went over the head of quarterback Harrison Westover.

"That got our boys juiced," Jackson-Wright said.

On the ensuing kickoff, Desmian Licon barreled down the left sideline on a 70-yard return for a touchdown to put Pasco up, 16-7.

"He just took the game over," Jackson-Wright said.

At 3-1, the Bulldogs now believe they can compete with anybody - at any time.

"They have the confidence," Jackson-Wright said. "But the way we keep it, we do not want to overlook anybody. We play in one of the toughest leagues in Washington."

'Battle of Bell's' bizarre ending

Even a few days later, Mead coach Benji Sonnichsen kept getting text messages, congratulating him about his Panthers' last-second goal-line stance to preserve a 34-28 victory over Mount Spokane at Joe Albi Stadium.

He chuckled.

"We got a break," he said.

After surviving a controversial one.

Mount Spokane quarterback Jeter Schuerman's floating pass was caught by wide receiver Tommy Madill and Mead safety Keli'i Zalopany at the same time. Zalopany wrestled it away and had possession of the football when the whistle blew.

But the head referee spotted the ball down at the Panthers' half-yard line, and ruled it stayed with Mount Spokane with 14 seconds to go.

The Wildcats brought in 300-pound short-yardage back Ryan Miller, who also plays nose guard on defense. As Schuerman went to hand it off to him, the two teammates bumped into each other -- and Miller toppled over short of the goal-line as time expired.

Reigning 1A champion Colville finding its groove

It's easy to consider Colville a one-year wonder now that all-state quarterback John Knight is off to Montana State.

Here is a state-of-the-program: The Indians are doing just fine after winning the Class 1A state title in 2018.

"We are still physical," Colville coach Randy Cornwell said.

Like last season, the Indians dropped their season opener against Cheney, but have reeled off three wins in a row over Chewelah, Meridian and Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls.

And they have not been scored upon in the second half of games all season.

Cornwell pointed to a core group of performers who will carry the load alls season: New starting quarterback Sam Anderson, who is a faster runner than Knight; tight end Paul Skirko, a North Carolina transplant who is a one-on-one pass-catching nightmare; running back Grant Michaliszyn, the team's most complete weapon; and offensive tackle Jory Dotts, the only returning starter on the line.