Cheney loses football opener to 4A Sunnyside, 20-7

The Cheney High football team lost their Sept. 2 home opener to 4A Columbia Basin Big-Nine's Sunnyside, 20-7 in a nonleague game that was delayed due to weather.

During one of Cheney's drives in a rainy first quarter, lightning flashed above Tom Oswald Field, causing officials to delay the game for about an hour.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Grizzlies got on the scoreboard on Nico Valle's 16-yard scoring pass to Hugo Reyes to lead 6-0 in the first half.

Sunnyside added to their lead in the third quarter after Valle's scoring pass to Reyes for nine yards, followed by a successful 2-point conversion. Carlos Ramirez finished Sunnyside's scoring with a 4-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The Blackhawks finally got on the scoreboard on Cole Hinrich's 4-yard scoring pass to Kaden Hagel, followed by a successful PAT.

"Even with all of our starters on offense, we just couldn't get things clicking," head coach Bobby Byrd said. "We couldn't punch it in, but we definitely had opportunities. As a coach, that's where I need to put kids in a better position to be successful."

Despite the loss, there were bright spots for Cheney. Running back Charles Johnson led his team with 128 rushing yards.

"Johnson did everything we expected him to do," Byrd said. "When he steps up, he's a pretty tough back."

On defense, Cade VanWormer had two sacks. No other statistics were available as of press time.

Byrd commended VanWormer, as well as the rest of his defense for taking on a Sunnyside offense that he said "has gotten better over the last couple of years" and one of the better quarterback-receiver combinations the Blackhawks will face this year.

"Jackson Shaw did good things for us as well," Byrd said. "That's the strength of our team and they played pretty well."

Cheney plays 3A Greater Spokane League's North Central in a nonleague game tonight (Sept. 8) at Joe Albi Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

North Central opened their season with a 14-7 win over Great Northern League's East Valley. The Indians came back from a six-point deficit in the fourth quarter with two rushing touchdowns. North Central's defense had three interceptions of East Valley quarterback Christian Johnson.

"We just have to keep getting better, week-to-week, as a group," Byrd said. "We'll watch film on NC before the game and go from there."

Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].