SELAH — Losing to West Valley last season has stuck in Selah’s craw for an entire year. On Friday night, the Vikings did something about it.

Senior quarterback Dylan Kingston ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, and junior running back Calen Wuitschick scored twice as Selah cruised to a 42-20 nonleague victory at Karl Graf Field.

“This was a big win for us,” said Kingston, who threw for 153 yards and added 40 more on the ground. “We lost to these guys last year, so it definitely feels good to beat them, especially at home. Our guys are all super excited right now.”

Wuitschick racked up 173 rushing yards, including an 85-yard burst down the sideline early in the second quarter to give the Viks a 14-6 lead.

Junior Clayton Bucknell added a pick-6 in the third quarter and the Vikings’ defense held strong throughout, helping Selah avenge last year’s 28-7 loss to the Rams.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game, and we have a ton of respect for what they do,” Selah head coach Greg Haste said. “They’ve got a lot of big, physical guys and we do not. But we’re really athletic, and we were able to find strategies to work against their big guys.”

Until Bucknell’s game-breaker, the Rams were still very much alive. After falling behind 28-13 at halftime, quarterback Drayden Birley found Chase Massey for a 33-yard score on the opening drive to narrow the deficit to eight.

The defense forced a punt on the ensuing drive, but the Rams’ offense started deep in their own territory and couldn’t get anything going. A short punt allowed Selah to start at the West Valley 36, and Kingston capped it off with a one-yard keeper to make it 35-20 with 3:53 left in the third.

That’s when Bucknell delivered the death knell: a 54-yard interception return to the house on the first play from scrimmage.

“That pick-6 was the momentum killer, for sure,” said Haste, whose team improved to 3-0 overall. “Clayton made a really good play on the ball in the air and used his quickness to help finish the game.”

The Rams (1-2 overall) were playing without star running back Devin Anciso, who recorded nearly 300 yards of offense in the Rams’ season-opening win over North Creek.

Birley threw three TD passes for the Rams, connecting with Dalton Hargraves on a 35-yard pass play in the first quarter and Lukas Holmes for a seven-yard strike in the second.

West Valley will visit CBBN rival Davis next week, while Selah travels to defending CWAC champion Othello — a team with a very similar makeup to the Rams.

“Othello has got some big boys and they’re not going to be easy to beat,” Kingston said. “But this win gives us a ton of confidence, and we’re just going to find a way.”

Haste praised the Othello coaching staff for having their guys ready to play year after year. He expects a stiff challenge, but he believes the Vikings are up to it.

“They pose a lot of problems for us on offense,” the coach said. “They are really big up front 

and we’re going to have to find a way to match up with them. They don’t give you anything for free.”