Week 1 of Mid-Columbia Conference football, which ended last Friday, was a bit of an eye-opener.

There had been talk of the conference being perhaps a bit down compared to previous seasons.

But it wasn’t true — at least for one week.

Chiawana, Hanford and Kamiakin all went on long road trips and came home with victories.

Sageview, after going 0-9 in 2025 with no seniors, found out what it was like to win.

Hermiston opened some eyes in its opener too.

Now it’s time to concentrate on Week 2.

But first, here are eight things that caught my eye this past weekend:

Sageview tastes success.

Head coach Don Hogue got a chance to see his kids have some success in the win-loss column, as the Lobos beat visiting Fife 42-29 in a game held on the Lobos’ campus.

In that contest, Sageview quarterback Alex Flores was 25-for-45 for 350 yards passing, including four touchdown strikes.

All four of those TD passes were to Jaysen Beasley, who finished with 8 catches for 161 yards

Orlando Montes added 9 receptions for 78 yards and a score.

That postgame experience was predictable.

“It was a lot of excitement and elation and relief,” said Hogue. “It was kind of good to go through that experience.”

Those offensive numbers were impressive, knowing that Brett Jay is the new offensive coordinator.

Jay stepped down as head coach at Moses Lake last year, and Hogue said he and Jay have always talked about working together.

“(That offense is) a good fit with what we’ve got coming back,” said Hogue. “I think we were anticipating (those numbers).”

First victory aside, the Lobos had to put the celebrations away and get read for another non-league game, which is against Shadle Park at 7 p.m. today at ONE Stadium in Spokane.

“We told players last year that this thing was a 2-year deal,” said Hogue. “We are a much better team now than we were last year.”

Chiawana is back.

Actually, Chiawana never left.

Riverhawks head coach Scott Bond had heard the talk around the state that his team graduated too many talented players last year to be as good this year.

Bond knew different, and it showed with the Riverhawks’ 29-9 win on the road over Camas.

It was a dominating performance.

“We played pretty well,” said Bond. “We kind of went into the game with no expectations because everybody kind of looked past us.”

A reporter asked him when he realized his team was good.

“I told him honestly our first two drives of the game,” said Bond. “Our defense was flying around and stopped them first. And we scored on our first drive.”

Once again, Chiawana’s defense was solid, forcing the Papermakers into four turnovers — which included a 55-yard Pick-6 by Treigh Maldonado (one of his two interceptions).

Cooper Cissne and Gage Williams combined for 136 yards rushing.

“Everybody had a good game. It was fun to watch,” said Bond.

Now the Riverhawks travel to Spokane to play Mead at 6 p.m. on Friday.

“We were all excited after the win,” said Bond. “But the talk of day (on Tuesday) was ‘Now don’t go laying an egg.’”

Sidenote about Williams. This is a different Gage Williams than the senior from last year who played quarterback, tight end and linebacker. That Gage Williams is now with Portland State University’s football team.

The newest Gage Williams is a transfer from Richland High.

Keep an eye on Hermiston’s Brayden Medelez.

The junior quarterback for the Bulldogs went off last Friday in their 58-28 victory over visiting Union.

Medelez completed 27 of 33 passes for 274 yards and four TD passes. Medelez also rushed 19 times for 106 yards, scoring three times himself.

Ryan Allen also caught four passes for 105 yards, including an 85-yard TD reception.

Jakob Korotkov is dynamite.

Yes, it’s just one game.

But Southridge senior Jakob Korotkov was outstanding in the Suns’ 29-9 win over visiting Cheney last Friday.

Korotkov rushed 17 times for 141 yards and three touchdowns for Southridge.

As a linebacker, he led Matt Johnson’s defense with 10 tackles, including 7 solos. He also sacked the Cheney quarterback once for a loss of 8 yards.

Richland football is fearless

Bombers head coach Josh Jelinek was a leader in the movement to get MCC football teams a couple of non-league games this season, which also meant an unbalanced MCC schedule.

That includes a home game this Friday (kickoff at 7 p.m.) against state power Graham-Kapowsin at Fran Rish Stadium.

The Bombers lost 34-14 last week at Moses Lake against the Mavericks in their first non-leaguer.

“My athletic director asked me ‘What are you doing?’,” said Jelinek.

But it’s all about getting better in the run for the MCC title.

Despite the loss at Moses Lake, Richland had some highlights. Jackson Woodard tossed TD passes of 18 and 66 yards to 

Pierson Bryant — who finished with 5 catches for 131 yards.

Richland linebacker Justin Volmer was in on 13 tackles and he added a fumble recovery.

This week’s MCC football schedule

Thursday, Sept. 10

Non-league — Sageview at Shadle Park, ONE Stadium, Spokane, 7 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 11

Non-league — Chiawana at Mead, Union Stadium, 6 p.m.; Gonzaga Prep at Kennewick, 7 p.m.; Graham-Kapowsin at Richland, 7 p.m.; Kamiakin at West Valley-Yakima, 7 p.m.; Lakeland, Idaho, at Walla Walla, 7 p.m.; North Central at Pasco, Edgar Brown Stadium, 7 p.m.; Orting at Hanford, Hanford High School, 7 p.m.; Southridge at Eastmont, 7 p.m.; West Valley-Spokane at Hermiston, 7 p.m.