RICHLAND – The good news for the Richland football team is that it’s still in first place.

The bad news?

Well, after Friday night’s 48-11 loss to visiting state powerhouse Graham-Kapowsin, the Bombers are off to an 0-2 start.

Worse yet, starting quarterback Jackson Woodard finished the game on the sidelines on crutches. This after Josh Jelinek’s crew had to play Friday’s game without linebackers Finn Bunnage and Joel Arreguin, thanks to injuries suffered in Richland’s Week 1 loss at Moses Lake.

The bright side of this situation is that Mid-Columbia Conference play doesn’t begin until next week. So everyone in the MCC starts at 0-0.

Jelinek was a proponent of the new MCC schedule this season that allowed each team two non-conference games while playing an unbalanced conference schedule.

On Friday, Graham-Kapowsin was a buzzsaw.

The problem was the Bombers were facing a Graham-Kapowsin team that lost a shootout last week to another state powerhouse, Lake Stevens, by a 31-26 score.

With that loss, and a 3-hour trek across the state in yellow school buses, the Eagles were more than fired up to play.

“That’s an unbelievable football team,” said Jelinek. “They are tremendous athletes, weight-room junkies. And they have a great coaching staff.”

Eagles coach Jeff Logan praised his team’s effort.

“Our kids were champing at the bit tonight,” said Logan. “I think our kids felt they let one slip away (against Lake Stevens).”

On Friday, they came sprinting out of the gate at Fran Rish Stadium, scoring on all five offensive possessions in the first half for a 41-7 halftime lead.

Junior quarterback AJ Tuivaiave had four touchdown passes on the night, including two to Kase Betz, and he finished the game 15 for 20 for 289 yards passing.

“With him being in the third year in our system, we can be a bit more elaborate,” said Logan. “You can tell he can master the offense.”

Betz and fellow receiver Jayce Halasz each had over 100 yards in receiving for the Eagles.

But Logan may have been more impressed with his defense.

“Our defense pitched a shutout,” he said. “The key was getting off the field after third down, and keeping them from rolling out.”

It seemed to work, as Woodard had 111 yards passing, going 11 for 16 for the Bombers.

Late in the third quarter, he tried to scramble on a play and was hit hard on a clean tackle. He tried to walk it off but eventually sat down.

Woodard left the game and went to the locker room. He came back later with a bag of ice on his knee and using crutches.

More tests will be done, but Woodard felt he’d be back next week or the week after.

Richland’s lone points came on two safeties, and a 97-yard kickoff return by Pierson Bryant.

With two weeks under their belt, the Bombers know what they need to do as MCC play begins next weekend.

“I think we learned we’re not as good as thought we were,” said Jelinek. “We also learned to play tough when we get behind. Not one kid gave up tonight. I think there is a lot of fight in this football team.”