The second week of Mid-Columbia Conference football play starts up Thursday night when Walla Walla visits Chiawana, with a 7 p.m. kickoff at Edgar Brown Stadium.

The other eight teams will meet up on Friday night.

This week follows two weeks of nonleague play, and last week was the opening round of MCC play.

Thanks to the two weeks of nonconference competition, the 10-team MCC is playing an unbalanced conference schedule.

It means there could be a couple of unbeaten squads when the regular season ends. But with five teams in Class 4A, and the other five in 3A — and everyone plays each other in their classification — there should be clear-cut winners come postseason.

One thing is certain after a week of MCC play: nothing is certain.

Here are a few things that caught my eye over the past week:

Class 3A gets the early upper hand

Don’t think this has ever happened. But all five 3A teams took down all of the 4A schools.

Hermiston beat Pasco 27-21 when Brett Corey recovered a fumble in the end zone with 1:13 remaining in the game.

Kennewick scored late in the game on a Bradley Parker 2-yard run to beat Kamiakin 22-17.

Walla Walla rolled over Hanford 38-7, as Kalama Roberson rushed for 198 yards and three touchdowns.

Southridge’s Ethan Meek kicked a 30-yard field goal as time expired as the Suns beat Chiawana 30-27. It marks the first time in 14 tries that Southridge has ever beaten the Riverhawks.

And then there is second-year Sageview, winning its first-ever MCC contest by holding off visiting Richland 33-28 last Friday.

It makes the Lobos 3-0 overall. Last season, with no seniors on the roster, Sageview went 0-9.

Big stat numbers for Sageview

Sageview quarterback Alex Flores leads all passers with 983 yards through three games. He also has a TD pass-to-interceptions ratio of 13 to 1. … Lobos senior Jaysen Beasley is the top receiver in the MCC, with 21 catches and 445 yards. Oh, yes. He has 9 touchdowns. Teammate Eli Henderson, Sageview’s top running back, leads the MCC in all-purpose yards with 485. … Against Richland, Beasley caught 8 passes for 111 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Henderson added 47 rushing yards and two TDs, plus he caught 9 passes for 70 yards.

Richland is 0-3, but the Bombers aren’t out of things

When Richland senior Jackson Woodard took his first snap, a lot a people were surprised. Pleasantly. The standout sprained his knee the week before in Richland’s loss to Graham-Kapowsin. He finished the night on crutches with an icebag on his knee.

Yet here he was, back in action for the Bombers, tossing 238 yards. Kid’s a gamer.

Even more, Bombers coach Josh Jelenik got some more good news when Finn Bunnage played.

The running back and linebacker got hurt in Week 1 at Moses Lake with a small fracture in his foot. Jelenik was told Bunnage could be out for weeks.

But he was back Friday, and he rushed 14 times for 112 yards and a score.

Kennewick is looking good. So does Southridge

The Lions are physical. Their final scoring drive of 10 minutes and 13 seconds took the ball out of Kamiakin’s hands in the fourth quarter.

Carter Bendewald rushed for 147 yards and two touchdowns, and during that final drive, a lot of those plays were run behind the left side of the line — guard Mayes Mayovsky, tackle Zeke Szendre, and tight end Cooper Larson.

Southridge, meanwhile, met Chiawana score for score on Thursday.

Suns coach Matt Johnson has two standout running backs in seniors Jacob Korotkov and Tayton Jackman.

On this night, Korotkov rushed for 133 yards and scored twice. Jackman added 81 more rushing yards.

Meanwhile, Korotkov (31.5 tackles) and Jackman (26.5) — as well as teammate Azonam Osokogu (28) — are among the MCC leaders in tackles.

This week’s games

Walla Walla (1-0 MCC, 2-1 overall) at Chiawana (0-1, 2-1), Edgar Brown Stadium, 7 p.m., Thursday: Can visiting Blue Devils find a way to stop Cooper Cissne? The Riverhawks junior leads the MCC in rushing with 362 yards. He also had 11 tackles in last week’s game against Southridge. Wa-HI’s Lincoln Heinrich is second in the MCC in passing with 578 yards, 8 TD passes and just 2 interceptions.

Hermiston (1-0, 2-1) at Hanford (0-1, 1-2), Hanford High School, 7 p.m., Friday: The Falcons will need to bounce back after scoring just 7 points last week in Walla Walla. Can they stop Brayden Medelez, Hermiston’s multi-talented quarterback? Last week against Pasco, he had 181 passing yards and rushed for another 47.

Kamiakin (0-1, 2-1) at Southridge (1-0, 2-1), Lampson Stadium, 7 p.m., Friday: The visiting Braves lost standout receiver Mason Severson, likely for the season, to a leg injury in last week’s loss. But Kamiakin QB Gavin Cronrath seems to find new players to throw to; he had 202 passing yards and a TD strike against the Lions. Meanwhile, the Suns beating Chiawana last week should provide a lot of confidence. Coach Johnson and staff will have their team level headed.

Kennewick (1-0, 3-0) at Richland (0-1, 0-3), 7 p.m., Friday: The Lions have the top-ranked defense in the conference. Cooper Larson leads the MCC with 4 sacks. Can the Kennewick D control Richland’s Woodard and receiver Pierson Bryant (and now Bunnage). Richland needs to get a win. Can Bunnage and Justin Volmer find a way to control Bendewald running the ball?

Sageview (1-0, 3-0) at Pasco (0-1, 1-2), Edgar Brown Stadium, 7 p.m., Friday: The host Bulldogs did a good job of staying with Hermiston last week, and running back-linebacker Jojo Cole is one of the best players in the MCC. Bulldogs QB Zevin Stanley passed for 236 yards and two TDs last week against Hermiston. But do they have the defense to control Don Hogue’s high-flying offense?

MCC girls soccer gets going

Conference play begins this weekend with five contests.

On Thursday, Sept. 24, there are three matches, all starting at 7 p.m.: Hermiston at Hanford, Kamiakin at Kennewick, and Southridge at Sageview.

Chiawana visits Walla Walla at 7 p.m., Friday — while Richland visits Pasco at Edgar Brown Stadium at 1 p.m., Saturday.