HERMISTON – Southridge coach Matt Johnson and his staff have been trying to get their running backs into a rotation that takes the heat off of the starters in their vaunted Wing-T offense.

On Friday night, things couldn’t have been more balanced, as his Suns rolled into Hermiston and came away with a 48-14 Mid-Columbia Conference football win over the Bulldogs.

How balanced was it?

Starters Tayton Jackman and Jacob Korotkov — as well as substitutes Toa Haertling and Ramses Chavez — all had 11 carries each.

• FOOTBALL STANDINGS

It was Chavez and Haertling who had the eye-catching numbers too. Chavez rushed for 171 yards and a touchdown. Haertling, a sophomore, finished with 88 yards, but he added three touchdown runs.

“It’s a pretty nice luxury to have,” said Johnson, whose team is the lone remaining unbeaten team in the MCC with a 3-0 record (4-1 overall). “We kind of just figured out a rotation more and more. Tayton and Jacob have done this for three years. But now we’ve added Toa and (Brandyn) Hammond and Ramses.

“And it doesn’t matter who scores. Everybody roots for each other. We keep the rotation for them and it keeps them fresh. It’s a nice thing to have.”

Altogether, the damage caused by Southridge’s running game was tremendous: over 516 yards of offense (24 of those coming off of passes from quarterback Austin Hazenberg), with 18 plays of 10 yards or more.

It was the best offensive performance by Southridge this season so far.

“We try to add a few wrinkles,” said Johnson. “Our offensive coordinator, Tyler Hogg, is really getting dialed in.”

Defensively, Hermiston just couldn’t stop the Suns.

“It’s hard to replicate that speed (in practice) that Southridge ran,” said Hermiston coach David Faaeteete. “We just had poor execution tonight and that’s why we lost and the better team won.”

Still, Southridge’s defensive unit had a tough time containing Bulldogs junior quarterback Brayden Medelez.

The right-hander showed signs of a young Doug Flutie, scrambling around the pocket until he found a wide-open receiver.

“We just had to stay in our coverage, and if he scrambles, we go get him,” said Haertling, who also played at linebacker.

Easier said than done.

Medelez finished with 205 yards passing and two TD strikes. He also rushed for 52 yards.

Johnson was all business after the win.

“We’ve been talking about that we’re just getting started,” he said. “We know we can play a lot better football and we’ve yet to play a complete game. We had too many penalties tonight.

“But then I stopped myself. It’s really hard to win in this league. A couple of years ago, if we’d win any game, we’d be ecstatic. Tonight, we won and we’re not satisfied.”

Coupled with Kennewick beating Sageview 42-35 in a shootout at Edgar Brown Stadium, the Suns sit atop the MCC standings.

But five teams — Chiawana, Hermiston, Kennewick, Richland and Sageview — all sit one game back with 2-1 MCC records.

KENNEWICK 42, SAGEVIEW 35: At Pasco, the Lions scored two late touchdowns, then held off the Lobos at the end to hand Sageview its first loss.

“I was about ready to throw up early in the game,” said Kennewick coach Randy Affholter. “We didn’t start out very well. We were on our heels.”

The Lions were down 21-7 with Sageview knocking on the door again.

“It was about to be 28-7, but we got a pick by Kyle Anema,” said Affholter.

Kennewick would score to cut the Lobos lead to 21-14. Then sophomore Isaac Garcia got another interception, and the Lions would turn it into another touchdown to tie the game at 21-21.

Affholter praised receiver Eddie Macias, who made some big receptions in the second half.

KAMIAKIN 28, WALLA WALLA 26: At Kennewick, the host Braves picked up their first MCC win of the season, beating the Blue Devils.

“We hung on,” said Kamiakin coach Scott Biglin. “Walla Walla is good. This league is legit. We are also hanging on with band aids, but give the team credit. We are a tough league.”

RICHLAND 49, PASCO 6: At Richland, the Bomber won their second straight MCC game.

Richland coach Josh Jelenik said there were three reasons his team won.

“Defense, Defense and Defense!” said Jelenik.

The Bombers had three interceptions returned for touchdowns — including two on back-to-back plays.

“Our offense was efficient for sure,” the Richland coach. “But defense stole the show.”

THURSDAY

CHIAWANA 28, HANFORD 21: Sawyer Sommerville scored three touchdowns, and Cooper Cissne rushed for 233 yards as visiting Chiawana held off the.

Cade Reed scored all three touchdowns for Hanford, which was playing its second game in four days.

The Falcons’ contest against Hermiston last Friday was postponed to Monday, thanks to bad air quality.