Columbia strike first; Rainier scores the rest in 40-7 football win

RAINER — Rainier High outscored Columbia High, 24-0, in the second quarter, pulling away from the Bruins en route to a 40-7 nonleague football win Oct. 3 in Rainier.

Columbia (1-4), coming off a 30-18 win the previous week at Medical Lake, scored on its opening possession but didn’t find the end zone again in the game against the Mountaineers (1-4).

Columbia will try to rebound Oct. 17, when the Bruins face Class 2B Raymond-South Bend (2-3) in a 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon contest in White Salmon.

Coach Shawn Friese’s Bruins looked sharp on their opening drive against Rainier. The start was similar to the one Columbia had Sept. 27 at Medical Lake, when the Bruins took a 6-0 lead early. The difference in that game was that Columbia was able to add sustained drives throughout the contest.

Against a more physical Rainier team, an offensive play call mix of up-the-middle runs and short passes into the flat enabled Columbia to move 62 yards in eight plays to take a 7-0 lead. Quarterback Hunter Wang was 4-for-4 passing during the drive and scored the Bruin touchdown on a one-yard run. (Wang also had the team’s first touchdown the prior week against Medical Lake — on a five-yard QB keeper around left end.)

Rainier responded with a five-minute scoring drive of its own, and the Mountaineer’s two-point conversion gave the home team the lead for good. Columbia fumbles set up two more Rainier scores, as the Mountaineers led 32-7 at halftime.

Fumbles also hampered Columbia against Medical Lake, as the Bruins were threatening to score on their second possession, but lost a fumble at the Cardinal 5-yard line. Columbia overcame the miscue by forcing a Medical Lake punt, which junior Brody Landgren returned 35 yards to the Cardinal 16-yard line. Humberto Pulido closed the first-quarter scoring by kicking a 21-yard field goal to give Columbia the lead for good. Landgren added a 79-yard punt return in the second period, a 42-yarder in the second half, and a 95-yard interception return for a fourth-quarter touchdown.