HERMISTON — Things have not gone as smoothly as Hermiston football coach David Faaeteete would like them to this season, but his team rallies each week and takes the field.

The Bulldogs are back in action Thursday, Oct. 14, against the Kennewick Lions in Mid-Columbia Conference action at Lampson Stadium.

“We hope the moment is not too big for our kids and we go out and give Kennewick a fight,” Faaeteete said. “I love playing the underdog role. Not many teams in the MCC give us a chance of winning. If we dot our i’s and cross our t’s, anything can happen. We have to take advantage of the moment. We just have to get a good break and execute the game plan.”

Hermiston (0-6 overall, 0-5 MCC) lost the lead in the fourth quarter in a 27-14 loss to Southridge last week, while Kennewick (5-1, 4-1) is coming off a 34-20 loss to Kamiakin.

“I felt we could have beaten Southridge had we executed better,” Faaeteete said. “Kennewick just got done playing a tough Kamiakin team. At the end of the day, football is football. Johnny and Joes and X’s and O’s. They are a good football team. They have plenty of good athletes everywhere, and they are going to be hungry Thursday night. We are going to go in with our game plan, play team football and limit turnovers. Stopping the run is part of our thing. Their run game is good, and that opens up the deep throws.”

The Lions had a couple of big plays last week, with Dayton Davis throwing for a touchdown, and running 34 yards for another; and Myles Mayovsky returning a kickoff 94 yards for a score.

Defensively, Bronson Childs led the Lions with 10 tackles, while Simeon Howard added nine tackles, and Mayovsky had eight tackles and a pass breakup.

“We have to win first downs on defense and put pressure on the quarterback and take away their first reads,” Faaeteete said. “They have a lot of depth. It will be finding that balance.”

The Bulldogs have a few weapons of their own in quarterback Chase Elliott, who threw for 215 yards last week, and is one of the team’s leading rushers. Toss in Sam Cadenas who blocked a punt and recovered the ball for a touchdown last week, and senior Caden Hottman, who makes his presence known on both sides of the ball.

“Football is a team sport,” Faaeteete said. “Guys like Sam and Caden are able to stand out because their teammates help out. We expect Sam to play hard, that’s the only way he knows how. The same with Caden and a lot of our kids. The kids are tough, but we are young. That’s part of the learning curve.”