Same result, new accomplishment

The drought is over.

The Moses Lake Bulls put points on the board for the first time this season, ending a four game drought. The Bulls still lost to the Palouse Thunder at Lions Field 38-10, but overcame a hurdle Saturday night.

"It makes us happy," Moses Lake quarterback Bo Maygren said. "It's just all the practices this week paid off and got us some points."

The Bulls got a 42-yard field goal off the foot of Chad Appleby with 1:55 left in the second quarter, erupting the Moses Lake bench and crowd. Over a minute later, Maygren hooked up with Derek Martinez for an 18-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 10-10 heading into halftime.

"It was a short lived glory," Moses Lake head coach Jared Crum said. "We enjoyed 30 minutes of glory and our standard play came into action."

The second half crushed all hope of a first season win with the Thunder scoring 28 unanswered points.

"We have to find a way to make the machine go four quarters," Crum added. "That is a team we should have beat."

Moses Lake and Palouse met at Chief Moses Middle School's football field in February for a preseason scrimmage game. The Bulls' offense beat up on the Thunder and the defense eliminated the Palouse offense.

Palouse quarterback Scott Sumner went 12-19 passing for 185 yard and one touchdown, versus Maygren's 9-17 passing for 114 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

Heading into Saturday's contest, Moses Lake was ready for its first win.

Palouse took the opening kickoff to its own 30-yard line and began to drive the ball up the field. After 11 plays, Dave Williams kicked a 45-yard field goal for the Thunder for the first score of the game.

Moses Lake's first possession was an interception into the hands of Nate Wilson for a 30-yard touchdown, handing Palouse a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.

At the start of the second quarter, Moses Lake's offense began to open the field and push the ball against the Thunder defense. Maygren hit Emerson Ferguson for a 14-yard pass and Anthony Thomas had 18 rushing yards in the possession to move the Bulls into the redzone at the 15-yard line.

Facing a fourth down and five at the 12-yard line, Moses Lake went for the first down and missed with Maygren throwing behind Ferguson, giving up the ball on downs.

The next possession, the Bulls' offense got stopped at the 25-yard line and Appleby just crossed the uprights for a field goal. After a defensive stop, the Bulls got the ball back and moved 42 yards down field before Maygren and Martinez hooked up for an 18-yard touchdown pass.

"He said they were stacking everyone to Emerson's side and we went with the lob pass to Derek's side," Maygren said about Jim Whitaker's offensive strategy on the touchdown pass. "When I walked up to the line, I saw the alignment and knew exactly where I was going to throw the ball."

Halftime was a new feeling for the Moses Lake bench, who had evened the score and put themselves in a position to win the game with two quarters remaining in the game.

The second half started and Palouse took control of the momentum and the game. Sumner ran a 21-yard touchdown with 7:06 left in the third quarter, followed by a 1-yard touchdown run by Lannie Pederson at the start of the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Sumner connected with Buck Buchanan for a 64-yard touchdown pass with 9:57 remaining in the game and Sumner dove in from a yard out with 1:44 left for the final touchdown of the game.

"It just seemed like we couldn't get it going," Maygren said. "I am not exactly sure what happened."

Moses Lake dropped to 0-5 on the season, but did accomplish the one nagging problem it had all season - scoring.

Just enough to keep hope in the eyes of the Bulls and turn the season around.

"It is kind of inspiring for us, we have learned a pro offense in five weeks and we know we are progressing and getting better behind the ball," Maygren said.