Moses Lake 'ambushed'

Kennewick claims final playoff spot in Big Nine conference

KENNEWICK - Big plays by Kennewick meant a big loss for Moses Lake.

Both teams needed a victory Thursday night to make the playoffs and the Lions delivered, trumping the struggling Moses Lake football team in a 21-7 win at Lampson Field. The loss left the Chiefs team stunned.

"We got ambushed," starting quarterback Robbie Waites said. "We weren't ready."

Kennewick bolted to a quick 14-0 lead on Moses Lake in the first quarter, fired again in the second and held on for a 21-7 win, advancing into the playoffs and leaving Moses Lake behind.

"We screwed up," said linebacker Lee Richards. "We just didn't play like we should have."

For the most part, Moses Lake did its job of stopping the 10th ranked offense from running up the score. But, when it did let down, Kennewick capitalized in a big way.

Mark Mace picked on the secondary for 147 yards passing and two touchdowns on 10-of-14 passing. Terrance Jackson, the No. 1 rusher in the Big Nine was held to 65 yards on 18 carries, while his backup Cameron Sanders picked up 75 yards on 15 carries.

On the flip side, Waites ran for only 67 yards on 11 carries, threw the ball for 88 yards on 5-11 passing, threw a touchdown and two interceptions in the game.

"I think the kids were ready to play and played hard, but Kennewick played a little harder," Moses Lake head coach Greg Kittrell said.

But nothing seemed to favor Moses Lake in the matchup. Kennewick opened the game up with a pooch kick that the Chiefs fumbled and the Lions recovered at the Moses Lake 41-yard line.

Mace and Jackson maneuvered the ball to the 2-yard line to set up Sean Sloppy for a run up the gut and a 7-0 lead on Moses Lake with 7:49 remaining in the first quarter.

The No. 2 rushing defense in the Big Nine held Moses Lake to six yards on three carries on its next possession of the game, then handed the ball back to the Lions, the No. 10 offense in the league.

Mace began to pick apart the secondary of Moses Lake for 27 yards, including a four-yard pass to Devon Bouvier with 2:48 remaining in the first. Mace and Bouvier would hook up one last time in the second on a 14-yard fade route 4:42 left in the second quarter.

After the second Kennewick score, Moses Lake put together its first successful drive of the game, marching 68 yards on six plays to score on a 23-yard pass from Waites to Corbin Earl to start the second quarter.

But after that drive, the Chiefs plowed to the 1-yard line, used two timeouts and were shutdown by the Kennewick goal-line stance with eight minutes left in the third quarter.

"My only second guess was probably to go for the field goal," Kittrell said about that instance. "Knowing that the ball was on the 1/2-yard line, I would have had a hard time going for three."

Moses Lake's defense held firm in the second half, allowing only 117 yards of total offense and keeping the Lions scoreless, but Kennewick's defense was just as firm.

Moses Lake's best drive ended at the 1/2-yard line and the season came to an end soon after. Moses Lake wasn't expected to be in a playoff contention setting after starting the season 1-3.

Then, everything came down to Thursday night with both teams needing the win to survive. But, Moses Lake couldn't take advantage of the opportunity placed before them.

"I felt like we had a good week of practice and for it to end like this is crappy," Holman said.