Wenatchee rallies to defeat Moses Lake

Chiefs led 13-0 before Panther comeback

Moses Lake's rushing game was stellar.

Robbie Waites broke away for two touchdowns against Wenatchee, but the Panthers performance in the passing scheme told the story. Eventually, Wenatchee came out on top with a 21-16 win over Moses Lake at Lions Field Friday night.

Coming into the game, Moses Lake head coach Gregg Kittrell said Moses Lake needed to put up a 70 percent completion performance for the Chiefs to raise the bar. Friday night, Waites completed 1-for-5 passing for negative 2 yards.

"We have been focusing on it and we just need to make plays out of it and the bottom line is, we need to make something out of it," Kittrell said about the passing game.

Wenatchee's K.C. Skalisky went 16-24 from the pocket for 236 yards, throwing for one touchdown and one interception. Skalisky also rushed in the go-ahead touchdown after setting up the 6-yard run on 3-4 passing for 51 yards. Moses Lake was also called for pass interference on the drive.

"We had pretty decent pressure, but they made some great plays on balls and you can't doubt them on that," Kittrell said. "Our kids were right there to make a play and they would still make the catch."

Moses Lake was the first to get on the board with 2:24 left in the second quarter when Waites broke through the Wenatchee defense for a 69-yard touchdown. Waites continued to pick apart the Panthers defense to start the third, with a 52-yard touchdown on the second play of the quarter.

Wenatchee opened the door to Moses Lake on the ensuing possession, where Wenatchee punter Adam Prater kicked the ball straight up in the air, giving the Chiefs the ball at the Wenatchee 30-yard line.

Moses Lake could only move the ball three yards before giving the ball back to the Panthers. From there, Skalisky hit Tyler Blakney for a 21-yard touchdown with 5:35 left in the third.

After a Moses Lake missed field goal, Skalisky drove the Wenatchee offense 80 yards on eight plays resulting in a 6-yard touchdown run for Skalisky and a 14-13 lead for the Panthers with 11:53 left in the game.

"I thought our team got a little over confident and stepped back a little bit," Waites said.

Waites threw an interception on the next drive and Wenatchee capitalized on with Jake Johnston scoring from 12 yards out.

Moses Lake needed 4:45 to set Jeff Warner up for a 28-yard field goal to fall to Wenatchee 21-16 in the season opener.

"We did a lot of things right, we just left the ball on the ground too much and wore down," Kittrell said. "We were misfiring when we should have been firing and they are a good football team."

"It is like kissing your sister, it is the worst feeling ever," Waites added about the loss at home, the first for Waites since taking over as starting quarterback last season.