A new breath of life

Moses Lake wins in old fashion

It was old-fashioned, homestyle Moses Lake football.

The Chiefs ran the middle and the sides, threw when needed and the defense completely shutdown Richland Friday night in a 30-13 win. The night lifted a weight off Moses Lake head coach Greg Kittrell's back as the Chiefs regained control of the dubious fourth quarter.

"We need to be a little better this quarter," Kittrell said. "We need to be a little better in the fourth than what we were in the third."

As the third quarter drew to an end, Kittrell called his team together and called on them to shutdown the fourth and end the game.

The Moses Lake defense held the Bombers to 56 total yards of offense on 17 plays. Richland took one of its two drives in the fourth 81 yards with two big penalties called against the Chiefs for unsportsmanlike conduct against the sideline and another for pass interference.

The defense held on the final four plays, forcing the Bombers to hand the ball back to Moses Lake on downs and allow the Chiefs to run out the clock to end the game.

"It is a huge lift," Kittrell said. "We have been so close the last two weeks and we didn't lose any confidence in our kids and they didn't lose any confidence in us."

Richland struck first in the game after a roughing the punter call gave the Bombers another chance at the offense. Richland quarterback Eric Rose was able to spread the defense with the draw and take the ball 39 yards for the touchdown.

Moses Lake started its ensuing drive with a handoff to Ryan Carpenter who cut to the sideline for a 65-yard touchdown and a foretelling of the Chiefs' offensive spark.

Rose threw an interception on the next Bomber possession, only to get the ball back on a fumble during the exchange between Moses Lake quarterback Robbie Waites and fullback Jeff Warner.

Michael Tucker continued the turnover spree with an interception on Rose's pass that sailed high to Garrett Stevens.

The Chiefs later scored on sophomore fullback Duanta Powell's 12-yard reception from Waites to go up 14-7 in the second quarter. Powell later scored to start the third quarter with a 70-yard touchdown run through the middle of the Richland defense to hand the Chiefs a 27-3 lead.

Rose and the Bombers sparked the offense after the Moses Lake score with a drive that spanned 74 yards and was capped off with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Stevens.

Moses Lake's offense was led by Carpenter who rushed for 112 yards on nine carries, his second 100-yard game of the season. Powell had 115 yards of total offense with two touchdowns in the charge.

"I think we are getting to the point that we are executing better," Kittrell said.

Moses Lake came off back-to-back losses to Eisenhower and Wenatchee to open the season 0-2. In both games, the Chiefs led going into the fourth quarter before giving up the loss.

Kittrell said that all changed after Friday night.

"I am pretty happy with it right now," Kittrell said. "I would have liked to have been on the other end with those last two, but we will do what we have to do."