Ellensburg cages visiting Tigers

Bulldogs 56,Tigers 14

Bulldogs 56,Tigers 14

ELLENSBURG - The Ephrata Tigers clawed their way onto the scoreboard early Friday night but couldn't stop Ellensburg as the Bulldogs earned the 56-14 Central Washington Athletic Conference football victory.

The Tigers scored on their first possession when Ephrata running back Cody Mann led the offense down the field and scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to give the Tigers an early 7-0 lead.

Ephrata head coach Jay Mills said he was proud of the way his team started Friday night.

"I am happy with the way we started," he said. "We drove the ball right down the field. We had a nice eight-play drive."

With Ephrata holding a 7-0 lead early, the Bulldogs recovered to score 36 first-half points as Ellensburg energized the crowd en route to the homecoming victory over Ephrata.

The Bulldogs rallied for a 28-7 lead late in the first half when Ellensburg's defense forced an Ephrata punt and the Ellensburg offense took over with only 36 second left in the half. Rather than run the clock out and take a 28-7 lead into halftime, the Bulldogs elected to move the ball down the field.

In the span of only 27 seconds, the Bulldogs moved the ball 87 yards for a 34-7 lead.

The Tigers committed a penalty on the extra point attempt and Ellensburg elected to attempt a two-point conversion. The attempt was successful and the Tigers went into the locker room with a 36-7 deficit.

After the game Mills said his team was at a disadvantage Friday night.

"We ran the ball well, our quarterback was a little dinged up," Mills said. "We wanted to run the gall and shorten the game. We became a one dimensional and it is hard to win that way."

Ephrata could not recover as the Tigers were outscored 20-7 in the game's final half as Ephrata fell to 1-7 on the season.

The Tigers next host defending state champion and current CWAC leading Prosser Friday night.

Kick off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.