Chiefs football team in playoffs
MOSES LAKE - More than eight weeks have past since the Moses Lake Chiefs football team kicked off their 2008 season with a 43-21 win over the Hanford Falcons.
Moses Lake's season has been a roller coaster ride of sorts.
The Chiefs have survived a two-game losing streak early this season to head into Friday night's playoff game with a 5-3 record, 4-2 in conference play.
Despite their 4-2 conference record, the Chiefs are the second seed from the Columbia Basin Big Nine's Columbia Division.
With a second place belonging to Moses Lake, the Chiefs will host just the third playoff game in Lions Field history Friday night when the Walla Walla Blue Devils travel to Moses Lake to take on the Chiefs.
Walla Walla is the third seed from the Columbia Basin Big Nine's Cascade Division with a 3-3 conference record, 4-4 overall.
The Chiefs are coming off a 58-27 victory over the Sunnyside Grizzlies and are currently on a two-game winning streak.
The Moses Lake offense is led by senior captain and quarterback Josh Loera who leads the Columbia Basin Big Nine conference in total offense with 1,850 yards, 1,320 of which have come through the air.
Loera's favorite target this season is senior wide receiver Billy Brice. Brice leads the conference in receiving with 43 catches for 481 yards and four touchdowns.
Moses Lake's ground attack is led by Loera and senior running back Michael Thomas.
Loera has rushed for 530 yards this season and Thomas has rushed for 516 yards, both seniors average 5.4 yards per carry.
With Loera running the offense Moses Lake is averaging just over 320 yards per game.
The Chiefs offense is the third most potent offense in the conference and will look to challenge a Walla Walla defense which ranks last overall.
The Blue Devils give up an average of 352 yards per game.
The Chiefs and Blue Devils have not played each other this season, but they do have two common opponents on each of their schedules, Pasco and Hanford.
Moses Lake opened the season with a win over Hanford and defeated Pasco 14-3 on the road in week four.
Walla Walla fell to Hanford 30-20 in week four and Pasco knocked off Walla Walla 31-28 in week seven.
Kick off for Friday night's playoff game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Being that Friday night's game with Walla Walla is a playoff game, no passes will be accepted at the gates for entry.
This includes Moses Lake School District teacher passes, family passes, adult all-season passes, ASB cards and senior citizen passes.
Admission for the game will be $5 for adults and $3 for students with ASB cards and senior citizens.