Ephrata falls to East Valley

Red Devils 40

Tigers 27

YAKIMA - The Ephrata Tigers could not maintain their first half lead over East Valley High School of Yakima as Ephrata fell 40-27 Friday night to the Red Devils.

The Red Devils scored first following a 2-yard touchdown run from Jordan Cameron to give East Valley a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. The Tigers responded with a 31-yard field goal from Eric Hensley to cut the deficit to 7-3.

Ephrata scored twice in the second quarter on a pair of touchdown runs from Cody Mann. Mann's first score from 2 yards out gave the Tigers their first lead of the game at 10-7.

The Red Devils responded with a touchdown of their own to regain the lead at 14-0.

Mann scored his second touchdown with a 20-yard rush which gave Ephrata its first halftime lead of the season at 17-14.

Tigers head coach Jay Mills was satisfied with his team's offense following the loss.

"I was pleased with the offense," he said. "We scored 27 points and Cody Mann had 16 carries for 114 yards. We improved on offense. For the first time all year we had a lead at halftime."

The Red Devils responded in the second half and the Tigers couldn't keep up as East Valley scored 26 second-half points to earn the Central Washington Athletic Conference victory.

The Tigers had a difficult time trying to stop the East Valley offense, Mills said.

"It didn't go well at all in the sense that our defense really struggled," he said. "We turned the ball over inside our own 30 twice and gave them the short field."

After Ephrata's third consecutive loss, Mills told his team to stay focused.

"We are very close," he said. "The kids have to stick together. If we improve each week we will get our share of wins."