Tigers show improvement in loss

Ephrata quarterback Tyler Clark (with ball) looks to pass during the first quarter of his team's 48-7 loss to Toppenish on Friday night. The host Tigers fell to 0-3 overall and 0-2 in the CWAC.

by Alan Dale<br> Herald Sports Writer
| September 20, 2010 1:00 PM

EPHRATA - There was no question about where the Ephrata Tigers'

hearts were when they kicked off their game against Toppenish

Friday night.

EPHRATA - There was no question about where the Ephrata Tigers' hearts were when they kicked off their game against Toppenish Friday night.

They were in it to win it.

After two tough and humbling losses, Ephrata came out hitting hard and making progress down the field despite being stuck in a 0-0 tie late in the first quarter.

But a Jesus Guel 44-yard got the visitors jump started and Toppenish used that momentum to eventually cruise to a 48-7 Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) win in Ephrata.

The loss for the Tigers (0-3, 0-2) followed consecutive 48-0 and 82-0 losses to Quincy and Prosser respectively.

"It was nice to see us finally score a touchdown," Ephrata head coach Jay Mills said. "Penalties in the red zone hurt our chances early of scoring but our kids continued to play hard throughout the game."

It didn't help that the Tigers entered the contest short-handed as they are still missing some key starters due to various reasons.

"I am proud of how our team has continued to work hard in these tough times," Mills said. "They have had numerous opportunities to give up and they continue to give good effort in practice and games."

Ephrata scored its first points of the season when Sergio Magana broke free for a 48-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Toppenish (3-0, 2-0) hit Ephrata with big plays, including a 75-yard touchdown run by Carlos Ramirez and an 88-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Maldonado to Peter Equihua.

Toppenish led 27-0 at halftime.

"Toppenish wore us down physically," Mills said. "They were bigger and faster. We had missed tackles that turned into big plays."

Ephrata surrendered a total of 476 yards on the ground on 47 Toppenish rushes for 10 yards a carry.

Ramirez led all rushers with 202 yards on 14 carries.

Ephrata's Tyler Clark went 3-for-10 passing with 34 yards while Rocky Cobb rushed nine times for 24 yards, Alex Harvill ran five times for 30 yards and Magana ended up with 52 yards on his two carries.

Harvill caught two passes for 17 yards.

"I was impressed with our hitting on special teams," Mills said. "We are not where we would like to be, but we ran the better than we have all season. We scored a touchdown. Though score doesn't show it, we had our best defensive effort of the year. We have a lot of areas to improve.

"Our kids continue to compete and play hard," Mills added.