Moses Lake drops thriller on the road

EAST WENATCHEE - The Chiefs came oh so close to forcing a three-way tie for first place in the last game of the regular season in CBBN action Friday night, but their comeback bid fell short as Eastmont pulled out a nerve-racking 28-21 win.

The victory secured the top spot for the Wildcats and dropped the Chiefs to 4-5 as Moses Lake's season came to an end.

The Chiefs gave Eastmont all they could handle on the Wildcats home turf as Cameron Law broke multiple tackles on a 74-yard run midway through the first quarter (2-point conversion) to give Moses Lake an 8-0 lead.

The Wildcats answered back on a 34-yard second quarter touchdown run by quarterback Brock Grams to get back in the game, 8-6. Special teams came up big for Eastmont following the score as the Wildcats recovered an ensuing squib kick at the Chiefs 29. Running back Darin Hardgrove found the end zone a couple plays later (run good) to give Eastmont its first lead of the game, 14-8 and end the first half scoring.

Down by six on the road and with nothing really to play for, it would have been easy for the Chiefs to cash it in.

But there would be no quit in Moses Lake as the team marched down field on its first possession of the third quarter and hit pay dirt on a 17-yard strike from Justyn Simmons to Trion Rubio (pass failed) to tie the game 14-14.

The score swung the momentum to Moses Lake as the teams' defense with the aid of Mother Nature held the Wildcats in check as Eastmont had trouble hanging on to a wet ball.

But a third and 12 conversion from Grams to Carter Haehl for 27 yards put Eastmont in a first and goal situation.

Grams scored the go ahead touchdown moments later (PAT) to give the Wildcats a 21-14 lead and round out the third quarter scoring.

Eastmont's defense came up big on the Chiefs first possession of the fourth quarter as it forced an incomplete pass on fourth and 13 from the Wildcats 34.

That led to a 17-yard Grams run for a touchdown (PAT) and a two score Eastmont lead, 28-14.

The never say die Chiefs answered back with a 3-yard Law TD run (PAT) to close the gap to 28-21 with two minutes left in the game.

But an onside kick attempt following the score went out of bounds and gave the Wildcats possession at their 35 and Eastmont was able to run out the clock and escape with the win.

"This was a very physical game and our kids played well on both sides of the ball," coach Todd Griffith said. "We put 21 points on the best defense in the league ... our kids battled hard all season long ... they played from whistle to whistle and I couldn't be more proud of our team."