Moses Lake suffers last second road loss to Sunnyside

SUNNYSIDE - Moses Lake hit the road Friday night looking to get back on track with a win against the Grizzlies after dropping a home game to Eastmont last week.

But Sunnyside pulled off a surprising 27-24 upset victory over the Chiefs in the waning seconds of the game. The loss drops Moses Lake to 3-2 in Big 9 play and 4-2 overall.

The Chiefs got on the board first on an Elliot Sage 30-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

The score didn't hold up long as the Grizzlies answered back with a 2-yard TD run by Ramon Hernandez (Thomas Waywell kick) to put Sunnyside up 7-3.

Moses Lake regained the lead, 10-7, on a 61-yard pitch and catch from Justyn Simmons to Brett Moser (PAT) to end the first quarter scoring.

The Grizzlies put the only points on the board in the second quarter of action on a Eduardo Salmeron 26-yard run (kick failed) to go back up top 13-10, much to the delight of the Sunnyside home crowd.

But a 70-yard run by Simmons (PAT) silenced the Grizzly rooters as Moses Lake took a 17-13 lead into the locker room at the half.

Neither team scored in the third quarter of play but Sunnyside racked up seven on Moses Lake to start the fourth quarter scoring on Hernandez's second touchdown of the game on a 5-yard run (Waywell kick) to retake the lead 20-17.

A Simmons 5-yard run (PAT) with a little more than four minutes to go in the game put the Chiefs up 24-20.

It looked as though Moses Lake would escape with a hard-fought road win and maintain at least a tie for first in league competition, but Salmeron scored his second touchdown of the game on a 5-yard run (PAT) with 50 seconds left to pull off the upset win over the Chiefs.

Moses Lake was whistled for 115 penalty yards which played a big part in the team's loss.

Simmons led the charge for the Chiefs finishing with 159 yards rushing on 18 carries. He also completed 14 of 22 passes for 160 yards.

Moses Lake started league play with three wins in a row, which landed the team in first place in the CBBN.

But back to back losses to Eastmont and the Grizzlies leaves the Chiefs one game off the pace.

Moses Lake and Eastmont were tied for the league lead prior to Friday night's action, but a 49-28 Wildcat victory over Davis moved Eastmont into sole possession of first place in the Big Nine.

Eisenhower was upset by Wenatchee 34-9, putting the Cadets and Chiefs at 3-2 in league play.

Moses Lake gets a chance get back on the winning track when the Chiefs host Eisenhower Friday.