Chiefs drop road game to Wenatchee Panthers

WENATCHEE - Moses Lake took to the road Friday looking to end its three-game losing streak with a win over Wenatchee.

But the Panthers had another thing in mind as they turned back the Chiefs 48-20 in CBBN league action.

"Unfortunately, it was the same scenario as last week," coach Todd Griffith said. "We didn't get off to a good start, made an early mistake with the interception, and found ourselves playing catch-up right away."

Moses Lake was playing from behind from the opening minutes of the game as Wenatchee capitalized on a Justyn Simmons interception on the Chiefs first drive of the game, and turned it to seven points on a 39-yard touchdown run by Tyler Mooney (PAT).

The Panthers made it 14-0 on a 23-yard pass from Dillon Sugg to Mooney as the first quarter came to an end.

A TD run by the Chief's Cameron Law (kick blocked) to start the second quarter of action closed the gap to 14-6.

But a 51-yard TD run by the Panthers Isaish Brandt-Sims, and an Ethan Grande 33-yard field goal as time ran out put Wenatchee up 24-6 at the half.

Cameron Ballard was on the receiving end of a Simmons pass (kick good) to get Moses Lake back in the game, 24-13,

But two TD runs by Chase Resch pushed Wenatchee's lead to 38-13, and finish out the scoring in the third quarter of play.

A 57-yard Simmons pass to Trino Rubio set up a 6-yard toss from Simmons to Nick Sutherland early in the fourth quarter of action (PAT) and gave the Chiefs life.

But the Panthers answered back with a 10-yard Brandt-Sims touchdown run, and a Garrett King 27-yard field goal to round out the scoring for Wenatchee and give the Panthers a 48-20 win.

Moses Lake was able to move the ball all game long as the offense tallied 337 yards, but was unable to put enough points on the board to hang with Wenatchee.

Simmons completed 13 of 28 passes for 222 yards and two TDs. Rubio led all Chiefs receivers with 140 yards on seven receptions.

"Trino played well on both sides of the ball," Griffith said. "It definitely was his best game of the year."

The loss to Wenatchee eliminated Moses Lake from post season play.

The Chiefs finish out the regular season on the road at Davis Thursday.