Chiefs win thriller on the road against Eisenhower

YAKIMA - Justyn Simmons ran for four touchdowns and threw for three more to lead Moses Lake to a come from behind 50-49 win on the gridiron against Eisenhower at Zaepfel Stadium Friday night.

"That was a heck of a ball game, " coach Todd Griffith said. "A real see-saw battle that had several lead changes."

Moses Lake got on the board first as the Chiefs drove down field on their first possession to take a 7-0 lead, then forced the Cadets to go three and out on their initial series of the game.

Moses Lake drove the length of the filed on its second possession, but was held to a field goal to go up 10-0.

The Chiefs increased their lead to 17-7 in the second quarter, but a successful onside kick sparked a 21-7 run by Eisenhower to give the Cadets a 28-24 lead at halftime.

"We knew going into the game Eisenhower was going to throw the ball and they did. Ike's QB is one of the best I've seen in a long time," Griffith said. "And that's what we talked about during halftime. I told them he was going to continue putting the ball on a dime, and that the game will be decided by which team makes the most plays in the second half."

Eisenhower scored first in the second half of play to go up by 11, 35-24. Moses Lake scored twice in the third quarter, but trailed 49-38 with a little more than 10 minutes left in the game,

However, the Chiefs dug down deep and showed what the team was made as the defense stiffened and the offense rose to the occasion as Simmons led Moses Lake to two quick scoring drives. The last one capped off by a 1-yard dive by Simmons with 4:54 to go to give the Chiefs the lead.

"Our offense and defense really took control in the fourth quarter," Griffith said. "Justyn did a good job distributing the ball and the kids played hard on both sides of the ball and we ended up getting the best of them."

The Cadets had one crack at a go-ahead drive, but turned the ball over on downs at mid-field with 2:45 left in the game.

Simmons finished with 190 yards rushing and 149 yards passing for the contest. Cameron Law totted the rock 14 times for 99 yards and Trino Rubio had seven carries for 92 yards.

The win over the Cadets lands Moses Lake (1-0) in a tie for first with Eastmont in Big Nine action, and 1-1 overall.

The Chiefs home opener is Friday night when Moses Lake hosts the Wenatchee Panthers at Lions Field at 7 p.m.

"Wenatchee is a tough team with a lot of talented players returning," Griffith said. "It's going to come down to who executes better and takes care of the ball."