Chiefs come from behind to beat Wenatchee

MOSES LAKE - Chief fans were treated to an exciting night of football at Lions Field Friday as Moses Lake rallied from a four point deficit in the last two minutes of the game to pull out a 32-29 win over Wenatchee.

"It was a great game that had a lot of big plays and some controversial ones too," Chiefs coach Todd Griffith said. "Both teams were moving the ball well as there were two great offenses on the field ... so it came down to which defense was going to be able to come up with the most stops. We were fortunate to gain the upper hand and make a big play with the interception on Wenatchee's final drive and finish out with the win."

It was Moses Lake's second come from behind win in as many weeks as the Chiefs came back from a two touchdown deficit late in the fourth quarter to win on the road against Eisenhower Sept. 14.

Moses Lake won the coin toss and elected to receive to start the game against Wenatchee. The Chiefs have typically deferred the possession to the second half of play, but wanted to get an early jump on the Panthers high octane offense.

The plan worked to perfection as Moses Lake took the opening kickoff and marched 72 yards for the go ahead score. The drive was capped off by a 41-yard TD pass from Justyn Simmons to Brett Moser (Sage PAT) to put the Chiefs up 7-0.

The Panthers started their first possession on their own 20-yardline and looked to be going three and out. But an offside penalty on the Chiefs on third and five kept the Wenatchee drive alive and the Panthers drove 80 yards to tie the score 7-7 with six minutes left in the first quarter.

Moses Lake took the ensuing kickoff and drove the ball to the Wenatchee 27. But the drive stalled and resulted in a missed field goal attempt by Elliot Sage as the ball hit the right upright and bounced back on the field.

The teams exchanged punts over the final two and a half minutes as the quarter came to an end.

Defense turned up big for the Chiefs and Panthers on the team's first possessions of the second quarter.

Moses Lake's second drive of the quarter started at the Chiefs 25. Two big third down receptions by Nick Sutherland and Cameron Ballard, and a Simmons keeper moved the ball to the Wenatchee 20-yardline. A fumble and recovery by the Chiefs put Moses Lake in a fourth and 14 at the 24.

Griffith opted to go for it instead of kicking a field goal and the decision couldn't have worked out any better as Simmons found Moser for his second touchdown of the game. The Simmons 2-point conversion run was good and the Chiefs retook the lead 15-7.

Moses Lake made it 22-7 with a little over a minute to go in the half on a 10-yard run by Cameron Law. The score was aided on a pass interference call on the Panthers at the goal line on the previous play.

The Chiefs looked to be in complete control of the game as time was winding down in the first half, but gave up a touchdown with four seconds left to allow the Panthers to get within eight, 22-14, at the break.

"We knew going into the game we weren't going to be able to shut Wenatchee's offense completely down ... knew they were going to get their yards and score ... but they'd have to earn it," Griffith said. "We talked to the kids at the half about giving up the big lead ... told them we needed to clean some things up ... make a few adjustments and if we did we should be okay in the second half of play."

But things didn't shake out exactly the way Griffith envisioned as the Panthers scored on their opening drive to tie the game Wenatchee took the lead 29-22 on the strength of 22 unanswered points on a score with five minutes to go in the third quarter.

The Chiefs got the ball back and moved it to the Wenatchee 11, but had to settle for a Sage filed goal to get within four, 29-25 with two minutes on the clock.

A series of oddities took place to begin the fourth quarter as two punt attempts by the Panthers were called back on penalties. Moses Lake dodged a bullet on the first try as the ball touched Trino Rubio as he was trying to avoid it at the Chiefs 13-yardline.

Moses Lake finally got the ball at the Chiefs 10 on the third punt attempt and advanced it to the 48. But the drive stalled and Moses Lake had to punt. Wenatchee took over on the Panther 34 with eight minutes left in the game and moved the ball to their 45. However, the Chiefs defense held and forced Wenatchee to punt.

Moses Lake took over on its 13 but failed to move the ball. A punt off the side of Easton Bakers foot gave the Panthers the ball at the Chiefs 22 with three minutes to go in the game.

Things looked pretty bleak for Moses Lake, but the Chiefs rose to the occasion and sacked the Wenatchee quarterback on a third and five situation from the Chiefs 17. That moved the ball out of field goal range at the 35 and forced the Panthers to punt.

The Wenatchee kicker was aiming for the coffin corner, but the ball went out at the Moses Lake 25.

The stop gave the Chiefs life. But with no time outs left and having to drive 75 yards with 2:32 left on the clock, the chance of Moses Lake pulling out a win was clearly in doubt. Yet the Chiefs managed to do just that as a pass interference call on the Panthers, a key third down catch by Ballard and a 26-yard pass from Simmons to Colton Thompson move the ball to the Wenatchee 18.

Moses Lake was still not out of the woods as the Chiefs faced a fourth and five from the Panther 13. But a Simmons keeper around the left end of the line moved the ball to the 4-yardline. Simmons and Moser hooked up one last time with 37 seconds left. The PAT by Sage put Moses Lake up 32-29.

Wenatchee threatened one last time after a short kickoff put the ball at the Panthers 45. But a sack by the Chiefs backed the ball to the Wenatchee 46 with 19 seconds on the clock. An interception by Moses Lake one play later sealed the win for the Chiefs.

"Our kids are very resilient. They made a lot of adjustments in the second half and that really shows me they are learning how to play the game of football," Griffith said. "We pride ourselves in being the best team on the field in the third and fourth quarters and continue to work hard in the weight room and its really starting to pay off."

The win over Wenatchee improves Moses Lake to 2-0 in the CBBN. The Chiefs get a chance to make it three league wins in a row when the team travels to Davis Friday to take on the Pirates.

"Davis hasn't won a game yet but they do have a lot of talent," Griffith said. "But we can't come out flat against them. We need to continue to practice hard this week and every week and get the team ready to play if we are going to achieve our goal of being the first Moses Lake team to win the league championship outright."