Chiefs football reaches state playoffs

MOSES LAKE - It looked as if the moment was too big for Moses Lake after fumbles on its first two drives.

However, the Chiefs were able to settle down and rally from an early deficit to beat Eastmont 42-34 on Senior Night. The win sends Moses Lake to the state tournament.

"One of (the players') goals was to be where they're at right now and with an opportunity to play in the Tacoma Dome," head coach Todd Griffith said. "They set out for it and then they accomplished it... you never know until you start playing, but these kids are extremely resilient."

Nerves took a hold of the Chiefs early with two straight fumbles on their first two drives.

Eastmont was able to capitalize off the first turnover after a 50-yard completion by sophomore quarterback Nick McGill set the Wildcats up at the three yard line.

"We've preached all the time about being mistake free," Griffith said. "It put us in a hole and we had to fight back out of it, but these kids seem to do a good job of that."

McGill was able to punch the ball into the end zone on a quarterback keeper to give Eastmont an early 7-0 lead after the successful extra point.

Lions Field was restless much of the first quarter with the Moses Lake offense either turning the ball over or punting the ball away until junior linebacker Kaden Bergeson intercepted a McGill pass that set the Chiefs up in Eastmont territory.

Junior running back Nathan Ball was able to score a touchdown from four yards out and junior kicker Rehn Reiley was able to tack on the extra point to knot the score at 7-7.

The Wildcats regained the lead when McGill was able to hook up with junior Killion McGinnis on a 28-yard touchdown strike with 8:52 left in the second quarter and a made extra point brought the score to 14-7.

Moses Lake kept pace with Eastmont in the first half behind the explosive play of senior running back Brett Moser. Moser tallied 113 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just five carries, good for 22.6 yards per carry. The senior kept Moses Lake from falling behind with 35-yard and 28-yard touchdown runs in the second quarter.

"We thought we could move the ball on them and we kind of changed our attack a little bit when we had those two fumbles so we changed our personnel package, put Moser in the backfield to try and get him the ball and see if he could make some plays for us and he did just that," Griffith said. "He got us back in it and of course we had great blocking by our wide receivers and our full back and our front line."

Moses Lake and Eastmont continued to trade touchdowns and entered halftime tied, 21-21.

The second half belonged to senior running back Jordan Lacelle. The Chiefs used their bruising back to wear down the Wildcat defense and chew clock. Lacelle was able to score the first of his two touchdowns with 6:42 remaining in the third quarter to give Moses Lake its first lead of the game, 28-21, after a made extra point by Reiley. Lacelle ended the night with 94 rushing yards and averaged 5.5 yards per carry.

Griffith utilized his stable of backs to keep Eastmont off balance throughout.

"We got a grinder in Lacelle, we got a fast kid that makes good cuts in Ball and we have Moser, we know that if we get him in space he's going to make something happen," he said. "That makes the offensive coordinator's job a heck of a lot of fun."

Moser made an impact on defense as well, intercepting a McGill pass and returning it 28 yards. The turnover allowed the Chiefs to drive down the field and punch the ball in with Lacelle early in the fourth quarter. A Reiley extra point gave Moses Lake a 35-21 lead. After a back and forth first half, the Chiefs were able to stifle the Eastmont offense in the third quarter allowing zero points.

A 22-yard touchdown run by Eastmont senior running back Brian Burt cut the Moses Lake lead to 35-27. The Wildcats' extra point was blocked.

The Chiefs countered with a 63-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Easton Castro to senior wide receiver Nick Sutherland with 6:54 left in the fourth quarter to increase their lead to 42-27 following the extra point.

After two rough outings against Wenatchee and Davis, Castro was sharp against the Wildcats completing 10-10 passes for 179 yards and one touchdown.

"I was really proud of him," Griffith said. "We didn't ask him to throw a bunch, but the ones he did throw were on the money."

Moses Lake was able to recover an Eastmont onside kick and hold on for a 42-34 win and a ticket to the state tournament. The Chiefs will face Chiawana next. The game is scheduled for Friday and the time has not been determined yet. The Riverhawks finished first in the Mid Columbia 3A/4A Conference with a record of 7-0 and are 9-1 overall.

"We're going to have to play at our best to get one against them for sure," Griffith said. "You never know, from week to week you got to play your best once you get to this time of the year and we know they're going to be tough and we're going to play them hard."