East tops West, 12-7, in 3A/4A All-Star Game

MOSES LAKE - As soon as the play was called Brett Moser knew he would have an opportunity to score.

On a fourth-and-13 from the 30-yard-line, state champion Joey Zamora, of Chiawana, lofted a perfect fade to Moser in the top right corner of the end zone.

"It was one-on-one and whoever got up won it and I got up," he said.

Moser caught the ball at its apex and held on as he crashed to the turf, giving the East a 6-0 lead (PAT failed) in the 3A/4A East-West All-Star Game on his team's opening drive.

"It's a play that I've been running since freshman year with Griff (Moses Lake head football coach Todd Griffith) and when he called it I was like, 'This is my play,'" he said. "I scored more than half my touchdowns on that play. It was amazing."

In a stark contrast to last year's 38-21 East win at Lions Field, the East won a defensive battle, 12-7.

Moser finished with three catches for 53 yards and a touchdown, all on the opening drive.

Building quite the rapport with Zamora, Moser caught a eight yard pass, a 15-yard pass and the 30-yard touchdown.

Moser had nothing but good things to say about his state champion teammates from Chiawana.

"When some people win stuff it gets to their head," he said. "That's not them, they're cool. They're the average person."

The East defense was stout throughout the entire game and held a West squad comprised of some of the best talent in the state scoreless until the fourth quarter.

The East came up with three interceptions, none more important than Wilson defensive back Isaiah Simpson's with less than a minute to play that clinched the win for the East.

The squad in red also forced two fumbles, but was unable to recover any.

"Both defenses can run on the football really well so we knew that the offenses are going to be behind in a game like this," East head coach Dave McKenna said. "Last year I heard that they had a lot of rain so they didn't get as much practice and we got some hitting in and some defensive practice ... Both sides played extremely well on defense."

Gonzaga Prep's Kevin Thomas gave the East a 12-0 lead (two-point conversion failed) after taking in a quarterback keeper with 7:34 left in the second quarter.

That score held up all the way until just under nine minutes remained in the game. After Zamora's second interception of the game, the West was able to punch in a goal line touchdown by bruising Roosevelt running back Sterling Tate to close the gap to 12-7 (PAT made),

Once again, the West was given new life in the fourth quarter after the East fumbled on its next play.

However, the defensive stalwarts in red jerseys stiffened and stopped the West on a fourth-and-two in the red zone.

"Our defense, when we see them, they're just huge," Moser said. "We know they were going to have an amazing game like they did. They showed up to play."

The level of competition wasn't an issue in this exhibition game as both sides had their fair share of chippiness, drawing multiple unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

Socializing at the water park became a memory long ago when the game began.

"We had fun all week, but when you step between the lines on Friday night we're very competitive and it was that way and we coached that way," McKenna said. "My job as a coach I think is to support our kids and coach them up and give them the best opportunity to be successful out on the field and that's what we tried to do."

Spanaway Lake's Joe Martin and Mercer Island's Bradford Kimball were awarded scholarships at the end of the third quarter by Moses Lake athletic director Loren Sandhop.

Tate was named the MVP of the West while Peninsula's Avega Siolo was the East's MVP.

McKenna said he and his staff enjoyed their time in Moses Lake throughout the week.

"These kids were awesome all week," he said. "Every coach would say that. Respectful. I couldn't say enough great things about our kids and then about the Moses Lake community. It was awesome. They just gave us everything we needed and more."

Moser will continue his athletic career at Whitworth were he will play football and baseball.

But on Friday he basked in the glory of walking off Lions Field for the final time as a winner.

"It's awesome," Moser said. "Especially in the All-State game. That's unbelievable."