Balling Out

MOSES LAKE - The result was expected, but that didn't make it any less sweet for Moses Lake's coaches and players.

Behind another stellar rushing performance from Nathan Ball and a stingy defense that didn't allow Sunnyside to cross midfield until late in the first half, the Chiefs blew out the Grizzlies 42-13 on homecoming.

"You worry about a letdown playing against a team that's only won one game so I felt pretty good about the first half. A little disappointed in the second half the way we started their with the fumble then three-and-out so we got to get better in the second half for sure."

Along with Ball's 115 yards and 4 touchdowns, Moses Lake (2-0, 5-1) welcomed back wide receiver Tyson Karstetter.

Karstetter had previously missed the first five games of the season after breaking his left leg during a summer football camp.

It didn't take long for him to get acclimated to the game as Karstetter was targeted on Moses Lake's first play of the game. He hauled in quarterback Wes Harrington's first pass and romped 48 yards up the sideline.

"It was nice to get it out of the way," Karstetter said. "It felt good to be back out there with my brothers."

Wide receiver Kevin Cosper - who lines up opposite of Karstetter - wasn't sure if it was planned to get him involved so early, but did know that it energized the team.

"I don't know if it was designed, but it was definitely awesome," he said. "Especially that he broke a tackle and got 30 yards. Scared me, I was hoping he'd go out of bounds instead of get tackled."

From Griffith's perspective on the sideline, he agreed with Cosper on it being awesome.

"Everybody on the sideline they were saying, 'Tyson's back,'" he said. "We know he's a weapon and he does a really good job getting the ball we just didn't want to try and put too much on him. He'll get more next week."

Ball began his day with an 11 yard touchdown run with 7:50 to go in the first quarter. A Sunnyside fumbled punt on its ensuing possession set up a 6 yard touchdown pass from Harrington to tight end Jordan Simmons and in about two minutes Moses Lake led 14-0.

Ball scored his second touchdown on a 45 yard gallop that gave the Chiefs a 21-0 lead at the end of one quarter.

Since struggling to run the ball against Coeur d'Alene, Ball has ripped off 607 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns in his last three games.

Ball racked up 115 yards against Sunnyside (0-2, 0-6), maintaining a narrow lead over Davis' Lewis Jackson as the top rusher in the Columbia Basin Big Nine.

"He did a lot of that with somebody in his face and making people miss, but we know he can do that when he's in the open field," Griffith said. "He's a good runner and as far as mainly when I've been the head coach he's the best we've had."

First-time starter Wes Harrington got in on the action early in the second quarter after an Isaiah Thomas interception set Moses Lake up at the Sunnyside 20 yard line.

Harrington ran in a 6 yard score to give the Chiefs a 28-0 lead.

Harrington didn't have to do much in his first start but was efficient, completing 6 of 7 pass attempts for 61 yards.

"I think that he was a little nervous to start out with," Griffith said. "First ball he threw, good ball. Threw a couple high balls, but other than that he ran the offense well."

Although he is just a sophomore, Cosper believes Harrington has the tools to be successful at the varsity level.

"He's a confident guy, especially as a sophomore," Cosper said. "He's going to do big things."

Thomas' second interception allowed Ball to take in his third touchdown with seven minutes to go in the first half.

Late in the second quarter, the Grizzlies were finally able to advance the ball into Moses Lake territory, but their drive stalled and a 38 yard field goal attempt missed wide left.

Ball punched in his fourth and final score with 36 seconds left in the first half and Moses Lake took a 42-0 lead into intermission.

Sunnyside running back Isaac Palomino did total 112 yards, but Moses Lake kept the bruising back from gaining big chunks at a time.

"We are pretty dominating up front and it makes things work a lot better on the back end when you get pressure so it kind of helps us out in both ways," Griffith said. "But defensively we played fast. We thought that running back Palomino was pretty good coming into this and we've seen him giving some guys some fits at times trying to tackle him. I thought we did a pretty good job."

Sunnyside tacked on two touchdowns in the second half that felt like a footnote as the game clock continued to run with the large deficit.

Moses Lake now sits in second place in the CBBN behind 3-0 Wenatchee. Eastmont and Davis trail with one loss each.

The next three weeks will be an important stretch for the Chiefs as the team hosts the Wildcats, travels to face Wenatchee and hosts Davis. A winning record in that stretch will be paramount if Moses Lake hopes to make back-to-back state tournaments.

Selah 23, No. 10 Ephrata 14

EPHRATA - Ephrata suffered its first loss in over a month.

The surprising Selah Vikings (4-1, 5-1) scored 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to leave Ephrata with a 23-14 win.

The Tigers (4-1, 4-2) had trouble running the ball as the team only rushed for 107 yards on 35 attempts. Justin DeHoog was the leading rusher with 50 yards.

"They controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides during the entire game so we had a hard time running the ball, which is something we've got to be able to do if we want to win games," head coach Jay Mills said. "They did a nice job neutralizing us, especially on offense."

The two teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter as Loyd Burleson answered a Montana Blehm 67 yard TD pass to Chez Jackson with a 29 yard TD pass to Connor Martin.

Selah took a 13-7 lead into halftime after Blehm's second TD toss. Once again Ephrata answered with a Burleson 51 yard pitch and catch to Andrew Clark to give the Tigers a 14-13 lead entering the fourth quarter.

However, the Selah defense held Ephrata scoreless in the final frame and the Vikings took a 20-14 lead with 9:10 to go in the game on another connection from Blehm to Jackson.

A 19 yard field goal by Selah's Calvin Smith rounded out the scoring.

Burleson returned after missing Ephrata's win against Grandview with a shoulder injury and threw for 238 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Vikings.

"He looked OK at times," Mills said. "He struggled with some of his decision-making down the field a little bit, but physically he was OK."

There is a bit of a gridlock at the top of the CWAC as there are about five teams vying for three playoff spots: Ellensburg, Prosser, Ephrata, Selah and Othello.

Ellensburg and Prosser look to be powerhouses so that will leave one more spot. Selah will play Othello this week while Ephrata will travel to winless Wapato.

"The big thing for us is that we've got to continue to take care of what we can take care of, which is the games that we have ahead of us and win as many of those as we can and hopefully not rely on getting help from other people," Mills said.

Quincy 34, East Valley (Yakima) 29

YAKIMA - Quincy withstood a furious fourth quarter comeback by the Red Devils and escaped Yakima with a 34-29 win.

It was Quincy's (2-3, 2-4) second win in a row after beginning the season 0-4.

The Jacks led 27-7 at halftime and 27-9 after the third quarter, but East Valley (1-4, 1-5) scored 20 fourth quarter points to put a scare into Quincy.

Quarterback John Lindquist didn't complete a pass, but did run for 172 yards and 2 touchdowns. Andy Vargas also rushed for 180 yards and 1 touchdown.

Quincy racked up 440 total rushing yards against the Red Devils.

Steven Gomez led the Jacks defense with 11 total tackles.