Moses Lake's defense forces two turnovers in win over Suns

MOSES LAKE - It was by no means a pretty football game.

Moses Lake - with a slew of new faces at the receiver position - struggled to move the ball through the air.

Southridge - facing a stout Moses Lake defense - struggled to sustain drives.

However, the Chiefs were able to make enough plays to secure a 20-14 win against the Suns at Lions Field Friday.

Quarterback Easton Castro and running back Nathan Ball combined for 221 yards on the ground, each scoring a second quarter rushing touchdown.

"I envisioned that game being won a heck of a lot different than what we did," head coach Todd Griffith said. "Defense played awesome ... They played fast ... That running back was good, their offense was quick.

"(The defense) played well. They kept us in it there. I think offensively we kind of shot ourselves in the foot a couple times."

Moses Lake got on the board late in the first quarter when Rehn Reiley tacked on a 15-yard field goal. The chip shot came after the Chiefs were whistled for a false start on fourth-and-one on the five yard line.

Kaleb Riojas gave the Chiefs a spark when the linebacker was able to recover a blocked punt with two minutes left in the first.

However, after Moses Lake was unable to move the ball, Reiley's 42-yard field goal attempt was short.

The very next play, Southridge quarterback Jair Ealy-Thomas connected with Masceo Ealy-Thomas for an 80-yard touchdown strike - giving the Suns a 7-3 lead with 57 seconds left in the first quarter.

Moses Lake answered Southridge's flurry with a Nathan Ball six-yard touchdown run with 10:34 left in the first half to put the Chiefs ahead, 10-7.

Entering the season, Griffith said he was going to "run the legs off" Ball. That wasn't hyperbole.

Ball finished with 35 rushes for 153 yards and a touchdown.

Besides Castro, no other Chief had more than one carry.

"I'm fine being the lead guy," Ball said. "It was really our line and defense that won it today."

Griffith said that - barring injury - Ball could lead the Big 9 in rushing and that his goal was to average over four yards per carry.

Ball averaged 4.4 yards per carry Friday night.

"He runs the ball extremely well," Griffith said. "He's got a great cut, got a great move. We've just got to block better for him. That's all there is to it.

"We just didn't make very good decisions offensively coaching-wise. I think I could've done a better job offensively as far as play calling and making adjustments."

Later in the second quarter, Moses Lake's front seven began to dominate. Hudson Mauseth was able to recover a fumble that set up a two-yard Castro touchdown run with nine minutes left in the half.

The Chiefs entered intermission leading 17-7.

Southridge received the second half kick, but wasn't in possession for long.

Following a Derek Crum sack, Jair was pressured again and his hurried throw was intercepted by defensive lineman Jordan Simmons.

"I just saw that he was under pressure and I kind of sat there and he threw it and I just ran up and picked it," he said.

The interception set up a 20-yard Reiley field goal that pushed the Moses Lake lead to 20-7.

Late in the third, a scare was put into the Chiefs when - on a punt attempt - the snap flew over Reiley's head, which set up Southridge with excellent field position.

Jair was able to find wide receiver Michael Bibe on the next play for his second passing touchdown of the night - pulling the Suns to within six points, 20-14.

From that point forward, Moses Lake's defense clamped down and Southridge never threatened to regain the lead.

The Chiefs' defense forced three fumbles on the night, recovering one.

"We knew our front four were good," Griffith said. "(Jared) Pope and I said, 'It's not our front four, man ... No matter who we put in there they're good.' We've got seven guys behind them. We've got Hudson Mauseth, you have Derick Close, you have Masaih DeLeon. Guys that probably don't see their names called out a bunch, but they're key."

The Suns failed on multiple fourth down conversions late in the game and Moses Lake was able to enter its victory formation with 34 seconds left in the game.

Despite the success defensively and running the ball, questions still remain for the pass attack.

Missing injured wide receiver Tyson Karstetter, Castro was just 7 for 17 throwing the ball for 44 yards. Simmons was Moses Lake's leading receiver with three catches for 32 yards.

"We've got to get everybody on the same page," Griffith said. "We knew that coming out without Tyson our passing game would not be the same. It's a work in progress. We knew that we were going to be in the same spot without having Tyson there.

"You have (Kevin) Cosper coming in being 'the guy' ... I think he did a good job. He caught a couple balls and made yards out of them, but we definitely want to get him the ball more often."