Tigers stun Prosser, win 15-14

EPHRATA — After stalling for much of the evening, the Ephrata offense woke up in the fourth quarter to lead a comeback victory over visiting Prosser in Friday’s season opener, defeating the Mustangs 15-14 after scoring two touchdowns in the final five minutes of the game. 

“A lot of the special things that we’ve been building on for the last three years — the resiliency piece, we’ve played so many close games in the last three years, and some of these kids may not have played in those games, but they were here and around it,” Ephrata head coach Patrick Mitchell said. “Stick together until the end and we’re not pointing fingers at each other, even when the chips are down.” 

Holding a 14-0 lead, Prosser found itself on yet another long drive deep in Tiger territory — that was until junior linebacker Calvin Lybbert stepped in front of a Mustang pass and intercepted it, returning the ball to the Ephrata 12-yard line. 

“I saw the QB pull the ball to pass it, and I was just right there and ready for it,” Lybbert said. 

From there the Tigers offense got moving; three plays after the interception, senior Llandon Ahmann hauled in a pass from quarterback Brady Hendrick, broke a tackle and scampered 49 yards down the field to give Ephrata a chance. 

“It’s like a rock downhill; you get pushed off, and then you’re just going and going,” Ahmann said. “I had momentum with me, my teammates were behind me. We were ready to kick some butt and come back.” 

Facing third and goal from the Prosser 14-yard line, Lybbert caught a 13-yard pass to set Ephrata up at the Prosser one-yard line; on fourth down, Hendrick scored Ephrata’s first touchdown of the season. 

“There were two guys ahead of me, so I stopped and found the zone,” Lybbert said. “Brady (Hendrick) threw it to me; I was open and ran as far as I could.” 

Then came the onside kick, which bounced off the hands of a Prosser receiver and fell on the ground. After players on both sides dove toward the ball, it ended up in the hands of the Tigers just shy of midfield with under five minutes to play. 

“We weren’t going to give up, we wanted the win,” Ahmann said. 

Ephrata mounted an eight-play, 51-yard scoring drive that ended with Ahmann catching a four-yard touchdown pass with 1:08 on the clock. The Tigers elected to go for two, which Hendrick ran in to give Ephrata a 15-14 lead. 

Still with time on the clock for a comeback of its own, Prosser returned the ensuing kickoff to its own 49-yard line, followed by a 35-yard catch-and-run to put the Mustangs in the red zone; following back-to-back incompletions, Ephrata sophomore Owen Fitch and senior Coleman Cobb combined for a sack that pushed the Mustangs back 12 yards. On 4th-and-22, Prosser’s pass was broken up in the end zone by — who else? — Ahmann. 

“He came up huge for us, he made some big plays,” Mitchell said. “He was a great player for us last year and showed some leadership; didn’t get the ball a lot in the first half and didn’t complain. Just kept playing.” 

The win avenged Ephrata’s lone league loss from 2023, a 28-21 game in Prosser. 

“It’s a long season, and we’ve just got to go one game at a time,” Mitchell said. “It’s great to start the year off with a league win, especially against an opponent like Prosser is. This is four years in a row where it’s been a one-score game — we've had some good ones with them the last three, four years.” 

The Tigers had three drives that made it into Prosser territory earlier in the game but couldn’t capitalize on the field position; one ended with an interception on fourth down in the red zone, while the other two stalled on fourth down. 

“We got a little bit out of rhythm in the first half; sometimes we were moving and trying to find the (correct) play instead of just a play and keep us moving and keep that rhythm going,” Mitchell said. “We got back to that in the second half, and I think that helped us play looser.” 

Ephrata returns to the field Friday in the Battle of the Basin against Quincy. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. 

Box score 
PRO: 0-8-6-0 14
EPH: 0-0-0-15 15 

    Ephrata junior Calvin Lybbert (11) returns an intercepted pass during the fourth quarter against Prosser on Friday.
  

    Ephrata sophomore Owen Fitch (54) and senior Coleman Cobb (60) combine for a sack against Prosser in the fourth quarter of Friday’s 15-14 win over the Mustangs.
  

    Ephrata defenders rallied for a tackle against Prosser in the second quarter of Friday’s game.
  

    Ephrata quarterback Brady Hendrick, in black, stiff-arms a Prosser defender while fighting for extra yards in the first quarter.