PREP FOOTBALL: Game slips away from T-Wolves late

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

COEUR d'ALENE — A wild football game apparently deserved a wild finish Friday night.

Moses Lake quarterback Brock Clark recovered his own fumble in the end zone for a touchdown with 1:51 left, and the Chiefs forced a turnover in the final minute to spoil Lake City's homecoming with a 28-21 nonleague victory Friday night.

After Moses Lake (1-2) took the lead, Lake City (1-2) tried to drive for the tying touchdown. The Timberwolves picked up first downs on each of their three plays, and had the ball on the Chiefs' 38. But on the fourth play, a pass-and-run from new starting quarterback Jackson Pettit to Zach Johnson, Johnson was stripped of the ball by Moses Lake defensive back Walker Widdis, and Widdis recovered at the Chiefs' 20 with 1:02 left.

One first down later, and Moses Lake ran out the clock.

"Too many mistakes," Lake City coach Brian Fulp said. "Just not doing your job. We left some points out there, for sure. We got stopped in the red zone twice in the first half. I think we definitely started moving it better later on. But not close to a complete game by us."

After last week's 42-2 loss at Garfield of Seattle, Fulp made some lineup changes, inserting Pettit, a junior, at quarterback and moving senior Josiah Weaver back to safety, where he was an all-league selection last year.

Johnson also played a bigger role in the offense, splitting time between receiver and running back. He ran seven times, and caught five passes for 64 yards.

"There was some improvement from last week, but we're not there yet," Fulp said. "I wanted to give (Pettit) a look; I thought he played well tonight."

He said Johnson in the backfield was "something else we wanted to take a look at. There were quite a few guys that moved into new spots. We're going to continue to do that until we find the right mix."

Lake City's first two drives ended on downs, at the Moses Lake 16 and 13, respectively.

Late in the second quarter, with the rain falling steadily, Moses Lake lined up for a 30-yard field goal. But the holder couldn't handle the snap from center, and Eric Bumbaugh of Lake City swooped in, picked up the loose ball and sprinted 81 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 halftime lead.

Lake City lost a fumble on the first play of the third quarter, and Moses Lake tied it on a 14-yard pass from Clark to Joel Middleton.

Brayden Ross ran 8 yards late in the third quarter for a 14-7 Lake City lead. On the previous play, Pettit rolled left and hit Wayne Queen for 26 yards.

Clark answered with an 18-yard TD pass to Middleton. Lake City was called for encroachment on the PAT kick, so the Chiefs went for two, but Guzman was stopped short.

Sergio Guzman ran 3 yards for TD early in the fourth to give Moses Lake the lead, and Clark ran in the two-point conversion to make it 21-14.

Lake City answered with a 13-play, 68-yard drive, capped by Pettit's 2-yard run to tie it at 21 with 5:15 left. On the play before, on fourth and 8 from the Moses Lake 26, Pettit hit Bumbaugh on a wheel route down the right sideline for 24 yards.

But Kyson Thomas of Moses Lake returned a short Lake City kickoff to the T-Wolves' 35. Six plays later, Clark lost the ball as he was just about to cross the goal line, but dashed after it and fell on it near the back of the end zone for the TD.

Moses Lake, making its second trip to Kootenai County in as many weeks, looked more consistent on offense than in last week's 42-26 loss at Post Falls. Clark completed his last 15 passes and finished 15 of 16 for 161 yards and two touchdowns, both to Middleton, who shared QB duties with Clark vs. Post Falls, and took a few snaps vs. the T-Wolves.

Guzman rushed for 95 yards on 21 carries for Moses Lake, which outgained Lake City 324-277. The T-Wolves had 186 of those yards in the second half.

"Man, that first half they stymied us; that was tough," Moses Lake coach Brett Jay said. "They were moving their coverages in the back end, so we really didn't know what to expect. But we went back to what we do, and we didn't have as many negative plays (as last week)."

Senior Bridger Stephens blocked a punt for Lake City in the first half — the second time in two weeks Moses Lake had a punt blocked.

Lake City plays host to Moscow next Friday.

Moses Lake 0 0 13 15 — 28

Lake City 0 7 7 7 — 21

Second quarter

LC — Eric Bumbaugh 81 fumble return (Kyrus Condon kick), :28

Third quarter

ML — Joel Middleton 14 pass from BrockClark (Iden Bone kick), 11:25

LC — Brayden Ross 8 run (Condon kick), 3:51

ML — Middleton 18 pass from Clark (run failed), 1:32

Fourth quarter

ML — Sergio Guzman 3 run (Clark run), 10:39

LC — Jackson Pettit 2 run (Condon kick), 5:25

ML — Clark fumble recovery in end zone (Bone kick), 1:51

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — ML, Guzman 21-95, Clark 9-47, Middleton 1-1. LC, Pettit 12-37, Ross 16-35, Johnson 7-19.

PASSING — ML, Clark 15-16-0-161, Middleton 3-7-0-20. LC, Pettit 16-20-0-186.

RECEIVING — ML, Guzman 8-68, Thomas 4-49, Middleton 2-32, Purcell 2-26, Lindgren 1-2, Olson 1-6. LC, Johnson 5-64, Cogley 3-34, Ross 2-15, Bumbaugh 2-28, Hill 1-6, Garofalo 1-9, Queen 1-26, McMeekan 1-4.