Football Preview: Moses Lake Mavericks vs. Eastmont Wildcats
Moses Lake is on a three-game streak of home wins, while Eastmont is on a nine-game streak of away wins (dating back to last season): one of those streaks is about to end. The Moses Lake Mavericks will host the Eastmont Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Moses Lake will be hoping to continue their five-game streak of scoring more points each matchup than the last.
Moses Lake is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another highly-ranked state team: Post Falls, who was ranked 11th at the time (Moses Lake was ranked 20th). Moses Lake breezed by Post Falls at home to the tune of 69-20 on Friday. The Mavericks' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
Brady Jay continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, throwing for 434 yards and six touchdowns, while also rushing for 30 yards and two touchdowns. He has been hot recently, having posted three or more passing touchdowns the last five times he's played. Elijah Burns was another key player, gaining 226 total yards and a touchdown.
Moses Lake wouldn't let Post Falls keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force four fumbles. It was truly a group effort as Connor Reed, John Rainey, Carter Anderson, and Grant Smith picked up one apiece. With that strong performance, Smith is now averaging an impressive 100.8 receiving yards per game.
Meanwhile, Eastmont strolled past Eisenhower with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 33-14. That 19 point margin sets a new team best for the Wildcats this season.
Eastmont found their leader in underclassman Austin Zelinski, who rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns on only five carries. Zelinski really tore up the turf during one magnificent 73-yard run.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Eastmont was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 312 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 160 rushing yards in 16 consecutive contests dating back to last season.
One reason for the win was Eastmont's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for four sacks. Adrian Rodriguez was especially locked on to Eisenhower's QB and sacked him twice. Rodriguez also set a new season high mark in total tackles with eight.
Moses Lake's win bumped their record up to 5-1. As for Eastmont, their victory bumped their record up to an identical 5-1.
The upcoming game will be a clash of competing strengths. Moses Lake has relied on air attacks this season and has averaged 351 passing yards per game. Eastmont, on the other hand, has relied on a stout run game: they average 260.8 rushing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Moses Lake was taken down by Eastmont 35-8 in their previous matchup back in October of 2023. Thankfully for Moses Lake, Adrien Ruffins (who picked up 93 receiving yards and three touchdowns) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
