Friday, Sep. 04, 2009

Live from Lions Field

Finally, after some fits and starts, got the computer to work here in Moses Lake.

Been a very fulfilling day. Finally got to play Moses Pointe -- shot a 95 with four pars, including one on the closing hole. Caught up with a nice couple from Tacoma, Mark and Susan, who were en route to Spokane for a Labor Day golf-a-thon with some friends.

Mark birdied two of the first three holes. Then, of course, I caught the couple on the fourth hole, and my duffer mojo affected him. He did par a few holes and look real good ... and he had some shots that made me look good, which is tough to do.

Moses Lake won the toss and deferred. Chiawana, in their Penn State-esque road unis, will get the ball first.

Like the T-shirts the Riverhawks fans were wearing. On the back, they read: "I Bled Purple. Now I Bleed Blue."

Catch up with you soon ...

POSTSCRIPT

Talk about best laid plans ...

Could never find a reliable wireless connection in the press box, so my desire to blog during the game went by the wayside.

Watching Chiawana play Friday night reminded me of my golf game -- consistently inconsistent. The Riverhawks made some outstanding plays ... and then some plays that just made the coaching staff cringe.

They tried a fleaflicker in the third quarter, and the receiver on the double-reverse pass threw the ball ... to ... nobody ... 30 yards downfield. About the only player close to it was a ML defender.

Needless to say, C.J. Edrington sat out the next play and received a reminder that, y'know, you don't have to throw the ball on that play.

And definitely, Chiawana's lack of heft on the line of scrimmage will be exploited all season long by opponents. Moses Lake just pounded the ball in the ground game all night, racking up 350-plus yards with a pair of 100-yard rushers and a third who came close.

Conversely, the Riverhawks ran the ball just 15 times compared to 44 pass attempts. That is nowhere close to the ratio that a Steve Graff-led team usually has, but falling behind 21-0 early, plus that already-mentioned lack of size up front, kind of dictated the play calling.

Don't think Graff didn't know things have to change, though.

"We have to be able to run the ball on people," he said. "We didn't play very well defensively. We gave up too many big plays. But our best defense may be our offense keeping the ball."

It's all part of the growing pains of a brand-new program with no senior class, only 29 players suited up for varsity duty, and a bunch of players experiencing the Friday Night Lights for the first time.

All in all, the Riverhawks acquitted themselves quite well against a veteran ML team that started nine seniors on offense, six on defense, and averaged about 230 pounds across the offensive line.

ML, by the way, will be in the thick of the Columbia Division race. No flashy, star-type players, but a good, solid team that executes well.

Til next time ...