Garcia, Jenkins power Chiawana past Moses Lake in opener

The first game of the season is never pretty, but sometimes ugly gets the job done.

The Chiawana Riverhawks got two touchdowns from Ethan Garcia, and overcame some big penalties to hold off Moses Lake 24-14 on Friday night at Edgar Brown Stadium.

“Some was good and some was bad,” Chiawana coach Steve Graff said. “We can’t have that many penalties (9 for 84 yards). We didn’t mess around either, we got the 15 yard ones.”

Garcia ran for scores of 1 and 3 yards, and Tayden Jenkins sealed the win with a 36-yard touchdown with 2:52 remaining in the game.

“They both ran the ball well,” Graff said. “The guys up front blocked well for them at times, and at times we didn’t. The defense got us some turnovers and that got our offense going. Overall, for the first game, this is what you get.”

The Chiefs stalled out on the first possession of the game, and the Riverhawks countered with a 1-yard touchdown by Garcia with 8:28 left in the first quarter.

“Thanks to the O-Line for opening up holes,” Garcia said of his first two varsity touchdowns. “It’s a great feeling. Amazing I was in this place. I had butterflies, but when I started hitting, the butterflies went away and then it was all instinct.”

Moses Lake was back in Chiawana territory later in the first, but an interception by sophomore Riley Cissne put an end to the threat.

The Riverhawks led 7-0 at the half, and opened the third quarter with a nine-play drive that resulted in a 3-yard score by Garcia.

Moses Lake stormed back and drove down to the Chiawana goal line, but the Riverhawks’ big men in the trenches held their ground and forced the Chiefs to turn the ball over on downs.

When Moses Lake got the ball back early in the fourth quarter, quarterback Brandon Griffith took to the air. He hit Kyler Haneberg with a 40-yard pass to get into Chiawana territory. On the next play, Griffith connected with Gio Walker for a 23-yard touchdown for a 14-7 game.

Ryan Lowry gave the Riverhawks a 17-7 lead with 7:13 left in the game, booting a 33-yard field goal, but the Chiefs were not done.

Moses Lake went back to the air, where Griffith found Walker once again, this time from 12 yards out to pull within 17-14 with just under 4 minutes to go.

The Riverhawks got good field position on a not-so-good onside kick by the Chiefs, and three plays later, Jenkins sprinted 37 yards down the left sideline to the end zone for a 24-14 lead.

“The guys held their blocks and I saw the hole,” said Jenkins, who scampered for 108 yards on 12 carries. “When you are 5-foot-6, the line conceals you and that gives you an advantage. I knew the (Moses Lake) guy was right behind me. Thank goodness he didn’t catch me.”

The Chiefs made another big push down the field, landing at the Chiawana 20 yard line with just over a minute to play. Griffith tried to connect with a receiver inside the 10, but Jose Cruz came up with the interception and the Riverhawks ran out the clock from there.

Garcia finished with 141 yards on 22 carries, while Enoch Vargas threw for 113 yards. Griffith led the Chiefs with 205 yards passing.

This story was originally published September 1, 2017 at 11:58 PM with the headline "Garcia, Jenkins power Chiawana past Moses Lake in opener."