Gonzaga Prep stops 2-point conversion attempt, recovers onside kick to beat Moses Lake 28-26

In the end, Gonzaga Prep’s playoff battle with Moses Lake came down to a couple of feet and a Hail Mary pass that was answered in the end zone.

A pass reception on a 2-point conversion that was ruled out of bounds with just more than 1 minute left, and an onside kick that never covered the required 10 yards on the following kickoff were enough to preserve the Bullpups’ 28-26 win over Moses Lake Friday night, earning them a berth in the state State 4A tournament.

“This was a character win,” Gonzaga Prep coach Dave McKenna said. “It really was. I’m so proud of how these kids stepped up.”

Gonzaga Prep (8-2) trailed only once in the game, but the Bullpups could never rest easy in the lead. But at the same time, they stepped up when they needed a big play.

Moses Lake (6-4) punched in from the 1 midway through the second quarter to take a 10-7 lead, but JoJo Shortell threw a 30-yard pass to Sam Ohman as time expired in the half to send the Bullpups into halftime with a 14-10 lead.

“Sam and I work on that Hail Mary play every Thursday,” Shortell said. “He made a great play on the ball and made the catch.”

Gonzaga Prep took a 28-17 lead late in the third quarter and did not score again in the final 12 minutes.

Moses Lake kicked a 36-yard field goal with 2:37 left in the third quarter to cut the lead to 28-20.

But after the Mavericks drove to the G-Prep 10 only to have the drive bog down, the Bullpups’ Christian Martinez came up with huge play, bursting through the middle of the Moses Lake offensive line to stuff Iden Bone’s 26-yard field-goal attempt.

“That was all him,” McKenna said. “That’s a senior stepping up. We didn’t do anything different on that play, he just took it on himself and made a huge play.”

The play was all that much bigger in hindsight after G-Prep was flagged twice deep in its own zone and was forced to punt from its 12-yard line with 3:34 left in the game.

The penalties enraged McKenna, leaving the coach having a loud conversation with himself while in the vicinity of an official – venting his displeasure without risking a penalty.

“Oh, that was tough,” he said . “But our kids put that behind them and really showed their poise and their character.”

Moses Lake had flirted with the deep pass all game, and on fourth-and-6 with 1:44 left in the game, the Mavericks connected. Quarterback Brady Jay floated a 28-yard pass down the right sideline and Hayden Throneberry made a diving catch. He was ruled down at the 1-yard line.

Brock Clark bulled in on the next play to make it a two-point game with 1:22 to play.

After a timeout, Jay went to the left corner of the end zone, laying a perfect spiral for Kyson Thomas, but the pass into the wind carried the receiver all the way to the sideline, and he could not get a foot down in the end zone.

Shortell watched it all unfold, and with it saw his job change.

The G-Prep quarterback and his coaches were busy planning how he would drive his team 80 yards in just over a minute to win the game. Moments later, they were working out how it wanted to run out the clock.

On the Moses Lake kickoff, Bone, who showed off an outstanding leg all game long by planting kickoffs into the end zone to take away the G-Prep return game, left the onside kick attempt well short of the required 10 yards needed for the Mavericks to recover.

Shortell took a knee three times to run out the clock.

Moses Lake ran for 136 yards on 35 carries and threw for 235. Clark ran for 120 yards on 28 carries and added 147 yards on 11-of-17 passing. Jay was 9-of-18 passing in the second half for 88 yards.

“This has turned into a great little rivalry with Moses Lake,” McKenna said. “That’s a well-coached team and it’s fun to play them.”

The Bullpups have beaten Moses Lake three times in four years.

In a first-round playoff game last year, they took a 56-7 win. In 2017, the Bullpups prevailed 35-21.

Gonzaga Prep will learn who and where it plays its first-round game Sunday when the state makes its postseason draw.

“We’re going to get together while they figure that all out,” Shortell said. “We’re going to get together, maybe watch a little film and wait to find out.”