MATTAWA - Back to mid-season form, Francisco Cuevas ran for 183 yards and five touchdowns last Friday, but Wahluke lost a 45-34 South Central 1A Conference prep football contest to Kiona-Benton.

Wahluke fell in the final four minutes. Leading 34-31, the Warriors were pinned at their one-yard line by a Ki-Be punt. Unable to move, they punted. Ki-Be blocked the kick and pounced on the ball at the one to set up the go-ahead score.

"We could never recover," coach Brycen Bye said.

Cuevas had the kind of night that will long be remembered at Wahluke. His first touchdown was an 85-yard kickoff return that opened Warrior scoring.

"Francisco had another great game for us," Bye said. "He made a lot of good things happen for us."

From scrimmage, Cuevas scored on runs of 52 yards, nine yards and 14 yards twice. He also kicked two extra points for a total of 32 points. Ricardo Silverio got Wahluke's other two points on a conversion run.

Cuevas finished the game with 183 yards on 28 carries. Silverio ran for 55 on eight attempts. Quarterback Jared Sabin completed three of 12 passes for 23 yards and was intercepted twice.

Rafael Mendoza had two catches for 15 yards. Oscar Jimenez caught one pass for eight yards.

The Warriors play Burbank this Friday and conclude the season next week with a cross-over game against a SCAC West team. Two wins would give them a 5-5 regular season.

"We played hard and had opportunities to win the game. We need to rebound and come out hard our last two games," Bye said.