MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake’s bread and butter this season was bludgeoning defenses with running back Draven Nevarez up the middle.

Nevarez surpassed 1,000 rushing yards and led the Columbia Basin Big Nine (CBBN) with 15 touchdowns due in large part to the play of his offensive line, namely guard Auston Downs. Downs was a senior captain, first team all-league and a nominee to play in the 3A/4A All-State football game.

“It was a big deal for us as far as him being really good at moving piles, getting guys moved out of there,” head football coach Todd Griffith said. “He’s just one of those kids that he knew everything we were doing. We separated him and Warren Catey out just because I knew that he could help out the left side more.”

Wednesday, Downs capped his Moses Lake High School football career with a decision on his next step. Downs signed his National Letter of Intent to attend Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, Ore.

“Whenever I went down there the coaches were absolutely amazing,” Downs said. “Most of them actually graduated from there and they’re finishing up their master’s degree and they know how the system works and then it felt like home.”

Downs becomes the second Chief in two years to commit to the Mountaineers. Isaiah Thomas, the 2015 CBBN Offensive Most Valuable Player, committed to Eastern Oregon after his senior year at MLHS.

Eastern Oregon also plucked Peter Manville of Warden and Tyezaeh Bales-Walker of Davis in its 2016 recruiting class.

“Either way I’m still going to go in and make friends, but at least there’s some people that I can talk to and say hey in case I have troubles like, ‘Hey, can you help me?” Downs said. “They know how the system works and everything like that so it’s just nice to know a couple people that have already played there.”

The Mountaineers are an up and coming program in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), finishing second in the Frontier Conference with a school record 10 wins. More, the Mountaineers reached the Football Championship Series semifinals and were ranked fourth in the final coaches’ poll.

“They are continually getting better,” Griffith said. “They know up here in the Pacific Northwest we got guys.”