MOSES LAKE — The Mavericks were a Hail Mary away from winning their second-straight Columbia Basin Big-Nine title last season, and now enter the 2023 campaign with a goal of returning to the 4A State Football Tournament.

“I feel like some of those games we didn’t finish,” senior Kyson Thomas said. “That’s what we’re doing now with the (practices), we’re finishing every (practice) off strong — stronger than we ever have.”

Moses Lake opened the season 6-1 before falling to West Valley (Yakima) and Eastmont to close out league play, then to Gonzaga Prep in the District 6/8 Crossover. The three losses were all by one score, and by a total of 10 points combined.

“There’s one, two, maybe three plays at the most in a big game, where whatever team decided to make those plays wins the game when there’s two really competitive teams,” Moses Lake head coach Brett Jay said. “It’s learning about those moments and falling back to your fundamentals; if you’ve trained hard enough and you follow your fundamental skill set, you’re going to make those 2-3 big plays.”

This year’s roster is chocked full of experience, as the Mavs only lost 13 players to graduation a year ago. Jay said the team has about 20 seniors and 30 juniors this season.

“We’ve got guys where this’ll be their third year starting, so they’ve got a lot of reps under themselves,” Jay said. “They’ve been in some big games, and so I think that makes their goals and objectives that much clearer.”

That veteran leadership not only allows the players on the field to have experience with one another, but it serves as a demonstration for younger Moses Lake players on how things are run once they take over the reins in the coming years.

“It’s good,” Middleton said. “We can show the younger group how to handle things, so when they get up to our grade it’s the same result.”

While the Mavs will bring back many of their starters and depth from 2022, there’ll be a new full-time starter under center this season; quarterback Brady Jay, whose father is the team’s head coach.

Jay started to get playing time down the stretch of the 2022 season, which he’s bringing with him into his starting role.

“I’ve got more experience this year,” Brady Jay said. “I’ll be ready to go for the varsity atmosphere.”

The Mavericks’ top three receivers are all returning for 2023, a group that features Thomas, Middleton and senior Hayden Throneberry, all of whom received all-league honors in 2022. Though the Maverick receivers have some familiarity with Jay from his game action late in the season, the off-season has been an important time for creating chemistry.

“We can’t go out there the first game and not be on the same page,” Middleton said. “He knows how I’m going to run my routes, certain things like that.”

While having experience at skill positions is always a benefit, the success of an offense typically comes down to the strength of its offensive line. Junior Brayden Kast said the unit is hoping to repeat last year’s success.

“Last year we had a stacked o-line, this year we’re going to continue to grow that,” he said.

With the excitement of putting together back-to-back winning seasons, Jay said the Mavericks have been putting in lots of time and effort into the weight room throughout the off-season to prepare for the upcoming season.

“Our numbers in the weight room were the best they’ve ever been,” Jay said. “Three years ago we had two guys power cleaning 225 pounds, coming into this fall we have 18. We have that strength, speed and physicality, plus the mental side of it. That goes back to experiences, being in those big moments.”

Moses Lake begins the 2023 season Sept. 1 at home against Ephrata. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Moses Lake Football Schedule

Sept. 1 — vs. Ephrata — 7 p.m.

Sept. 7 — @ Kamiakin — 7 p.m.

Sept. 15 — vs. Eisenhower — 7 p.m.

Sept. 22 — @ Central Valley — 7 p.m.

Sept. 29 — @ Wenatchee — 7 p.m.

Oct. 6 — vs. Davis — 7 p.m.

Oct. 13 — @ Sunnyside — 7 p.m.

Oct. 20 — vs. West Valley (Yakima) — 7 p.m.

Oct. 27 — @ Eastmont — 7 p.m.