MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Jr Mavs football teams took to Lions Field on Saturday to play in their first home game of the season.

“It was a great effort and great play across the board,” said Tyson Olson, president of the Moses Lake Jr Maverick Football program. “That’s what we told our seventh-grade team and I know it was echoed across all of our teams that we were really pleased with everybody’s efforts across the board, not just the ones that got to start, but also coming in off the bench. Everybody stepped up and played really well.”

The full day of football started with the seventh- and eighth-grade teams facing off against the Kennewick Jr Lions with the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade teams playing in the afternoon against the Ephrata Jr Tigers.

The Jr Mavs’ seventh-grade team started their game at 9 a.m. and earned a 34-8 victory over their opponent. At 11 a.m., the eighth-grade team took to the field for another hard-fought game where they won 22-6.

Starting at 1 p.m., the Jr Mavs’ fourth-grade team faced the Jr Tigers, where the Mavs earned a 42-0 victory, followed by a victory from the fifth-graders, who also won their next game 42-0. The sixth-grade team would take a 40-6 victory, making for a full team victory for the Jr Mavs program.

“It was a good day on the field for the Mavericks,” said Olson. “Both the Kennewick teams were very good teams and the Ephrata teams were good teams, played hard, but fortunatel,y the Mavericks came out on top in all the games.”

He said this was the Jr Tigers’ first game of the season, which gave the Jr Mavs a slight advantage over their opponent as they learned a lot about the team and where they need to improve in week one.

A major factor in the success of the Jr Mavs teams on Saturday was the work of the offensive and defensive linemen, Olson said.

“They have been working hard and it is apparent in our games,” he said. “Every team that we have played has commented on our linemen. They are big, strong and know what they are doing.”

Overall, the Jr Mavs had a solid team performance with each individual getting time on the field and using that time to contribute to their team’s success, said Olson. This helps the program with developing the players and helping them get the opportunities to build the players up who might not otherwise get the opportunities.

“It was really an opportunity for all of the Mavericks teams to get equal play across the board,” said Olson. “Despite having 20 kids on a team, we were able to work everybody in and get everybody the experience.”

The Jr Mavs fourth-, fifth- and seventh-grade teams will once again be playing at Lions Field Saturday. The sixth-grade team is having its game rescheduled for this week, giving them a bye, and the eighth-grade team will go on the road to Kennewick to play against the Pendleton Jr Buckaroos at 4 p.m.

Saturday’s home game schedule at Lions Field:

4th grade vs Connell Jr Eagles – 9 a.m.

5th grade vs Connell Jr Eagles – 11 a.m.

7th grade vs Chiawana Jr Riverhawks – 1 p.m.

    Jr Mavs’ seventh-grade defenders Christiano Martinez and Moe Fredley put pressure on the Jr Lions’ quarterback during Saturday’s matchup. Jr Mavs president Tyson Olson said the offensive and defensive lines had a strong performance for all Jr Mavs teams.
  

    The seventh-grade Jr Mavs defense lines up against the Jr Lions’ offense. The main goal of the Jr Mavs program is to grow and develop the players in their younger years and Jr Mavs president Tyson Olson said Saturday’s games were a perfect example of that.
  

    The Jr Mavs seventh-grade team gathers around its coaches before their game against the Jr Kennewick Lions. The fourth-, fifth-, sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade teams all earned victories on Saturday.