The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

The Chinook Sugarbeeters picked up their first win of the season this past Friday of the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks 18-16. The win evens the 'Beeters mark at 1-1.

It seems as though every time the 'Beeters and Hawks meet on the gridiron fans are in for a treat and Fridays contest was no exception.

The teams traded possessions through the bulk of the first quarter but the Sugarbeeter put together a nice drive late in the stanza that culminated with Chase Moxley's one yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage in the second quarter.

The 'Beeters would hold the Hawks one inch short on fourth down midway through the quarter to keep the visitors scoreless but a late touchdown and two point conversion gave Chester J-I a 8-6 advantage heading into halftime.

Chester J-I would convert a long pass play on their first possession to extend their advantage to 16-6 after another two point conversion.

From that point on the Sugarbeeters controlled the contest on both sides of the ball.

The offense was steady, grinding out yardage on the ground while the defense strengthen holding the Hawks to 17 total yards the rest of the way.

The 'Beeters began their second possession of the half at the Hawk 37 yard line.

A pair of runs from Moxley and a facemask put the 'Beeters deep in Chester territory.

Junior Trajan Hannum ran for a pair of seven yard gains to move the 'Beeters into scoring position where senior JJ Colby would find paydirt with a one yard touchdown run to make the score 16-12 in favor of the visitors.

The teams traded possessions but the Sugarbeeters were gaining momentum. Junior Ross Reed, sophomore Sam Dumas, junior James Christensen, junior Ryle Elliot and Hannum each made critical plays on defense with either a stop for a loss or a pass breakup.

The 'Beeters moved the ball to the goal line with seven minutes remaining but a turnover thwarted the possession.

Chinook kept coming forcing the Hawks into a three and out the following possession.

Christensen had several big carries down the stretch and his aggressive style led to a 15 yard facemask penalty on the visitors giving the 'Beeters the ball deep in Hawk territory.

With 2:07 on the clock Hannum dropped back, rolled right and found junior Brendan Edwards breaking to the corner of the endzone for a 12 yard scoring strike and a 18-16 lead.

The 'Beeter defense would hold strong as junior Karson Powell swatted down the Hawks fourth down pass to secure the victory.

Chinook picked up 164 yards on the ground and 17 through the air. Moxley ran for 60 yards and a score while Christensen added 46 and Hannum 42.

Chinook will host Cascade this Friday with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m.

(1-1) Chinook 18 (0-2) Chester-J-I 16

Chester-J-I 0 6 6 6 – 18

Chinook 0 8 8 0 – 16

2nd Quarter

Chinook: Chase Moxley 1 yard run (Pass Failed)

Chester-J-I: Kobe Tran 2 yard run (Tran to Diemert pass)

3rd Quarter

Chester-J-I: Kobe Tran 60 yard touchdown pass (Tran to Diemert pass)

Chinook: JJ Colby 1 yard run (Pass Failed)

4th Quarter

Chinook: Trajan Hannum 12 yard pass to Brendan Edwards (Run Failed)