Moscow Builds Toward Another Playoff Push

Last year Moscow was 11 points away from the 8 man division two state championship game. They went 10-2 and sent Taylor Roop to McPherson College and Irvin Manriquez to Dodge City to play football. The guys who scrimmaged daily against last year’s team returns this year to see how they stack up against their opponents. They have 19 out for football but just two guys are seniors. Second year head coach and Southwestern Heights graduate Erik Willimon says his guys are coming along. “They’ve done a good job,” Willimon said. “In practice last year that’s who scrimmaged against the 10 seniors. It got pretty rough but it was a learning experience for them. If they can go up against those guys every day, we feel pretty confident about who we play on Fridays and how we play against them.”

The two seniors are ol/de Dalton Cross and rb/db/k Ismael Flores. Cross says the coaches help the Wildcats pay attention to the details. “They teach us it’s the little things that matter in a game and not the big things,” Cross said. “How you break the huddle, how you treat your teammates in the huddle, and how you perform on the actual play. It’s the steps you take and everything.”

Flores says he has several goals. “Our first goal is to win against Balko,” Flores said. “Then go and beat Deerfield. We haven’t beat them for five years. Our goal is to beat them and then go to the championship.”

Other key Moscow Wildcats include: junior wr/db Ray Garcia; junior lineman Hamid Martinez; junior lineman Zane May; sophomore qb/db Breck Roop; sophomore rb/lb Jonaton Manriquez; and sophomore lb/rb Ty Herman. Moscow will beat featured during the Sportsguys Thursday morning between 7:37 and 9:00 on Talkradio 1270 and kscb.net.

2009 ScheduleDate Opponent Time/Result

Sep. 4 vs Balko

Sep. 11 vs Rolla (102.7 FM)

Sep. 18 @ Ingalls

Sep. 25 @ Deerfield

Oct. 2 vs South Central

Oct. 9 vs Ashland

Oct. 16 @ Fowler

Oct. 23 vs Bucklin

Oct. 29 @ Haviland