Border blowout: Moscow bears down on Pullman
Earns its biggest Border Battle victory in at least 20 years
In Friday’s Little Battle of the Palouse football game, the Moscow Bears showed they don’t care much about the history books.
Moscow quarterback Leon Hutton dissected the Pullman defense for 350 passing yards and five touchdowns, rushed for two more, and his Bears beat their border rivals, 47-7, at Bear Field for Moscow's largest winning margin over the Hounds in at least 20 years.
The win is the second straight in the rivalry series, after Pullman had won eight consecutive border clashes since 2011. The Greyhounds have dominated the series for most of the past two decades.
Not in this one.
“Pullman, we’ve played them since we were in third grade, so getting a win during homecoming against our rival from across the border — it just feels absolutely amazing,” Hutton said.
Hutton and his collection of talented receivers continued their theme of torching defenses this season.
The senior quarterback completed passes to seven different receivers, four of which caught touchdowns.
Hutton aired it out for scoring passes of 56, 45 and 30 yards.
Two of those touchdowns came in a 40-second span in a 27-point second quarter. Hutton first rolled out on play action and found sophomore Elijah Elliss for a 45-yard score.
After a Pullman three-and-out, Hutton launched a pass to Cody Isakson for a 56-yard touchdown. Isakson initially bobbled the catch before corralling the ball and looking back at the defender as he was tackled across the goal line.
“Our receivers make big-time plays,” Hutton said. “I just have to throw it their way (and) they’re going to go up and catch the ball, it doesn’t matter who is on them. So I put my trust in them, they put their trust in me and we go out and make plays and that’s what we do.”
The Bears led 34-0 at halftime.
But the Greyhounds came out of the locker room with some renewed energy and scored on their first drive of the second half. Big fullback Henry Preece moved the pile to the 2-yard line on a 14-yard gain that resembled a rugby scrum. The junior scored on the next play.
But that was the only touchdown Pullman would get.
Two touchdown passes and a handful of other passes were dropped by Pullman receivers and quarterback Riley Pettitt was running for his life for most of the game.
Much of the pressure came from Moscow junior defensive lineman Micah Elliss, who also grabbed one of the Bears’ two interceptions. Isakson had the other one.
“I thought we pinned our ears back and we got after the quarterback, made him uncomfortable back there,” Moscow coach Phil Helbling said. “(We) didn’t allow him to get the ball to his athletes. They have some good athletes over there.”
Isakson led Moscow’s receiver conglomerate with five catches for 95 yards and a score. Tobey Frei (6 catches, 44 yards), Dylan Decker (4, 39, 2 TDs), Elijah Elliss (3, 57, 1) and Mike Kiblen (2, 39, 1) all had big days at receiver for the Bears.
“When I can get everyone involved (and) everyone knows what they’re doing every single play, it just makes my job easy,” Hutton said. “It makes me feel good getting everyone the ball, getting three or four different receivers touchdowns today.”
Helbling has seen his share of tough losses in the series. Now, he’s seen his biggest win. Helbling is 2-8 against Pullman, with many of those losses lopsided scores in the Greyhounds’ favor over the years.
“Just happy for our kids,” the coach said. “Anytime you can beat Pullman it’s a big win. And then on homecoming makes just that much better.”
Pullman 0 0 7 0—7
Moscow 7 27 13 0—47
First Quarter
Moscow — Dylan Decker 15 pass from Leon Hutton (Cody Isakson kick), 4:48.
Second Quarter
Moscow — Hutton 1 run (kick failed), 7:42.
Moscow — Elijah Elliss 45 pass from Hutton (Isakson kick), 3:47.
Moscow — Isakson 56 pass from Hutton (Isakson kick), 3:07.
Moscow — Decker 5 pass from Hutton (Isakson kick), 0:03.
Third Quarter
Pullman — Henry Preece 2 run (Jaxon Patrick kick), 9:33.
Moscow — Hutton 1 run (Isakson kick), 5:47.
Moscow — Mike Kiblen 30 pass from Hutton (run failed), 3:01.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Pullman: Preece 5-20, Terran Page 5-11, Pettitt 4-10, Tanner Barbour 2-9. Moscow: Isaiah Murphy 8-46, Hutton 7-23, Erik Blaker 7-20, E. Elliss 1-(-1).
PASSING — Pullman: Pettitt 8-28-2—96. Moscow: Hutton 24-32-0—350, Dylan Taylor 3-5-0—27.
RECEIVING — Pullman: Barbour 3-62, Page 3-35, Champ Powaukee 2-(-1). Moscow: Isakson 5-95, Toby Frei 6-44, E. Elliss 3-57, Decker 4-39, Kiblen 2-39, Murphy 2-38, Cody Wilson 2-38, Logan Tate 2-19, Blaker 1-8.
Wiebe may be contacted at (208) 848-2260, swiebe@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @StephanSports.
