SELAH — Ephrata punched its ticket to the postseason Friday night with a hard-fought 23-16 road victory over Selah in cold, soggy conditions.

The Tigers' ground game exploded for another big night and the defense forced three turnovers while improving their record to 5-3 overall and 4-3 in the Central Washington Athletic Conference. With the win, they also claimed the league's fifth and final spot in next week's statewide play-in round.

Against the host Vikings, Ephrata got on the board first when quarterback Brady Hendrick hit Mitchell Morford for an 11-yard diving catch touchdown pass midway through the opening quarter, capping an 11-play, 74-yard opening drive. The Tigers then tacked on a Hendrick-carried two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.

Selah responded with an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by junior running back Calen Wuitschick, who added the two-point conversion to tie it at 8-8.

But Ephrata regained the lead in the second quarter when Chance Lee punched in a 1-yard score, capping a drive sustained by nearly 40 rushing yards on Hendrick keepers and a costly roughing-the-passer penalty on Selah's defense on a fourth-and-4 play. Hendrick converted another two-point conversion, giving the Tigers a 16-8 halftime advantage.

In the third period, Calvin Lybbert recovered a fumble and returned it 17 yards, setting up Jacob Reyes' 3-yard touchdown carry to push Ephrata's lead to 23-8.

Selah's last TD came came early in the fourth period on an 8-yard run by Wuitschick and Viking quarterback Dylan Kingston's carry for the two-point conversion and the final 23-16 score.

For the night, Ephrata's defense held Selah to just 106 total yards in total offense, including just 69 yards on the ground, and forced three crucial turnovers. Along with Lybbert's fumble recovery, Reyes and Braiden Baltz each picked off Viking passes deep in Ephrata territory.

In the second quarter, Reyes caught a ball deflected by Hendrick at the Tiger 1-yard line and returned it 38 yards to stop a Selah drive. And after a mid-fourth-quarter Ephrata fumble, Selah marched toward the end zone until Baltz intercepted a pass at the 10-yard line and returned it to the Tiger 47 with just over three minutes remaining to secure the win.

"I thought our defense was awesome; Selah only ran nine offensive plays in the first half, and we were able to create turnovers with (the) two interceptions ...." said Tiger coach Patrick Mitchell said. "Both of those picks occurred when Selah was driving, looking to score on our end of the field, and both of them had big returns to set our offense up with good field position."

Mitchell also credited his offensive linemen for their performance in difficult conditions.

"Our offensive line led the way to another 250-plus-yard game this season, marking six out of eight games this season with at least 200 yards rushing in a game," he said. "In wet and less-than-ideal footing conditions, they opened up big gaps in the (Selah) defense, allowing our backfield of Brady Hendrick, Carson Andrus, Chance Lee and Jacob Reyes to run wild."

Hendrick led the rushing offense with 153 yards on 22 carries while throwing for 56 yards, including the touchdown to Morford. Andrus added 53 ground yards while Lee had 39 and a touchdown. Overall, the Tigers finished with 322 total yards, including 266 rushing.

Mitchell also praised the efforts of players who don't always get recognition.

We have got a lot of kids on our team that don't always show up on the stat sheet, but they do the tough stuff on the scout team each week," he said. "These guys play on Mondays then turn around and play another team's offense and defense for us Tuesday and Wednesday, giving us the best looks they can to prepare us to win on Fridays."

The victory gives Ephrata one of five CWAC berths in the post-season Round of 32, joining East Valley (7-0), Othello (6-1), Prosser (5-2) and Selah (4-3).

To qualify, said Mitchell, "We needed to beat Selah, or have Toppenish lose to Othello to get into the top five."

Ephrata athletic director Bryan Johnson said the format marks a significant change to the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association's football playoff format.

"Week 10 is not 'WIAA State,' but rather 16 state play-in/elimination games," explained Johnson, in which the winners advance to the state playoffs while the losers are eliminated from further contention.

This system replaces the old district crossover format used before 2023, when CWAC teams typically faced Greater Spokane League opponents in Week 10, Johnson said.

A WIAA seeding committee will meet this Sunday, Nov. 1, to rank all 32 qualifying Class 2A teams based on league performances, RPI, and "strength of schedule." Those rankings determine the match-ups – No. 1 plays No. 32, No. 2 plays No. 31 – and so on. The 16 winners will then advance to the official state tournament bracket, culminating in the 2A state championship game scheduled Saturday, Dec. 6, at the University of Washington's Husky Stadium.

The Tigers will learn their Week 10 play-in opponent after Sunday's seeding announcement. Ephrata closes its regular season this Thursday at home against Grandview (1-6) at 6 p.m.

"The focus for Grandview is all about making sure we don't relax now that we are in the playoffs," Mitchell said. "A big point of emphasis this season has been our preparation each week."

In other CWAC football action this past Friday, East Valley dominated Quincy 61-0; Prosser topped Ellensburg 53-15; and Othello beat Toppenish 41-23. In a non-league contest, Tri-Cities Prep defeated Grandview 28-6.