OKANOGAN — Ephrata lost a touchdown to a penalty, twice handed Okanogan the ball deep in Tiger territory and was flagged 17 times for 99 yards in a 28-20 loss at the Bulldogs' homecoming game on Friday, Oct. 9.

With their victory over the Tigers, Okanogan is now 5-1 and ranked third among Class 2B schools in the most recent VarsityWA poll.

In 2023 and 2024, the Bulldogs won consecutive 2B state titles with two-time 2B player-of-the-year Carter Kuchenbuch, now a sophomore tight end at Boise State. Fast forward to this season: Carter's younger brother, junior Colson Kuchenbuch, now operates the Okanogan offense. On Friday, Colson scored two touchdowns.

In a frustrating loss, Ephrata (2-3 CWAC, 2-4 overall) slightly gained more yards than Okanogan, 247-244, but went 0-for-4 on fourth-down attempts and turned the ball over three times.

For the Tigers, junior quarterback Cooper Vasquez completed 10 of 23 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Both scoring strikes went to senior receiver Mitch Morford, who now has six TD receptions this season. Junior Chance Lee scored his fifth rushing touchdown of the year, and also ran in a two-point conversion.

Okanogan wasn't mistake-free, either. Tiger defenders Danny Wurl, Nate Krautscheid and Owen Fitch recovered three Bulldog fumbles and junior Tucker Simmons contributed two sacks and three tackles for loss.

In the first quarter, it looked like the Tigers would claim the first touchdown of the night, a 39-yard pass from Vasquez to Lee, but a penalty took it off the board and the drive ended on downs. Okanogan's punt on the next series glanced off an Ephrata player and the Bulldogs recovered the ball near the Tiger 25, then scored with 30 seconds left in the period.

Ephrata countered when Vasquez found Morford from the Bulldog 28-yard line with 9:32 left in the second quarter, but the PAT kick sailed left and Okanogan led 7-6.

On their next possession, a 57-yard kickoff return and an Ephrata penalty put the Bulldogs at the Tiger 26, but they fumbled and Ephrata recovered at its own 5-yard line. From there, the Tigers held the ball for more than four minutes but never advanced past their own 25, with penalties pushing them back as fast as they moved forward.

The final 90 seconds of the first half were frenzied. The Bulldogs' Tatum Gunn scored with 1:25 showing on the clock for a 14-6 lead. Vasquez was then intercepted at the Ephrata 32 with 38 seconds remaining. Okanogan capitalized on the miscue, throwing for a touchdown with six seconds left to lead 21-6 at intermission.

The Bulldogs picked up their final touchdown with just under five minutes remaining in the third period when Kuchenbuch scored from the 1, making it 28-6.

Ephrata got a break of its own when a pass interference call moved the ball from its 35-yard line to the Okanogan 36. Lee went on to score with nine seconds left in the quarter, but the two-point try failed.

Down 28-12 early in the final period, the Tigers stripped the ball and recovered a fumble at their own 40-yard line. They moved down to the Okanogan 10, where Morford reeled in a TD toss from Vasquez with 8:21 remaining. On the conversion, Lee took the snap and ran in the two-point try to conclude Ephrata's scoring.

The Tigers look to rebound during Homecoming Week when they host Toppenish at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16 at Kiwanis Field. The Wildcats come to town with an identical 2-3 record in CWAC play, and are fresh off a 48-14 loss to Selah.