MOSCOW — Moscow sophomore offensive lineman Mason Marzolf knew it was his moment.

With the pass from Bears freshman quarterback Wyatt Cross deflected, Marzolf snagged the ball out of the air and started running.

He sprinted past stunned Clarkston defenders and made it 52 yards down the field before the Bantams brought him down and the Bears mobbed him in celebration. Moscow scored a touchdown moments later.

“I’m pretty sure the guy that blocked it might have been the guy I was meant to block, not gonna lie,” Marzolf said. “so I had to clutch up for that by helping the team get down the field. It was a really special moment. I really enjoyed that.”

Marzolf’s big play, Cross’ three touchdown passes and a pair of standout turnovers from the Moscow defense helped the Bears outlast the Bantams 23-18 on Friday at Bear Field.

Both Moscow (2-1) and Clarkston (0-1) players got dinged up throughout the game, with neither team playing at full strength.

“The kids that we had just scraped and clawed and fought, and they were tired, and they wanted to come off the field, but they knew they couldn’t,” Moscow coach Rob Bafus said. “So the perseverance and the fortitude of my kids, I’m so proud of.”

Back-to-back turnovers … twice

The Bantams’ defense capitalized on key Moscow mistakes to put the ball in the Clarkston offense’s hands.

Unfortunately for Clarkston, on both occasions, the Bear defense grabbed it right back.

After trimming the Moscow lead to one score, Clarkston corralled a loose kickoff return to gain possession. Then, Moscow senior defensive lineman Paul Dixon intercepted Clarkston quarterback Kendry Gimlin on his first play of the drive.

Later, with Moscow leading by one point, 13-12 in the third quarter, Clarkston’s Dray Torpey picked off Cross’ deep pass and stalled what was a promising Moscow drive.

Then, Clarkston put the ball on the grass on the first play from scrimmage and gave the ball right back to the Bears.

“We will learn from it, but you can’t turn the ball over in football and expect to win,” Clarkston coach Kyle Fox said.

Defense has been something that Moscow can hang its hat on ever since the Bears stopped their Week 1 opponent, Grangeville, in the red zone twice.

Bafus said the Bears have built an identity and learned a lot from that Week 1 loss.

“That’s huge for us to be able to do that and flip the script momentum-wise,” Bafus said.

The defense’s success uplifted their freshman QB, Cross, who moved to Moscow when his dad, Sheldon Cross, took an assistant coach job with the University of Idaho football team.

“I see him maturing every snap. He still makes freshman mistakes, but he knows it immediately,” Bafus said. “The locker room loves him. They look to him as a leader. He has commanded the huddle and the ceiling is so high for that kid, and we’re just getting started.”

A gritty debut

Friday marked the start of the Clarkston football season and the head coaching debut of Clarkston’s Fox.

The Bantams entered with the disadvantage of playing their first game against a team playing its third game, but Clarkston held tough.

Gimlin, Clarkston’s first-time starting QB, held his own with three touchdown passes and guys like Alex Shafer made the most of their touches. Shafer shook off several Bear tackles and scampered for a 47-yard touchdown to put the Bantams on the board in the third quarter.

“We made a ton of mistakes, but they played their hearts out,” Fox said. “And now we just have to improve.”