"It was an excellent year, I am very happy with the way that it turned out," said Head Coach Josh Fluke after the game.
For the first year combined Titans, they had already shown the Central League that they will be a team to contend with in the very near future. Taking a third place Central League finish, and extending into the post season, was already unexpected. With their final league game a 41-0 victory over Morton-White Pass, it looked like the Titans were on a roll having won their last six games. But they had to get past undefeated North Beach to continue further into the state tournament.
Deadlocked after the first quarter, the Hyaks split the uprights with a field goal to take the initial lead. Hyaks Saul Gonzales made the 28-yard field goal with less than a minute left in the first half.
Having put the first points on the board, P-WV was eager to get those back in the second half, but with the ball stripping ability of North Beach, turnovers became a problem for the Titans and they could never get a tight hold on the game to recover the points.
"They got some good drives on us in the third and fourth quarter. If we could have cut down on the turnovers, it would have been a different game," noted Fluke.
P-WV kept on the pressure both offensively and defensively pushing through the North Beach defense and breaking Kaelin Jurek loose for big gains, but just short of the end zone.
By the end of the third quarter and down 11-0 with the game still very much in reach, North Beach extended their lead, but P-WV never wavered to defeat. With just under 10 minutes in the game, P-WV took the dribble kickoff from the Hyaks and on their first possession Titan Trevor Cook found a 61-yard hole and the end zone for P-WV. In an attempt to make as many points as possible, the Hyaks foiled the PWV 2-point conversion attempt. Taking a lesson from North Beach, the Titans put the ball on the ground on their next kickoff, and was able recover the ball, taking possession again and driving down the field. Looking to get past mid-field, the Titans went for a fourth and long but got the bums rush from the Hyaks who put them back on their heels, dropping them for a loss.
The turnover resulted in another North Beach score and a 21-point lead with only four minutes left to play. Again the Titans marched on and were able to send Jurek into the end zone for a final score.
The game ended the Pe Ell-Willapa Valley Titans inaugural football season as the new kids on the block, but has launched a supportive community and a new group of friends that will possibly face each other on the basketball courts and wrestling mats as opponents during the winter as the separate schools get ready for the winter sports season.