By Rob Burns
For The Daily World
SOUTH BEND — Neither Pe Ell-Willapa Valley or South Bend expected to weather a wet and windy night and it played a part on Friday night.
In an expected hard-nosed battle between two Willapa Harbor and SWW-Coastal Division rivals, turnovers proved to be the difference in a 36-12 Titans victory over the Indians at Millam Field.
PWV’s Tyson Nissell ran for 168 yards and three touchdowns against South Bend, which lost four fumbles in the first half — three of them in the first five minutes of the game.
“No, in fact we didn’t talk about the weather until we were just about to come out (of the locker room); I told the guys whomever can keep control of the football and not turn it over will win the game,” PWV head coach Josh Fluke said. “The defense played well. We asked the boys to come out with intensity and they did from the first kickoff. And, props to South Bend. They have a really good team.”
“I don’t think we really were (prepared for the weather),” South Bend head coach Shane Byington said. “With four turnovers in the first half, that’s a nightmare scenario. Against a good team like PWV, you can’t do that. It rained outside, but it poured on us. This was the first time we dealt with some adversity, but I thought the kids bounced back and regrouped after halftime and played hard in the second half.”
The wet and windy weather played havoc on both team’s offenses, turning the first half into an old-fashioned running contest. South Bend had the rougher end of it in the turnovers, but only trailed 8-0 for most of the first half.
The Indians lost the opening kickoff on a fumble, then mishandled the ball twice more on their first two offensive possessions to keep them from gaining any momentum.
The Titans took advantage of the second turnover early on with an 11-play, 61-yard drive that featured Nissell running eight straight times before a 1-yard touchdown plunge at 8-0.
From there, both teams’ defenses lived up to their hype, shutting down the opposing offenses with stellar front-seven play — Nissell, Kobe Hoffman, Andrew Minton and Bradley Prestegord for PWV (2-0, 4-2) and Drew Rose, Ben Byington and Sam Green for South Bend (1-1, 5-1), in particular.
Nissell broke the defensive stalemate when he rumbled for his second touchdown of the first half, a 54-yard scoring run at 14-0 with 2:17 left in the half.
On South Bend’s ensuing possession, quarterback Rose lost control of a pitch and the ball bounced right to Minton, who ran 20 yards for the touchdown and a 22-0 halftime score.
“I have six-seven sophomores starting this year and Tyson was the featured back tonight, but we have two sophomore running backs who are really coming into their own,” Fluke added. “It is all coming together. After a couple of more games, we should be playing well at the end, if we are able to make it into the postseason.”
PWV made it 28-0 early in the second half on Max Smith’s 5-yard touchdown and further added to its advantage with Nissell’s final touchdown run from 6 yards out late in the third quarter at 36-0.
South Bend’s offense made inroads once the weather calmed down with Byington finding holes to run through and Rose throwing the football.
Rose snapped the shutout with 4:17 left in the contest when his deep pass was tipped by a PWV defenseman right into the hands of Raul Mora for a 30-yard touchdown pass play.
Byington and Rose connected on a 20-yard swing pass with 1:38 remaining to end the scoring at 36-12.
On Friday, both teams will be on the road — PWV will be at Ilwaco and South Bend will visit North Beach.
