It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t stellar. It wasn’t one to put into the trophy case. It was a win and Pe Ell-Willapa Valley will take that into the state 2B playoffs.

Senior Kaelin Jurek ran for 139 yards and three touchdowns for the Titans, who had to fight through a stout Wahkiakum squad for a 36-6 District IV 2B crossover victory at Stewart Field in Aberdeen on Friday night.

On Saturday, Nov. 12, PWV (8-2) will host either Mabton or Oroville in the state 2B playoffs in Centralia.

“It wasn’t pretty at all and I give props to Wahkiakum — small squad, young squad; they have some players,” PWV head coach Josh Fluke said. “They did a really good job. We didn’t have our stellar game that we wanted going into the playoffs, but a win is a win. We did miss a few blocks and I’m glad Kaelin is a strong runner; he had to gain some yards on his own.”

Wahkiakum (5-5) came in with the intent of slowing down Jurek and Tyler Justice and did a good job. The Titans still got their yards, but they were hard-fought for and gained with maximum effort. Both teams grinded the clock, pounded the turf on runs and kept the other team off-balanced with timely passing.

PWV parlayed a misfired punt for a 45-yard drive on nine plays midway through the first quarter for the opening touchdown. Jurek, Justice and Ever Gutierrez all had carries, with Jurek powering in from 4 yards out. Jurek ran in the 2-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.

Linebacker Tyson Nissell, who combined with Ryan Shepherd, Josh Prestegord, Justice, Jonah Yost and Matt Minton to spearhead the Titan defense, made it 16-0 when he took a tipped pass 30 yards for an interception touchdown. Justice ran in the 2-point conversion.

The Mules’ best drives in the first half came on passing plays, slicing through the Titans’ secondary for big gainers. However, the visitors were unable to convert any of their big drives with points.

“The defense wasn’t there tonight, like we are used to; it wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t good,” Fluke said. “We have to work on some blocking some more. We have to work on some pass coverage, especially if we are going to see who I think we’re going to see (in the state playoffs).”

After PWV was held on fourth down at the Wahkiakum 4-yard line with 2:14 remaining in the half, the Titans forced a 3-and-out and got the ball back with 1:30 left at the Mules’ 27-yard line. Two runs by Justice and a run by Jurek led to Jurek’s second touchdown run, a 2-yard plunge for a 22-0 halftime lead.

Halftime came early when Wahkiakum’s Terris Record was injured on the ensuing kickoff and the game officials called for the break with :40 seconds left.

PWV came out of halftime fired up and added to the scoreline when quarterback Matt Pearson hit Shepherd on a 61-yard wide receiver screen pass for a touchdown. Shepherd was untouched after a key block from Justice sprang him down the near sideline at 28-0 with 9 minutes left in the quarter.

Wahkiakum responded with one of the longest drives by time all season — a 21-play, 77-yard march that ate up 12 minutes, 43 seconds of the clock — to score its lone touchdown. On a quarterback keeper to the left, Lucas Brown plunged in from 2 yards out at 28-6 with 8:38 left in the contest.

On the Titans’ last substancial possession of the game, Jurek blasted through the middle of the Mules’ defense for a 69-yard touchdown sprint. He also ran in his second 2-point conversion to finish the scoring.

Wahkiakum effectively drained the remaining 6:48 of the clock on another drive before losing the ball on downs and PWV taking a knee to end the game.