MOUNT VERNON — Spanaway Lake was bigger than Oak Harbor, but that meant just one thing Saturday night — they fell a lot harder.

The Wildcats, who only have six players over 200 pounds, dominated the much larger Sentinels of the South Puget Sound League South, claiming a 21-7 district playoff victory.

“Our guys were just so quick and they got after it,” OHHS coach Dave Ward said.

It didn’t take long for Oak Harbor to prove its speed could prevail against a team with eight lineman over 250 pounds, two of which were over 300.

On the game’s first drive, the Wildcats pushed the ball 64 yards on six plays before senior running back Gabe Vest capped the drive off on the seventh play. Taking a misdirection handoff from quarterback Marshall Lobbestael, Vest broke around the right end and reached over the front pylon for an 11-yard touchdown.

The score, which occurred at the 9:15 mark of the first quarter, was the last for either team in the first half.

Tough defense was part of the reason no one scored, but a pounding rain also came into play.

Both teams combined for seven turnovers in the first half — three fumbles from Oak Harbor and three fumbles and one interception from Spanaway Lake.

“It was tough,” OHHS sophomore running back Chris Valencia said. “You can’t blame anyone because it was slippery and wet out the whole time.”

The Wildcats, however, were quick to correct the turnover problems in the second half.

After stopping the Sentinels on their first drive, Oak Harbor took possession of a bad punt at the SLHS 37.

Five plays later Valencia shook free of two tacklers and made his way down the right sideline for a 14-yard TD.

“We picked it up in the second half, we held on to it,” Valencia said.

Spanaway Lake countered on its next possession orchestrating a 12-play drive that was capped off by a 20-yard TD pass from quarterback Chase Dutcher to wide receiver Chaphan Johnson at the 2:52 mark of the third quarter.

Oak Harbor’s defense was quick to recover, however, as they shut down the Sentinels the remainder of the game, forcing two punts and a turnover on downs over their final three possessions.

The Wildcats added some insurance with 2:37 to go in the game on a key fourth and 10 from the Sentinel 20-yard line.

Instead of attempting a 37-yard field goal, OHHS lined up in a normal offensive set. Lobbestael then faked a handoff to Valencia and looped a pass over the safety to a wide open Brian Wandell in the end zone.

The senior tight end said he was open on the same play earlier in the game and knew it would work this time around.

“I was open three times and they threw on the drag to Cameron (Kays), so I was like Mr. Ward, hit me on the end,” Wandell said.

With Spanaway Lake in need of two scores to tie and just over two minutes left, the Wildcats pinned their ears back and came after Dutcher on their next possession, forcing two incompletions and getting two sacks.

OHHS held a normally potent SLHS offense to just 132 yards for the entire game. Most of those yards came on the Sentinels’ one scoring drive.

Oak Harbor was led by sophomore defensive end Jake Rouser who had 10 tackles and three sacks. Junior defensive tackle Andrew Renniger added seven tackles and two sacks.

“The defensive line had their best game of the year,” OHHS defensive coordinator Jay Turner said.

Senior corner back Deante Lawson also had a key interception at the OHHS 5-yard line in the second quarter.

Oak Harbor’s offense was led by Valencia with 92 yards on 22 carries. Cameron Kays had over 100 all-purpose yards, 63 rushing and 40 receiving, while Vest added 53 yards.

Lobbestael was an efficient 5-for-8 passing for 65 yards.