TOLEDO — The Forks Spartans couldn’t win a game a year ago.
On Friday night, they came within one half of reaching the Class 1A state football playoffs.
Forks saw a 6-0 halftime lead slip away in a defensive slugfest against SWL Trico Division champion Toledo, falling 13-6 in a 1A preliminary state playoff at soggy Ted Hippi Field.
The loss provided a bittersweet finish to the Spartans’ season; one that began with the simple goal of being competitive and ended with the team a few plays away from its first state bid in three years.
“I’m just really proud of my guys and how they battled,” first-year Forks coach Mark Feasel said. “I’ve said that since Sequim [the first week of the season] it just got better and better.
“It was right there, and we knew it coming here. It was there for the taking.”
Toledo (9-1 overall) scored on its opening drive of the second half — a plodding, 11-play march that ate up six minutes — then held Forks (3-7) scoreless the rest of the way to preserve the win.
Forks had the ball inside Toledo territory two different times for potential go-ahead scores in the final two quarters only to fall short.
And the final play of the game ended with tight end Braden Decker getting tackled at the Toledo 24.
“We could have had this game,” Forks senior Jonah Penn said. “We played with heart, that’s all I can say.
“No one thought we were going to make it this far. We proved a lot of people wrong. What else could we ask for? It was a good job.”
Forks had Toledo on the ropes for much of the night, thanks to its stifling defense.
After putting up a strong showing in a three-way playoff victory over Elma and Rainier four days earlier to reach Friday’s playoff, the unit forced five turnovers and halted six Toledo marches inside the Spartan 30-yard line.
Toledo was successful on just 6 of 13 third-down conversions and 2 of 5 fourth-down tries, both of which came on the Indians’ prolonged touchdown drive to begin the third quarter.
The Spartan offense struggled even more to move the ball consistently against Toledo’s own formidable defense, however, managing just nine first downs and 169 total yards to Toledo’s 270.
“Forks played inspired,” Toledo head coach Terry Holmes said.
“Here’s a team that got a second chance. Here’s a team that’s hungry after getting that chance, and they came in tonight and flat played hard.”
Forks’ lone scoring drive came near the end of the first half when senior quarterback Brady Castellano hooked up with wide receiver Tyler Penn on 4 of 5 pass attempts for 54 yards.
Castellano hit Tyler Penn for a 14-yard scoring pass on third-and-1 to finish off the march and give Forks a 6-0 lead with a little more than one minute left in the second quarter.
Kicker Crecencio Uzueta then hit the right upright on the subsequent extra-point attempt on a play that appeared to begin with either a Forks false start or Toledo offsides penalty that went uncalled.
“You sensed it right there [that would be big],” Feasel said. “It was going to be that kind of game. The defenses on both sides were just ripping it up.”
Indeed, the mistake proved costly once Toledo began the second half with an 11-play, 71-yard drive the ended with Danny Aguilar’s 1-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal.
Toledo converted the point-after, and Forks played from behind the rest of the night.
The Spartan passing attack struggled to find any rhythm following a halftime switch from the wing-T to a shotgun spread set.
Castellano completed just 9 of 25 passes for 131 yards and was intercepted twice on the game.
The last pick set up the Indians’ second and final touchdown after Brent McAleny jumped an out route and returned the ball to the Forks 1.
Indians quarterback Jesse Wallace punched it in from there to put Toledo ahead 13-6 with a minute left, and Forks’ last-gasp drive finished 24 yards short of the end zone on a Castellano-to-Decker pass.
“It’s a tough defeat for those seniors. They did come to play,” Feasel said. “It was just a smash-mouth, in-your-face type of defensive effort on both ends.”
Forks gained just 12 rushing yards while operating out of the wing-T in the first half, and Castellano was sacked three times for minus 34 yards.
Running back Shane WhiteEagle eventually finished with 30 yards on 10 carries and fullback Brett Pederson 32 yards on 10 totes.
Tyler Penn was Forks’ offensive leader with 71 yards on four catches and 13 yards rushing.
The Indians alternated between the wing-T and shotgun spread as well and got productive nights from backs Teran Gregson (18 carries, 99 yards) and Coy Meier (16-68).
Wallace added 12 carries for 53 yards and a touchdown.
But none of that came easy against a game Forks defense.
Decker had one sack and one tackle for a loss at linebacker. Freshman Miguel Morales recovered two fumbles and was a general nuisance in the middle.
And senior defensive back Jonah Penn had two pass deflections, an interception and a touchdown-saving shoestring tackle.
“We thought it was going to be an intense game . . . and it turned out to be,” said Tyler Penn, who had a forced fumble himself.
“I thought we played very well defensively, but we couldn’t get the ball moving.”
Forks graduates nine seniors from this year’s team.
Feasel praised each of them as being key to bringing the Spartans back to respectability following last year’s dreadful 0-9 campaign.
“The seniors really started this for us this year,” Feasel said. “Their leadership is going to be continued on.
“The effort, the toughness that they brought to the field, the never-say-die attitude . . . I told the guys, you brought that to the team this year.”
Toledo 13, Forks 6
Forks 0 6 0 0— 6
Toledo 0 0 7 6— 13
Second Quarter
F—T. Penn 14 pass from Castellano (kick failed)
Third Quarter
T—Aguilar 1 run (Boone kick)
Fourth Quarter
T—Wallace 1 run (run failed)
Individual Stats
Rushing— F: B. Pederson 10-32, WhiteEagle 10-30, T. Penn 2-13, Decker 1-0, Castellano 5-(minus 37). T: Gregson 18-99, Meier 16-68, Wallace 12-53, Aguilar 4-6.
Passing—F: Castellano 9-25-2, 131. T: Wallace 3-10-1, 44.
Receiving—F: T. Penn 7-71, Decker 2-49, J. Penn 1-11. T: Aguilar 2-39, Boone 1-5.