In a game with almost as many fumbles as first downs, the South Sound Nighthawks held onto the ball just long enough to edge past the Grays Harbor Bearcats 20-13 in an semi-pro football exhibition contest at Stewart Field on Saturday.

The Nighthawks took advantage of good field position to score three times in the third quarter and come from behind to defeat the Bearcats. South Sound took over the ball inside the Bearcat 20-yard line on three occasions in the third quarter. The Nighthawks returned a punt, benefited from a high snap over the Bearcat punter and returned an interception to start drives in the red zone, and they capitalized on the first play of the drive to score on all three occasions.

With rain pouring down throughout the contest, both teams looked to keep the ball on the ground offensively in the first half. However, the game turned into a defensive struggle as both squads played strong defense up the middle to limit any movement through the running game.

The Bearcats were finally able to put together a drive and get on the scoreboard first with just more than five minutes left in the first half. After Chris Cook toted the ball down to the 1-yard line, quarterback Eric Dayton broke the plane on the next play to give the Bearcats a 6-0, which would be the halftime score.

The second half of football would as sloppy as one might expect from a rain-soaked exhibition. Both teams struggled to hold onto the wet ball, fumbling five times each and throwing seven interceptions between the two teams. The turnovers limited the movement of the football with both teams combining for just nine first downs in the second half.

With just more than nine minutes left in the third quarter, South Sound returned a punt up the right side, clear down to the Bearcats 18-yard line. On the next play, Nighthawks’ quarterback Jason Wiley was able to connect a pass to Artineze Kelly. The game stayed tied at 6-6 when Grays Harbor’s Jordan Harrington picked off the extra point try.

The next Bearcats’ possession ended with another special teams mishap. This time the ball was snapped over the head of the punter and the Nighthawks took over on the Bearcat 11-yard line. Wiley didn’t take long to put the Nighthawks back in the end zone, this time connecting on a pass to Deshar House. South Sound added the 2-point conversion to take a 14-6 lead with 6:21 left in the quarter.

The Bearcats defense continued to be the bright spot as Dan Brown recovered a fumble and Filipo Cournoyer intercepted a pass in the third quarter. Grays Harbor was able to put together a few short passes and a couple of runs to begin drive into South Sound territory, but the drive stalled and an interception late in the quarter gave the Nighthawks the ball back at the Bearcat 16.

Wiley connected with House again to cap the scoring for the Nighthawks with 1:20 left in the third quarter.

Grays Harbor finally got a break and a bit of good field position midway through the fourth when Wiley fumbled a handoff, which was picked up by the Bearcats’ Vernan McCrory. McCrory toted the ball all the way down to the Nighthawk 16-yard line and set up a Bearcat score. Skyler Wells swept off the right side on the next play and outran the South Sound defense to the end zone for the score. Daniel Hargrove chipped the extra point through to cut the lead to 20-13.

The Bearcats were able to get the ball back moments later when the kickoff was fumbled by a Nighthawk player and recovered by Grays Harbor’s Deeshawn Benjamin. However, the Bearcats’ drive stalled and they turned the ball over on downs.

With the clock winding down, Grays Harbor was able to get one last chance when Cook recovered a fumbled snap to get the ball back for the Bearcats, but the Nighthawks intercepted a pass on the next play and ran out the clock.

Grays Harbor hosts the Kitsap Storm on May 13 to start the regular season.