Baking on a sweltering Saturday evening, the Grays Harbor Bearcats got out of the heat at the right time to cook a short-handed Snohomish County Vikings.

The Bearcats used their rushing attack to take control of this Western Washington Football Alliance non-division matchup en route to a 36-0 win in three quarters at Stewart Field.

The Vikings only had 14 players to start the game and finished with just 11 players available. The game officials, plus both teams’ coaches, agreed to play the game with a running clock due to the Vikings’ lack of players and the heat, which reached 93 degrees at kickoff. The game was called after three quarters.

“I commend (the Vikings) for coming out with just 14 players; they finished with just 11 guys available,” Grays Harbor head coach/center Don Orton said. “We got some guys back and got some very good looks in today. No one got injured and we have some guys coming back after the bye week. Hopefully, we can continue our roll here and have a shot at the playoffs. This bye week is coming up at the right time to get everyone rested and healthy.”

Taholah’s Vincent McCrory was the main focal point of Grays Harbor’s rushing attack. Running between the tackles, McCrory rolled up 159 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns. Hoquiam’s Jordan Harrington added 72 yards on three carries and one touchdown as well.

All told, the Bearcats (2-3 overall) rushed for 264 yards on 15 carries and finished with 299 yards of offense.

McCrory got his first score of the evening on his second run, a 27-yard sprint through the middle for a touchdown. On the Bearcats’ second possession, he added a 6-yard scoring blast through the middle for a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

Grays Harbor’s Kareem Johnson recovered a muffed punt snap in the end zone for a Bearcat touchdown at 22-0 early in the second quarter. Johnson had two fumble recoveries on defense, plus caught a 12-yard touchdown fade pass and a two-point conversion pass from quarterback Eric Dayton. Johnson caught Dayton’s two passes for 35 yards.

Following the Dayton-to-Johnson touchdown pass, a bad snap forced kick holder Justin Spencer to roll out and shovel pass to Harrington for a 2-point conversion to end the scoring in the third.

Defensively, Chris Cook registered two quarterback sacks for minus-28 yards and the Bearcats limited the Vikings to just six yards of rushing offense. Snohomish quarterback Terrence Allen completed 4-for-11 passes for 116 yards, two of them to Tarrell Harrison for 103 yards.

The Vikings lost fullback Tuna Nguyen to a severe ankle injury early in the contest, which limited the visitors’ offensive plans with just two reserves available. Nguyen was taken to Grays Harbor Community Hospital by ambulance.

After a Fourth of July weekend break, Grays Harbor hits the road to take on the Clark County Vipers in Vancouver on July 8 in a pivotal WWFA Division III matchup.

Snohomish 0 0 0 — 0

Grays Harbor 14 14 8 — 36

First Downs: Snohomish 3, Grays Harbor 14.

Net Rushing: Snohomish 6, Grays Harbor 264.

Net Passing: Snohomish 88, Grays Harbor 35.

Total Net Offense: Snohomish 94, Grays Harbor 299.

Passing: Snohomish 4-11, Grays Harbor 2-2.

Had Intercepted: Snohomish 0, Grays Harbor 0.

Fumbles Lost: Snohomish 2, Grays Harbor 0.

Penalty Yards: Snohomish 19, Grays Harbor 5.