Despite some early invasions of its own territory, Hoquiam’s defense never rested.

Coming up with four interceptions and a fumble recovery, the Grizzlies earned a home playoff date with a 28-0 win over Forks in an Evergreen 1A League football finale Friday night at Olympic Stadium.

By placing second in the Evergreen League, the Grizzlies (3-1, 5-4) will remain home next weekend to face Castle Rock in a District IV crossover game. The survivor of that contest advances to the state playoffs the following weekend.

Payton Quintanilla passed for 204 yards and one touchdown while senior classmate Sean McAllister ran for two TDs.

This victory, however, belonged largely to the defense.

Marques Rivera had a 42-yard pick-six, Jonah Doll intercepted two passes and Chewy Muro accounted for an interception, fumble recovery and several sacks. Quintanilla, Brady Cummings, Francis Sweeney and Matt Brown also performed notably on the defensive end for the Grizzlies.

This wasn’t, however, a shutdown defensive effort. With Caleb Peters, a battering 220-pound junior fullback, doing most of the damage, Forks (2-2, 6-3) moved well on the ground and entered HHS territory five times in the first 2 1/2 quarters. But the Spartans came away scoreless on each occasion.

“It was kind of a bend-but-don’t break game,” Hoquiam coach Jeremy McMillan said. “We tried to take them off schedule, out of their game plan. We knew we would catch up with them. The kids played phenomenal.”

The game’s first two possessions essentially set the tone. The Spartans advanced as far as the Grizzly 19-yard line on a 10-play drive after taking the opening kickoff, but McAllister and Muro combined to force a fumble, with the latter recovering on the Hoquiam 30.

The Grizzlies promptly launched a 13-play drive in which they converted three times on third down and once on fourth down. Quintanilla’s 30-yard scramble was the big gainer of the possession, which ended when McAllister scored on an 11-yard sweep. Naz Mazariegos added the first of four successful conversions.

Quintanilla hit four different receivers on a 77-yard drive late in the second quarter. Six-foot-5 junior Rayyon Dayton made a leaping grab of Quintanilla’s 13-yard pass in the end zone with 1:58 remaining in the first half.

McAllister took a pitch from Quintanilla on a 13-yard TD run at the 4:12 mark of the third quarter. Quintanilla’s 32-yard pass to Mazariegos and two major Spartan penalties set up the score.

Rivera applied the coup de grace by picking off a Spartan pass and taking it 42 yards to the house with 7:16 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Seven Grizzly receivers shared in Quintanilla’s aerial bounty. Mazariegos had four receptions for 63 yards.