Pe Ell-Willapa Valley’s five-year streak of league dominance continued as the Titans beat Ocosta 42-7 to secure a 2B Pacific League Coastal division title in Menlo on Friday.

The Titans’ win combined with a 24-8 loss by Ilwaco to Raymond clinched the PWV’s fifth straight league title.

PWV (5-3, 4-0 Pacific 2B) experienced a bit of delayed gratification as players and coaches didn’t find out about the outcome of the Raymond-Ilwaco game until well after the conclusion of their own contest.

Titans assistant coach John Peterson said it was good to see his team achieve one of its goals despite the injuries it has endured.

“That’s the goal every year, is to get a high seed going into the crossover. We feel fortunate with the injuries that we have,” he said. “Max (Smith) is playing with a broken arm and still played a fabulous game tonight.”

Smith, who was playing with a sizable cast that made it difficult to carry the football, didn’t appear to be slowed down by the injury as he ran 11 yards for a touchdown at 3:45 in the first quarter.

It was the first of four touchdowns for Smith that gave PWV a 7-0 lead at the time, but the score was quickly tied.

Ocosta (7-1, 3-1) knotted the score 20 seconds later when Cole Hatton connected with Dakota Davis 30-yards down field on a go route. Davis took the ball another 60 yards after the catch to find the endzone.

PWV’s Tyler Adkins (3) looks for running room to the outside while Ocosta’s Christian Taylor pursues during Friday’s game in Menlo. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)

The Titans’ defense responded after that big play and forced two turnovers before the end of the half.

Smith said the defensive unit didn’t dwell on Ocosta’s big play for too long.

“We know what we’re capable of. That’s one play out of over 100 plays in the game,” he said. “Tyler Adkins responded great at corner with help from (Andrew) Minton. It was an all-around great defensive game.”

PWV’s next drive didn’t have one big play to get it downfield, but the running game continued to pick up first downs until Smith capped off the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run at 6:35 in the second quarter.

The Titans’ defense stepped up and got an interception from Landin Isaken, who picked off a pass that bounced off a receiver’s hands.

PWV took advantage and extended the lead to 21-7 when Adkins found Minton on a seam route for an 18-yard touchdown pass with 1:09 left in the half.

Ocosta’s next drive also short circuited as the Titans’ Kayden Miller recovered a fumble around midfield and returned the ball approximately 40 yards.

Titans running back Kollin Jurek finished off the short drive with a 10-yard touchdown run that gave the Titans a 28-7 lead with 12 seconds left to play before halftime.

Ocosta head coach Chris Raffelson said a wet ball didn’t help matters and said his receivers have to do a better job making plays regardless.

“The ball was wet and we dropped the ball a couple of times, but the interceptions we had were through open receivers’ hands,” he said. “We had guys open and we just have to catch the ball.”

The Titans defense continued to create problems for Ocosta in the second half. PWV had five sacks as a team and routinely flushed Hatton out of the pocket.

PWV caused two more turnovers in the second half with another pick in the endzone from Isaken and an interception from Smith, who didn’t let the cast on his right arm hamper his catching ability.

Other than Ocosta’s one big offensive play early in the game, Titans head coach Josh Fluke said he felt his team executed at a high level on defense.

“The biggest thing we wanted to do was to get pressure on Hatton because he’s got a hell of an arm on him,” he said. “(Davis) is a stud and I figured that if we could keep him inside the coup instead of getting outside, we could slow him down. We just tried to avoid giving up the big play, which we did at first.”

PWV’s next matchup against Ilwaco carries a little less weight since the league title has already been decided, but the Titans will still be looking to finish the regular season strong.

The Titans and the Ilwaco Fishermen square off in Ilwaco on Friday at 7 p.m.

Ocosta will be looking to hold on to the second seed in league when it faces Chief Leschi at home on Friday at 7 p.m.

Raffelson said the last game of the regular season is critical and hopes his players can learn from their first loss of the season.

“It’s a must-win game,” he said. “Right now, we’re 7-1 and that’s something to be proud of. We’ve done well and tonight is a good learning experience for them.”