TUMWATER — At first glance, Tumwater’s 47-6 win over Washougal in a Class 2A state first-round game on Friday is what one might expect from a No. 2 seed against a No. 15 seed.

But the final score masked how competitive this game was for quite some time.

But an end-zone interception by Tumwater in the third quarter opened the door for the Thunderbirds to pull away and advance to the 2A state quarterfinals.

“I was hoping we would show that we were better than a 15 seed,” Washougal coach Dave Hajek said. “And I thought for three quarters, we did. The last quarter, it just got away from us.”

Things nearly got away from the Panthers right from the start.

Washougal was fortunate to only be trailing 7-0 with 1:22 left in the first quarter, considering the Panthers did not have a first down i

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