About four minutes into Saturday’s first-round playoff football game at Yakima’s West Valley, Gary Duffner swept around left end for a one-yard gain to the Ram 42.

That turned out to be the closest that Bainbridge came to scoring.

They lost 26-0 to a West Valley team that came into the game with a seven-game winning streak, which included shutouts in their three final regular season games.

The Spartans lost three fumbles, had two bad snaps on attempted punts and botched two kickoff returns that resulted in drives starting on their own eight- and one-yard lines.

“The loss was a combination of our mistakes and the fact they were pretty physical,” said coach Andy Grimm. “Our offensive line couldn’t hold their blocks.”

That was evident in the final statistics as the Spartans had just 55 yards in net total offense. Running back Andy Aversano had 43 yards on 14 carries, well under his 102 yards-per-game average. Quarterback Clayton Hallum, under constant pressure, was just four of 16 for 24 yards. He was also sacked three times.

The Spartans came out firing, just missing on a 30-yard pass attempt from Hallum to Teddy Picha on the game’s opening play.

They caught a break soon afterward, when West Valley fumbled Hallum’s punt and Adam Smith recovered on the Bainbridge 46. After making a first down, the drive stalled and Bainbridge punted again. They picked up another break as the would-be receiver fell down and the ball rolled dead on the Ram 4.

West Valley’s first play was a portent of things to come as the Rams picked up 39 yards on a sweep around left end. But the defense stiffened and the Rams lined up for a punt. The snap went to the short man, who threw to a wide-open receiver for a 25-yard gain to keep the drive going. Four plays later the Rams scored on a nine-yard pass play. The PAT was good and the score was 7-0 with 4:50 remaining in the first quarter.

The ensuing kickoff bounced in front of the deep receivers and began rolling near the goal line. With West Valley bearing down, a Spartan finally picked it up but could only get out to the eight.

Hallum sandwiched two short completions around a keeper to advance the ball to the 28, but he was sacked and fumbled. West Valley recovered on the 15 and scored two plays later to make the score 14-0 with 1:32 remaining.

Following Spencer Evans’ 29-yard kickoff return, the Spartans went three and out – way out – as the snap to Hallum bounced in front of him and he was buried at the Bainbridge 27. West Valley needed just five plays to score and with 9:05 remaining in the second half they led 21-0 as the scores of Spartan fans who had made the long drive looked on in stunned disbelief.

After a first down, the Spartans punted and the defense, given a longer field with which to work, forced a three and out. But the Spartans promptly fumbled the punt, and after the defense stiffened again – Picha batted down two long passes – West Valley kicked a 41-yard field goal for a 24-0 lead with 1:46 remaining.

A Spartan made an awkward over-the-shoulder catch of the kickoff, which appeared headed for the end zone, and stumbled. His knee touched down at the one.

Hoping for yet another score, the Rams began calling timeouts after two short Aversano gains. Hallum’s long third down pass appeared catchable but the receiver couldn’t hang on. Hallum, under pressure as he stood deep in the end zone, punted to the Spartan 28.

But Evans knocked down a pass at the five and two sacks put the ball at the 35. The Rams missed a 52-yard field goal as time expired.

The second half started more positively as the defense held West Valley. But the punt sailed at least 60 yards in the air before bouncing into the end zone for a touchback.

The offense began its most successful drive of the game, as Kenny Walker went 11 yards for one first down and three plays later Hallum, flushed from the pocket, gained 19 yards to the Ram 48. But the drive quickly stalled.

West Valley had two more drives deep into Spartan territory, but the defense stiffened both times and forced unsuccessful field goal tries.

The game’s final score came early in the fourth quarter when another bad snap on a punt attempt sailed over Hallum’s head. He scooped up the ball and ran out of the end zone for a safety.

The game ended with the Spartans backed up deep in their own territory.

Though the first Bainbridge playoff appearance in six years turned out badly, Grimm remained optimistic.

“I think we’ll have another good opportunity to go to the playoffs next year,” he said, noting that more than three dozen juniors and sophomores will return. “What will be tough to replace will be the leadership we had from this year’s seniors. They’d gone from a couple of wins to .500 to the playoffs.”

On the ride home after the game, Grimm remembered talking with two of those seniors, Jeff Tracy and Smith.

“They were on the team that went two and seven when they were sophomores,” Grimm said.

“And they talked about what a change it had been. They never thought they’d be sitting on a bus coming back from a state playoff game.