SPIRIT LAKE - Timberlake scored the first three times it touched the ball, shut down Fruitland's wing-T running attack and basically had its way for most of the first half against its longtime playoff nemesis.

But instead of panicking, the visiting Grizzlies went to Plan B - the passing game - and rallied to a 42-28 victory Saturday afternoon at Van Tuinstra Stadium in a state 3A quarterfinal matchup.

Fruitland senior Jerred Seamons threw for 298 yards and five touchdowns as the Grizzlies (8-2) advanced to face Emmett next weekend.

"He threw for 300 yards?" Fruitland coach Ryan Tracy asked after Seamons' performance. "Well, they were stuffing our offense, so we had to mix it up and try some things we don't usually do.

"Once we started making some plays with our passing game, we got the momentum, and Timberlake couldn't get it back," Tracy added.

The game couldn't have started any better for the Tigers (8-2), as their long opening drive ended with senior Daniel Buck's 25-yard touchdown run.

Two play-action TD passes from Ryan Starr to Brock Herbert put the hosts ahead 20-0, and the Tigers seemed to be on their way to breaking a five-game playoff losing streak against the Grizzlies.

"We've never been up on them like that," Timberlake coach Roy Albertson said. "We had great effort and great execution in the first half, but then we kind of took our foot off the gas ... and we couldn't slow their momentum."

The Tigers held Fruitland to 10 rushing attempts for minus 6 yards in the first half, but by the second quarter, Seamons was finding receivers downfield.

The Grizzlies' QB escaped a sack attempt and tossed a deep jump-ball to Casey Rodriguez, who turned it into a 60-yard touchdown which trimmed the Timberlake lead to 28-14 at intermission.

Two TD passes from Seamons to two-way standout Kennon Smith pulled the Grizzlies even at 28 midway through the third quarter. After Mike O'Dell snared an interception, Fruitland returned to its ground game, with Garrett Tipton's short TD run putting the visitors ahead for good, 35-28, at the end of the period.

"I'm real proud of (Smith's) effort today, and Jerred's a senior who made the plays he needed to make for us to win," Tracy said.

Fruitland clamped down on defense in the second half, limiting the Tigers to 12 yards of offense after halftime. The Grizzlies also slammed Starr to the ground on a blitz in the third quarter, knocking him out of the game for two offensive series.

"We've struggled against the passing game all year, and in the second half, we didn't get any kind of pressure on their QB," Albertson said. "We have to learn, even when they came back to make it 28-28, we have to step up and make plays to take the momentum back. We weren't able to do that."

The second half also was plagued by yellow flags, as the two teams combined for five personal fouls and a combined 175 yards of accepted penalties. Timberlake was penalized seven times for 83 yards, all of it after halftime.

Starr finished with 158 yards passing and three touchdowns, while Buck ended a strong season with 54 yards rushing and the opening-drive touchdown. Stephen Baures added a fumble recovery for Timberlake.

"I'm real proud of our kids - we had a great season with eight wins, and gave a great effort today against a very good football team," Albertson said.

Fruitland 0 14 21 7 - 42

Timberlake 20 8 0 0 - 28

First quarter

TL - Daniel Buck 25 run (kick failed), 7:31

TL - Brock Herbert 45 pass from Ryan Starr (run failed), 3:42

TL - Herbert 47 pass from Starr (Ryan Somershoe pass from Starr), :07

Second quarter

F - Pat Murphy 69 pass from Jerred Seamons (Trey Nattress kick), 11:46

TL - Somershoe 37 pass from Starr (Randy Duclos run), 6:12

F - Casey Rodriguez 60 pass from Seamons (Nattress kick), 5:21

Third quarter

F - Kennon Smith 34 pass from Seamons (Nattress kick), 9:13

F - Smith 74 pass from Seamons (Nattress kick), 7:13

F - Garrett Tipton 4 run (Nattress kick), :36

Fourth quarter

F - Rodriguez 13 pass from Seamons (Nattress kick), 11:55

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Fruitland, Smith 9-37, Ben Hinatsu 10-31, Pat Murphy 4-28, Tipton 4-27, Ryan Phillips 3-18, Rocko Mackenzie 5-2, Seamons 3-(-9). Timberlake, Buck 14-54, Randy Duclos 6-36, Josh Lampert 11-14, Brock Herbert 2-3, Starr 4-0, Brandon Hausladen 2-(-2).

PASSING - Fruitland, Seamons 9-17-0-298. Timberlake, Starr 7-19-3-158, Hausladen 0-1-1-0.

RECEIVING - Fruitland, Smith 3-119, Rodriguez 3-86, Murphy 1-69, Mackenzie 1-14, Tyler Eiguren 1-10. Timberlake, Herbert 3-106, Somershoe 2-47, Buck 2-5.