CASHMERE — Cashmere and Cascade whizzed through the first half of the Pear Bowl in 40 minutes Saturday night.

But that was nothing compared to how fast the Bulldogs took control after the break.

“We felt great going in (at halftime),” Kodiaks coach Elia Ala’ilima-Daley said. “We had a great defensive stand to stop them there at the end of the half.”

Casey Ruether returned the opening kick of the second half 92 yards for a touchdown, and Joe Green blocked a punt that led to another Cashmere score less than three minutes into the third quarter, and the Bulldogs went on to a 35-6 win.

“We came in (at halftime) up 7-0 and not feeling very good about it,” Cashmere coach Phil Zukowski said. “Our blocking had been really poor, but our defense was playing great.

“Then we come out and score on the kickoff, then the blocked punt and boom — it’s 21-0.”

Cashmere clinched a playoff berth with the win, ending Cascade’s playoff hopes in the process. Now the Bulldogs will meet Omak next Friday night with second place in the CTL on the line.

Zukowski said he was very pleased with the overall effort Friday, but that he wished his team had gotten out of the blocks a little faster.

“That third quarter was about as good as it gets,” he said. “I just wish we’d start a little faster.”

Both teams’ defenses had the upper hand in the first half, and only a short punt by Cascade put Cashmere in position to score the lone touchdown of the first half. Tyler McNair lobbed a 6-yard scoring pass to Michael Ruether with 4:31 left in the first quarter to cap a 10-play, 35-yard scoring drive.

Neither team had much success moving the ball for the rest of the half. The Kodiaks were held to negative yardage on each of their first two drives, and didn’t get out of the red until the third play of their first possession of the second quarter. On that play, Dan Betz hit Ethan Nash for a 25-yard completion — it was the longest play of the half — to move the Kodiaks to the Cashmere 40.

Cascade finished with 46 yards of offense in the first half, compared to 79 for the Bulldogs.

But that changed in a hurry after intermission.

After quickly jumping to a 21-0 lead — the third score came on a 5-yard run by McNair — the Bulldogs went on to score on their next two possessions and did not punt in the second half.

Kevin Kenoyer scored on a 5-yard run with 1:16 left in the third quarter to make it 28-0, and McNair ran for another 5-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.

In between those scores, Betz’s 1-yard plunge put Cascade on the board.

“I’m glad that we battled back and got that score and were able to pass the ball a little bit,” Ala’ilima-Daley said.

Betz finished with 83 yards passing, all to Ethan Nash, while Marcos Trevino also completed a pair of passes in relief.

Cashmere rushed for 285 yards in the game, led by McNair’s 23 carries for 102 yards. Kenoyer had 79 yards on 11 carries.

“It felt great to get the win on senior night,” Kenoyer said. “It was sad to play our last game on our home field, but it was good to go out with a bang.”

Chelan 55, Tonasket 20

At Tonasket, Chelan scored 28 second-quarter points to build an insurmountable lead.

“They’re fast,” Tonasket coach Jay Hawkins said. “We didn’t play well in the first half, and they are a talented team.”

Four different players scored touchdowns for the Goats, who clinched their first outright league title since the 1960s.

“We’ve been trying to figure that out,” Goats coach Darren Talley said of when Chelan last won a title. “We think the last co-championship was in 1980, and the last time we won it outright was in 1967.”

McCormick scored all three Tonasket touchdowns, two on offense and one on a 42-yard fumble recovery.

Omak 43, Okanogan 7

Omak clinched a playoff spot with a victory over rival Okanogan. The Pioneers are tied with Cashmere for second place in the CTL with a 3-1 record. Omak will take on the Bulldogs next week, with the winner clinching second place.

Omak’s Brenden Aguilar passed for 286 yards and four touchdowns.

Okanogan suited up just 18 players for the contest due to injuries and played without quarterback Ryan Price, the league’s leading passer. Bulldogs coach Denny Neely said Price suffered a rotator cuff injury last week, and his status for next week’s game is uncertain.

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