POMEROY, Wash. — Naselle powered into the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association 1B football semifinals on the back of a six-touchdown performance from Jason Harman.

The 6-foot-1 senior running back found gaps or circled around the Pomeroy defense en route to a 72-42 quarterfinal win.

Naselle will play No. 1-ranked Almira-Coulee-Hartline in a semifinal game at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Moses Lake. The Comets lost a similar matchup in 2018, but defeated the Warriors in 2019 to advance to the championship game where they were beaten by Odessa.

Saturday’s game was characterized by a tense start. Pomeroy went ahead twice before Naselle established dominance. Pirates senior quarterback Trent Gwinn scored almost all of his team’s points. He ran through holes, eluded tackles and single-handedly made the result far from a sure thing until quite late in the game.

Naselle coach Kevin McNulty commended his team while noting it was their most physical encounter of the season. “It is the first time we have been behind in a long time,” he said. Naselle had won all but one of its games this season by wide margins, losing only to Lummi. “The kids hung together well.”

Throughout the game, Naselle quarterback Joey Strange provided the ball to Harman and junior Kolten Lindstrom, varying plays between ground and air. The Pirates employed the same strategy, though with less success when they went to the air.

Harman’s pace opened up a 32-20 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Strange got into the act. Twice he saw his receivers covered, so he simply tucked the ball under his arm and raced for the line.

Late in the game, Naselle senior Craig Reitz enjoyed two scores. In one, he caught a long high pass from Strange. For his second, he picked off a soaring lob from the Pomeroy quarterback and ran it back half the length of the field.