The Westlake Rams nearly did everything thing right on Friday night in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs. But the No. 10 Patterson Lumberjacks took advantage of three first half turnovers by the Rams to come away with a 34-24 win.

“We laid it on the line,” Westlake head coach Max Caldarera said. “The kids fought and they gave everything.

“They were very fun to coach. They did a great job this year and we played these cats off their feet. They have a Division I football player in their backfield and our kids went toe-to-toe with them. With three turnovers in the first quarter and a half you cannot do that against a team like that. “

The Lumberjacks ended a two-game losing streak to the Rams in the playoffs after losing 36-7 in the 2007 semifinals and 35-7 last year in the regional round.

“It feels good to get a win against them in the playoffs,” Patterson head coach Tommy Minton said. “I told our kids all along, I felt like this was the game they had to play. It was the game we wanted to play and we wanted a little pay back.

“They are a good football team. Look at their 5-5 record and how many games they lost by seven or less points. I knew we would struggle on defense a little bit. We started four sophomores and a freshman tonight. Those guys got enough stops for us and the offense did a good enough job getting points when we needed it.”

Despite being without their top rusher in Donald James due to a broken foot last week against Iowa, the Rams out gained the Lumberjacks and top-rated running back Kenny Hilliard 434 yards to 277 yard. Senior running back Tevin Lavergne gained 186 yards on a 33 carries and a touchdown as seven different Rams had at least one rush. Justin Nordberg added 71 yards on seven carries and a touchdown.

“They did a good job,” Caldarera said. “All of them went after it.

“All of the backs touched the ball tonight and did a good job with it.”

Westlake held Patterson to under 300 yards for the third time in as many games and had 23 first downs to the Lumberjacks 11. Hilliard carried the ball just 17 times but managed to score four touchdowns after getting shutout of the end zone by the Rams in 2007 and 2008. Hilliard had 133 yards rushing and three scores and 40 yards receiving and one touchdown.

“We had great spots and we did a heck of a job tackling No. 4 at times,” Caldarera said. “We made him fumble a bunch of times.

“But being a great football player that he is, he is going to make plays. You just have to try and make plays against him.”

The Rams showed why you can’t over look their 5-5 record on the opening drive when they drove 70 yards in 10 plays. But on third and goal from the Lumberjack nine-yard line, Grant Nordberg’s pass intended for Randy Hesse was intercepted in the end zone by Tre’von Stewart.

But an uncharacteristic fumble by Hilliard that was recovered by Chase Schuck gave the Rams new life at the Lumberjacks 29. Westlake would settle for 24-yard field goal by Trey Johnson to take a 3-0 lead with 3:38 left in the first quarter.

But the tide turned after that as Patterson scored 20 unanswered points with the help of two Ram fumbles.

Hilliard entered the game with 24 rushing touchdowns but got the Lumberjacks on the board with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Nick Nolan with 34 seconds left in the first quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Donovan Borel lost the handle on the ball and the Lumberjacks recovered. A 15-yard personal foul against the Rams moved Patterson even closer and Hilliard ran it in from nine yards out on the next play.

The Rams marched down the field to the Lumberjacks’ 18-yard line but Dwayne Williams recovered a Lavergne fumble to stop the drive.

After a 68-yard tackle breaking run by Hilliard Nolan faked a handoff to Hilliard and ran it in from five yards out with 8:20 left in the first half for a 20-3 lead.

As they have done all year, the Rams did not give in and scored 14 points in the final eight minutes of the first half to cut Patterson’s lead to 20-17.

Lavergne broke free up the middle for a 37 yard touchdown run with 5:17 left in the second to make it 20-10 after Johnson’s extra point kick.

The Rams forced a four and out and got the ball back at their own 16 yard line with 3:41 left in the first half.

Three different backs carried the ball on the drive for Westlake and they got some help on a pass interference call against the Lumberjacks.

Nordberg completed just 2-of-5 passes in the first half but his second one breathed life back into the Rams. Faced with second and nine, Nordberg found Tyler Stoddard for a 38-yard touchdown pass to cut the Lumberjack lead to 20-17 with 1:43 left in the second quarter.

The two teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter with Patterson scoring on a one-yard run by Hilliard and Westlake getting a 38-yard touchdown on a reverse by Justin Nordberg.

In the end, Patterson was finally able to get some defensive stops in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

After Patterson scored on a two-yard run by Hilliard 34 seconds into the fourth quarter to take a 34-24 lead, Westlake went on a six minute, 14-play drive.

The Rams got to the 10-yard line of the Lumberjacks. Two carries by Lavergne and one by Justin Nordberg got the Rams to the one-yard line but the Lumberjacks stuffed Lavergne at the one on fourth down.

Westlake forced the Lumberjacks in to another four and out and got the ball back with 4:12 left in the game. But on second and seven from the Patterson 37 yard line, Grant Nordberg was sacked for a five-yard loss by Lorenzo Phillips and the Rams turned the ball over on downs two plays later.