VANCOUVER -- Todd Beamer High has been through its share of adversity this season.

Turnovers plagued them early on. The Titans corrected that.

Hard-luck losses happened, too, but Todd Beamer perservered, enough to make it to the Class 4A preliminary round of the football playoffs for the first time in its existence.

But losing one key offensive player to illness and another to a broken-collarbone injury didn't help the Titans chances much against the Associated Press' No. 10 team in the state, Skyview.

That is, unless, your quarterback is T.J. Esekielu.

Esekielu, not one to shy away from a challenge, took the Titans on his back and rushed 43 times for 216 yards and almost willed his team to an improbable victory over the Storm, the No.1-seeded team and champions of the Greater St.Helens League in Southwest Washington.

Skyview, however, prevailed 42-33 Saturday in steady rain at Kiggins Bowl, but not without a fierce fight from the Titans (4-6).

"It was definitely a fun game to be part of," said Todd Beamer coach David Sundheim. "We proved we belonged in the playoffs."

Skyview (8-2) had rolled to a 35-19 lead with 11:10 remaining in the third quarter before Todd Beamer went to work.

Esekielu engineered a 12-play, 82-yard drive culminating in fullback Lavon Anderson's 1-yard run and Esekielu's conversion run, cutting the gap to 35-27.

Todd Beamer was playing without the services of wide receivers Shawn Priggett and Dominique Maxie. Priggett was out with spinal menigitis and Maxie broke his clavicle in the second quarter.

Priggett and Maxie, who also played intregal parts of the Titans defense as defensive backs, were especially missed because of the option pitches, reverses and screens Todd Beamer employs with them to take the pressure off of Esekielu on offense.

Undeterred, Esekielu put together another drive, this one for 16 plays and 62 yards. A fourth-and-3 fake punt play kept that drive alive, with the up-back Marcus Saddler taking the snap and running it to the Skyview 32 for a first down.

Later in the series, on a fourth-and-10 Esekielu hit Saddler for a 17-yard pass down the middle for a first-and-goal at the Storm 3. Marty Liulama, a 6-foot, 280-pound fullback, busted through the middle for a touchdown, whittling the lead to 35-33 with 3:23 remaining in the game.

Esekielu, trying to score on the conversion, was stopped.

Todd Beamer tried an on-side kick and was successful, recovering the ball at the Skyview 40 with three minutes to play.

"You couldn't ask for more," Sundheim said. "It put us in position to win."

Esekielu threw two passes on the first two downs that fell incomplete and then ran for six yards on a third-down play. On fourth-and-4, Esekielu, his uniform drenched from sweat and rain, slipped on the wet surface and was stopped at the Storm 38 -- and dashed the Titans upset hopes.

"T.J. got very tired at the end," Sundheim said. "There was no one else to run the ball but him."

Esekielu played both ways in the game, also at safety, and it seemed he scrambled for another 200 yards backwards and sideways to evade Skyview's relentless defensive pressure.

Esekielu was the first player in the South Puget Sound League's 36-year history to gain 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards passing during the regular season. He rushed for 1,386 yards and 12 touchdowns and passed for 1,271 yards and 12 touchdowns more. His 3,657 yards of total offense ranked him third all-time in the SPSL.

Skyview, meanwhile, had jumped to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

The Titans responded with two scores of their own, the first set up by Maxie's 60-yard run, an 8-yard pass from Esekielu to tight end Nicky Fualaau and Esekielu's 54-yard pass to Willie Roach set up the other, a 2-yard run by Lavon Anderson, making it 14-13 after a blocked PAT.

Skyview running back Parker Henry, who had 139 yards on 19 carries, scored on a 3-yard run to give the Storm a 28-13 lead.

Todd Beamer responded. Esekielu scored on a 3-yard keeper to cut the gap to 28-19.

Reiley Henderson scored on an 8-yard TD run in the third quarter to make it 35-19.

Remarkably, Skyview's time of possession was only 4:22 in the second half.

"We stuck together and never quit," Sundheim said. "We played for each other."

Looking back on the season, Sundheim had this to say: "I'm going to miss our seniors."

Fans who would like to see video highlights of the game can go to gshlfootball.com and they can listen to the internet radio broadcast by going to sportsbeatradio.com and clicking archives.