More offensive yards, fewer penalties, a longer time of possession.

Eastlake topped Jackson in just about statistical category on Saturday night, except one very costly one — the number of turnovers.

The Wolves coughed the ball up five times en route to a 38-15 state-qualifying loss at Everett Memorial Stadium. Three of those turnovers resulted in 17 points for the Timberwolves.

“We played a good football team tonight,” Eastlake head coach Gene Dales said. “We made an awful lot of turnovers, and they produced a lot points for them.”

While the end result was certainly not what Eastlake had hoped, the Wolves couldn’t have asked for a better start.

On its first possession, Eastlake marched 80 yards on five plays, capping the series off with a 44-yard touchdown pass from Kelby McCorkle to Kyle Lappano.

The Wolves forced the Timberwolves to go three-and-out on their first offensive series, getting the ball back on the Jackson 47.

“The start was good,” Dales said. “We played with emotion. We had a hard time sustaining it. Sometimes that’s just the way the cards are dealt.”

Just as quickly as Eastlake built its momentum, it was taken away. McCorkle (19-28, 211 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs) was intercepted by Taylor Mead, who returned the ball 55 yards, all the way to the Wolves’ 1-yard line. Seconds later running back Riley Carr punched in a score, knotting the game 7-7 with 7:30 left in the first quarter.

Jackson piled on from there, confusing Eastlake’s defense with a Wildcat formation. Mead scored an 8-yard TD, and Traishawn Patrick punched in a 2-yard score, using the formation that takes the quarterback out of the equation and directly snaps the ball the running back. The Timberwolves turned another interception into three points with a 21-yard field goal from Daniel Sullivan just as the half an out, pushing the halftime score to 24-7.

“That was a team win tonight,” Jackson head coach Joel Vincent said. “That was a bunch of guys playing together, playing hard with some great individual performances mixed in there.”

The best of those individual performances came from Mead, who tacked on two more scores in the second half, including a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the third quarter. In all, the 6-foot-1, 175-pound senior had two interceptions on defense and rushed seven times for 68 yards and two TDs.

“I knew I was going to get the ball, I didn’t know it was going to be that good though,” Mead said.

Eastlake got back to within two possessions at the 3:24 mark of the third quarter when McCorkle vaulted himself over a defender at the goal line, completing a 7-yard TD. A two-point conversion from backup quarterback Keegan Kemp, pulled the score to 31-15.

Eastlake forced Jackson to punt on its next series, but fell victim to another turnover, essentially ending any hope for a comeback.

The Wolves out-gained the Timberwolves 248 yards to 230. They also held standout quarterback Andy Gay to just 6 of 19 completions for 102 yards and two INTs.

“Eastlake gave us some looks we haven’t seen all year,” Vincent said. “There were times they had eight guys in the box and nobody had a hand down, so we didn’t know who was coming and who wasn’t. It was kind of an unorthodox, unconventional defense, but as the game wore on we slowly started to figure it out.”

The Wolves, who suffered a plethora of injuries throughout the season — including cycling through six offensive tackles — finished their season with a 6-4 overall record.

“It’s a bittersweet day,” Dales said. “The season’s over for us, but I’m also very proud of the effort our guys gave. They played hard. We’ve had an uphill battle all year and our kids have still competed, and played extremely hard.”

Jackson (10-0) hosts Issaquah (7-3) at 7 p.m., Saturday in the opening round of the 4A state playoffs.