One more overtime on Friday and there’s no telling if Eastlake’s Gene Dales would have had any voice left.

“This is why we keep doing what we do,” said the hoarse coach, after his Wolves defeated Issaquah 34-33 in triple overtime. “This was a nail-biter, there was about nine different opportunities to win for both teams.”

A fourth overtime almost came to fruition, but an Issaquah miscue on a point-after-touchdown brought the KingCo Crest battle to an abrupt end.

Needing an extra-point to tie, the snap to Eagles’ holder Braden Bouwman came in low. The senior scrambled, trying to make something happen, but he was swarmed by a pack of Wolves well shy of the goal line.

“I think it was just low, and I think he probably panicked a little,” Issaquah coach Chris Bennett said.

Bennett noted he considered going for a two-point conversion, but opted to play it safely.

“We felt that we could move the ball and we could score, so we figured we’d go more one more round,” he said. “Hindsight is 20-20, but I’m going to sit here all night and think why didn’t we go for two.”

The ending was certainly fitting for the wild set of overtime periods.

Both teams blocked extra points in the first overtime. Eastlake scored first on a 14-yard quarterback keeper from Keegan Kemp. Issaquah’s Taylor Wyman flew in for the block.

The Eagles answered with a 7-yard TD pass from Ethan Kalin to Evan Peterson, but had their potential game-winning extra-point stuffed by Danny Grotjahn, leaving the score 27-27.

After intercepting Kalin in the second overtime — the only turnover of the game — it appeared Eastlake won on a 25-yard run from Kemp, only to have the play called back on a hold. The Wolves followed by narrowly missing a 33-yard field goal that would have won the game.

Eastlake redeemed itself on the first possession of the third overtime, punching in a 3-yard touchdown from running back Kyle Lappano for a 34-27 lead.

Issaquah answered with a 7-yard TD pass from Kalin to Peterson before failing on the extra point attempt.

“Obviously this one is going to sting for a while, but we’ll be ready to go next week,” Bennett said.

As tough as the loss was for Issaquah, it was that much sweeter for Eastlake, which improved to 3-0 in league and 6-1 overall.

“It tells you a lot about our team,” Lappano said. “Our guys have a lot of heart.”

Lappano rushed for more than 100 yards for his sixth straight game, carrying the ball a career high 34 times for 168 yards and three TDs. Two of his touchdowns came in the first half, helping the Wolves to a 21-14 halftime lead.

Kemp also had a big night. The junior quarterback carried the ball 13 times for 88 yards and two TDs, while completing 8 of 10 passes for 83 yards. He was 4-for-4 in the overtime periods.

“Fortunately, it started opening up later when we kind of spread them out and luckily we found the open receivers,” he said.

Issaquah, which fell to 1-2 in league and 5-2 overall, also had some big performers. Kalin completed 20 of 31 passes for 230 yards and four TDs, while Peterson had 11 catches for 176 yards and three TDs.

The Eagles face Newport (1-2, 4-3) next week, hoping to sew up the third seed in the KingCo Crest.

Eastlake now shares an identical record with Plateau rival Skyline (3-0, 6-1). Both teams square off for the division title at 7 p.m., next Friday at Spartan Stadium.

“They’re a great team and we know we really have to come back and have another great week of practice,” Lappano said. “We’ve got to just keep doing what we’re doing and get after it.”