10:17 PM: Fans rushed the field moments ago as, for the first time since 2014, Chief Sealth International High School defeated West Seattle High School and won the Huling Bowl, the annual fall faceoff between the cross-peninsula rivals. Tonight’s score at Southwest Athletic Complex in Westwood: Sealth 52, West Seattle 24.

Though the rivalry has a long history, this year both teams have new head coaches – Ted Rodriguez for the Seahawks, Marcis Fennell for the Wildcats.

ADDED EARLY SATURDAY: In the first half, the game wasn’t as lopsided as the final score looked. West Seattle was in control in the early going, running up a 17-0 lead in the first eight minutes of the game.

WSHS quarterback Anthony Coats (above) did a lot of passing, but as the game went on, was repeatedly let down. Meantime, Sealth finally got onto the scoreboard with 3 minutes left in the first quarter, on a 62-yard touchdown run by Dontae McMillan.

A two-pointer followed, and the Seahawks continued their comeback, with a Diego Jackson TD bringing them to 17-14 by the last minute of the quarter. The Wildcats answered quickly with Coats throwing for a TD to #14 Lucas Bower, and the second quarter opened with WSHS up 24-14.

Those were West Seattle’s last points for the game, as Chief Sealth was in charge most of the way from there.

Midway through the second quarter, another Jackson TD brought the score to West Seattle 24, Chief Sealth 20. And with less than a minute to go in the half, another McMillan TD gave Sealth the lead for the first time, and they went into halftime ahead 28-24.

Three minutes into the second half, McMillan did it again. And toward the end of the third quarter, the Seahawks’ Jesse Brown got a TD.

That made it 40-24. And they just kept building to the final score of Sealth 52, WSHS 24, the Seahawks’ first Huling Bowl win in three years.

As always, the big game between the two local schools was about more than football – there were the fans:

And the mascots:

Merchandise sales and a pre-game barbecue, too.

This was the only time the two teams are scheduled to meet during the regular season. Next week, Sealth (2-1) plays at Lakeside, 3:30 pm Friday, September 22nd; that night, West Seattle (0-3) is home at SW Athletic Complex, 7 pm, hosting Cleveland.