SHORELINE — Shorecrest football coach Mike Wollan would be the first to admit his team’s play in last week’s game against Lynnwood was less than crisp.

Despite turning the ball over four times, the Scots upended the Royals 34-24 in a Western Conference 4A South Division game Oct. 31 at Shoreline Stadium.

The victory was the Scots’ first since a non-conference, season-opening over Arlington and their first in league play.

“This team needed one bad,” Wollan said. “We don’t make it very easy.”

Shorecrest senior Shane Hoffman rushed for 129 yards and scored three touchdowns, including a 61-yard punt return.

The emphasis on the ground game was deliberate.

“We set out to run the ball tonight because we’ve been throwing it so much lately,” Wollan said. “I think we did what we wanted to do, other than holding on to the football.”

The Royals also had trouble holding on to the ball. A fumble on the opening drive led to an 11-yard touchdown run by Hoffman.

Lynnwood then responded with an eight-play, 80-yard scoring drive with quarterback Foster Hill taking it in from the Shorecrest 10. Hill then ran the ball in on the two-point conversion to give the Royals an 8-7 lead.

Shorecrest (1-7 league, 2-7 overall) regained the lead for good on a 7-yard run by quarterback Jon Glancy with 2:52 remaining in the first quarter.

Then with just under a minute left in the first quarter, Hoffman fielded a punt on the run at the Shorecrest 41 and fumbled the ball forward. The ball bounced right back into his hands and Hoffman eluded the coverage and scampered into the end zone for a 61-yard touchdown to give the Scots a 21-6 lead.

Shorecrest added a 29-yard field goal by freshman Elliot Richards in the second quarter before Hill scored on a 1-yard run to cut the deficit to 24-16 at halftime.

At the start of the third quarter, the Royals (0-8, 0-9) had a golden opportunity when Peter Doan recovered his second fumble of the night at the Lynnwood 46.

But the Lynnwood offense could not muster much yardage and was forced to punt.

Shorecrest then embarked on a 12-play, 65-yard scoring drive that consumed nearly seven minutes of the third quarter. Hoffman scored his third touchdown of the night on a 17-yard run to give the Scots a 31-16 advantage.

That drive was exactly what Wollan was looking for from his offense.

“We needed to reestablish running the ball and our kids took it personally,” he said. “Our O-line did a great job. They’ve been outsized all year. I can’t ask for anything more from them.”

After the Lynnwood defense forced another fumble later in the third quarter, the offense went to the air.

Hill passed the ball to running back Randall Eldridge, who then either eluded or broke free from five Shorecrest tacklers on his way to a 40-yard score. Eldridge’s run on the two-point conversion cut Shorecrest’s lead to 31-24 with 9:57 left in the third quarter.

Richards kicked a 30-yard field goal to boost the Shorecrest lead back to 34-24 midway through the third quarter.

An interception cut short Lynnwood’s next drive and the Royals turned the ball over on downs at the Shorecrest 10 with just seconds remaining at the end of the game.

Lynnwood had some success through the air early in the game but the Shorecrest secondary stiffened in the second half.

“Our guys did what they are supposed to do and good things happen when they do,” Wollan said.