DENAIR — It did not take long for fifth-seeded River Islands to prove it belonged in its first-ever postseason football game Friday night at No. 4 Denair High’s Jack Lytton Stadium.

Linebacker Prince Presley intercepted Coyotes quarterback Derek Potter’s pass on the opening play of the game and took it 37 yards to the house less than 20 minutes into the game en route to a 27-13 victory in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII opener.

“Man it felt so good to make a play like that for my team,” Presley said. “We were getting pressure on them all night, and I saw he got hit as he threw it and it just floated up to me. I got a few blocks, and before you know it we had made a huge play for our team.”

Some were surprised River Islands (9-2) had was the lower seed after Denair (9-2) had finished behind the Riptide in the final regular-season MaxPreps computer rankings.

“We knew coming into tonight we could play with anybody,” senior two-way standout Lucas Ruiz said. “The way we play travels, and we know we are a problem for any team we face no matter where it is.”

While Friday night’s contest was played under clear skies, rain throughout much of the day created sloppy field conditions and a wet ball for both sides. On the surface, the wet surface would seem to benefit the run heavy attack of the Coyotes over a River Islands team that looks to throw the ball often led by 3,000 yard passer Daryl Carpenter.

“People forget we ran for 7 yards a carry this year,” River Islands head coach Nick Kendall said. “Do we want to throw it around? Sure. But when the weather gets like this, I have three guys I feel comfortable handing the ball to to get us chunk yards.

Presley (nine carries, 49 yards) and Ruiz (four carries, 16 yards, touchdown) found holes most of the night behind a strong performance by the Riptide offensive line, but it was wide receiver Darien East moving inside to running back late in the first half who made the difference.

East, who had come into the playoffs with just seven carries on the season, rushed 17 times for 102 yards and a touchdown.

“The kid ran for 1,000 yards in the VOL (Valley Oak League),” Kendall said. “He’s a playmaker and a wide receiver for us, but we always knew that if we got into a game like this where we’d need to hand him the ball, we could.”

East gashed the Denair defense for two straight big runs late in the second quarter. With the Coyotes moving inside to focus on stopping the run, Carpenter went to work on a play-action pass and found Amadeo Erilim over the middle for a 49-yard touchdown pass. An East run for a two-point conversion would send the visitors into the break up, 14-6.

“We knew there weren’t going to be a ton of opportunities to throw the ball,” Carpenter said. “We leaned on our offensive line most of the game, and the few times they gave us looks we could capitalize on we did that.”

An East 4-yard plunge early in the third quarter put the Riptide up, 20-6.

Playing with the lead, the Riptide defense that had come into the postseason having allowed just 13 total points in its previous four games went to work. The front sevem led by Keoni Jacobo, Dean Rivera, and Ruiz put pressure on Potter (6 for 13, 65 yards) forcing two interceptions and coming up with a third turnover in the form of a Jacobo recovered fumble, his team leading third on the season.

“We made some really good adjustments at the half,” Ruiz said. “We missed some assignments early that helped them open up some holes but each time they got down deep we dug in and kept them out of the end zone.”

Denair would cut it to a one score game with five minutes left after Potter found Alberto Zatarain from 22 yards out to cut the River Islands lead to seven, 20-13. On the ensuing drive it was the all-area quarterback that would show off the arm that had helped get his team into the postseason.

With the Coyotes keying on East and the run game, Kendall dialed up another play-action pass and this time Carpenter found receiver Michael Figueroa down the sidelines for 43 yards to put the ‘Tide deep into Denair territory with just four minutes to go. Two plays later Ruiz would score from 10 yards out to put the game out of reach and complete the scoring, 27-13.

“That play right there is why 12 will always be my guy,” Kendall said. “I’m not even sure he wanted to throw the ball in that moment, but he trusted the play call and put the ball where only our guy could go get it.”

The victory for River Islands sets up a rematch with top seed Calaveras next week. The Red Hawks beat the Riptide 48-6 back in September on its way to a 6-0 campaign in the Mother Lode League.

“That game got away from us a bit,” Kendall said. “We were hanging tough, a couple things happen and before you know it it was out of hand. I am confident we’ll get to work this week focus on cleaning those things up and go up there and compete.”

Kickoff from Calaveras High School will take place at 6 p.m. next Friday, Nov. 20.