All year, Gig Harbor had been nearly perfect on offense, committing just six turnovers.

But a single misstep late Friday night cost the No. 7 Tides the season in their Class 4A preliminary round playoff game against Federal Way.

Down by five points and driving for the winning score with less than three minutes left in the game, a premature snap ricocheted off senior Tanner Davis as he went in motion, and Federal Way’s JoJo Warner dove on it at the Gig Harbor 17-yard line, securing a 24-19 playoff victory for the Eagles at Roy Anderson Field in Purdy.

The win vaulted Federal Way (8-2) into the playoffs for the first time since 1976, snapping a two-game losing streak in preliminary playoff games.

“They fumbled it the play before and we didn’t get it,” Federal Way coach John Meagher said. “You fumble it twice, we’re going to get one.”

Had Gig Harbor scored, the drive would have capped a brilliant comeback by the Tides.

Down 24-13 with 7 minutes, 47 seconds left in the game, Gig Harbor’s Nico Youngren took a screen pass from Chet Thompson and rumbled 50 yards for the score, but the Tides couldn’t convert on the two-point conversion.

“We knew it was going to be a back-and-forth type of game,” Federal Way running back Andre Barrington said. “We came in knowing that we can’t break, even if they were doing well.”

Actually, the Washington State-bound Barrington almost single-handedly broke the Tides’ stout defense himself, rushing for 166 yards on 27 carries and scoring the Eagles’ lone second-half touchdown on a 1-yard plunge with 8:33 left in the game.

“Barrington is a heck of a football player,” Gig Harbor coach Darren McKay said. “There were times when we had him bottled up and he just broke tackles.”

It consistently took more than one Gig Harbor defender to bring down the play-making senior.

“(My father and I) watched the game film the night before and he said I was getting tackled by one person on every play,” Barrington said. “The whole time I was thinking, ‘I can’t get tackled by one person, I can’t get tackled by one person.’ And it helped me out tonight.”

The senior also showcased his throwing arm, tossing a 46-yard touchdown strike to quarterback Nick Tanielu to put the Eagles up 17-10 at the half after the extra point.

“He’s kind of a do-it-all kind of guy,” Meagher said of Barrington. “Bottom line is the guy’s a fantastic athlete and you want to try and put it in your best athlete’s hands and let him do what he does.”

Gig Harbor took control of the game early as the Tides scored on their first drive on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Thompson to Davis, who made a diving catch in the corner of the end zone. But trailing 10-3 with less than eight minutes left in the half, the Eagles went on an eight-play, 71-yard drive, ending it when Tanielu found a wide-open Alden Coleman down the middle from 11 yards out for the score. Tanielu finished 4-of-5 for 76 yards.

The Eagles’ defense held Thompson – who had rushed for 934 yards this season coming into the game – to just 82 rushing yards on 22 carries.

Gig Harbor finished the season 8-2.