With the referees throwing nearly as much as the quarterbacks, the game between Vashon and Affton was going to come down to which team could get out of its own way.

Vashon cleaned up its act enough in the final quarter to claim the Class 4 regional 10-7 Wednesday at Gateway Tech.

Affton (8-3) made the halftime adjustments and began pounding the ball with Markus Golden, who ran for 74 of his 112 yards in the second half. But it was not enough to overcome the Vashon (7-4) defense.

"We got enough plays without penalties to get a drive going and get in a rhythm," Affton coach Darren Oliver said. "We had another nice drive working, but we came up short."

Affton came out with the ball to begin the third quarter, but the drive came to a screeching halt when Vashon's Kinnes Jackson snagged an interception.

After a Vashon three-and-out, the Cougars put together an eight-play drive to cut Vashon's lead to 10-7. Golden capped off the drive with a 1-yard plunge.

The first half looked like laundry day as the two teams combined for 15 penalties for 163 yards.

The most costly for the Wolverines brought back Jordan Jenkins' 55-yard punt return that would've put Vashon at Affton's 5-yard line. Affton had a string of illegal shifts and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that negated the Cougars' best drive of the first half.

Despite two turnovers, Vashon was able to overcome its miscues and took a 10-0 lead into the intermission.

Vashon quarterback Darren Fowlkes connected with Jordon Jenkins in the middle of the field. Jenkins turned to the right sideline and raced to a 7-0 first-quarter lead. DeVonte Jones made it 10-0 early in the second period with a 24-yard field goal.