Marshfield lost on the field, but won at chance Friday night.

The Pirates fell to Thurston 49-27 in the Midwestern League finale to drop into a tie with Churchill and Springfield, but won the No. 2 seed for the playoffs when Greg Mulkey drew the best card in a draw with the athletic directors from Springfield and Churchill.

The Lancers will enter as the No. 3 seed, while Springfield is the odd team out for the playoffs.

Marshfield has a first-round bye and then travels to face Jefferson, the runner-up from the Portland Interscholastic League and a team that beat the Pirates 43-27 in Coos Bay in September.

Marshfield coach Kent Wigle said that, though the Pirates drawing the No. 2 seed came by chance, it was appropriate.

“We are the second-best team,” he said. “That is justification for what’s happened.”

The playoff draw is good, both because it means Marshfield avoids a potential second-round game at top-ranked West Albany and because it comes with a bye week.

“It gives us a couple weeks,” Wigle said. “We got beat up tonight. We had a couple kids get their bell rung.”

He said none of the injuries appear serious.

“We’ll be ready to go (against Jefferson),” Wigle said. “There’s no doubt about that.”

Thurston scored 35 straight points in the first half after Kyle Tedder gave Marshfield an early lead Friday, and the Pirates never could cut deep into that lead after halftime.

“We did quite a few good things in the ballgame,” Wigle said. “We just didn’t make plays when we had opportunities.”

Thurston quarterback Tym Pearson had five touchdown passes, including two to Danny Urness and two to Korey Cheshire.

Pearson passed for 332 yards and also ran for 73.

“The kids hung in there and played hard,” Wigle said. “We just got overwhelmed up front. They knocked us off the football.

“Pearson is an outstanding player. And he made some plays.”

Tedder completed 14 of 24 passes for the Pirates, and hooked up with Jordan Shepherd on a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Marshfield also had second-half scores by Kyle Brown and Ryan Scoville.

“The good thing is we played hard and the kids didn’t quit,” Wigle said. “We competed. So we can build some positives on that for (the playoffs).”

Marshfield finished the regular season 5-5, including the team’s endowment game win over North Bend, while facing a brutal schedule.

The Pirates’ opponents finished the season a combined 71-32. All of their preseason foes reached the postseason but Ashland, which plays in a league with only two bids.