Class 4A football state play-in games often do not feature teams with losing records.

But that is exactly what seventh-ranked South Kitsap will see when it faces Vancouver’s Heritage at 7 p.m. Saturday at Silverdale Stadium.

The Timberwolves (4-5) finished second in the 4A Greater Saint Helens League, but won the tiebreaker by beating Kelso 30-29 on Oct. 16.

Despite Heritage’s record, South coach D.J. Sigurdson said his team will have a challenge on defense. That’s because the Timberwolves feature Garrett Grayson at quarterback. The 6-foot-2 Grayson, who has completed 211 of 286 passes for 2,517 yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions this season, holds an offer from Colorado State University.

“He’s considered one of the best athletes down there,” Sigurdson said. “He has great arm strength and makes good decisions. He has great feet. He does everything.”

It’s Grayson’s footwork that Sigurdson said gives team’s problems. Grayson, who has rushed for 874 yards and eight touchdowns on 108 carries, is elusive and can avoid the pass rush, which Sigurdson said allows him up to four extra seconds to make a pass.

Sigurdson concedes that the Wolves (9-0) are not simply going to be to stop Grayson.

“He’s going to make plays,” he said. “We just have to rally the ball and tackle.”

When South is on offense, Sigurdson just wants the Narrows League’s highest-scoring offense at 32.6 points per game to continue what has made it successful. That means being efficient and avoiding turnovers.

The Wolves have lost the last two times they have faced GSHL team in the state play-in game. They were defeated by Skyview in 2006 and ’08 at Vancouver’s Kiggins Bowl.

But this time South won’t be traveling. The last time they “hosted” a playoff game — the Wolves cannot play at Joe Knowles Field per Washington Interscholastic Activities Association rules because they have a grass field — they defeated Kamiak 28-20 in 2007 at Purdy’s Roy Anderson Field.

Sigurdson said not making the roughly 160-mile trip is a significant advantage for his team. He said the games at the Kiggins Bowl were some of the worst his team played during those seasons.

“The kids played hard and we were proud of them,” he said. “But it caught up with us. It’s a bit of a nightmare.”