PORT TOWNSEND — The Quilcene football team generated more than 500 yards of offense and clamped down on defense against an unbeaten Lake Quinault team, winning 58-14 to move on to the state 1B tournament next week.
The Rangers had 409 yards rushing and 93 yards passing against the Elks. Quilcene is a No. 11 seed and plays No. 6 seed DeSales next weekend. A time and place have not been determined yet.
Deakon Budnek scored on the Rangers’ first play from scrimmage on a 35-yard run.
On the following kickoff, Budnek ran down the field, made the tackle and stripped the ball loose for a fumble, giving the Rangers great field position. He followed up with a 20-yard run for a touchdown.
Budnek ran the ball six times for 140 yards and two rushing touchdowns. He also had a 49-yard pass reception for a touchdown.
James Miller also had two touchdown runs, including a 43-yarder. Miller finished with eight carries for 153 yards and a 29-yard pass reception for a touchdown.
Eli Iverson had a 46-yard run for a touchdown. He finished with 81 yards rushing on six carries.
Oliver Hopkins had a 49-yard touchdown pass and Dominik Smith had completions of 29 yards to Miller and 13 yards to Andrew Perez.
Lake Quinault came into the game with an 8-0 record as a six-man squad. The Elks were allowed to move up to eight-man football for postseason.
“Defensively, we put a lot of pressure on them,” said coach Trey Beathard. “They gave us a short field to play on and we took advantage of that.”
“[Lake Quinault] had a lot of team speed, but we were bigger, stronger and more physical,” Beathard said.
DeSales is an 8-1 team out of Walla Walla.
Muckleshoot 48, Crescent 22
AUBURN — Crescent kept its district football playoff game with Muckleshoot close until the fourth quarter when the Kings pulled away for a 48-22 win to eliminate the Loggers from the postseason.
Crescent was tied 16-16 late in the second quarter and was still down just two scores, 32-16, in the fourth quarter.
The Loggers’ Tommy Leonard scored in the first quarter and after a PAT pass from Henry Bourm to Lukas Love, Crescent was tied 8-8 at the end of the first.
After Muckleshoot scored again, the Loggers marched down the field which led to a 3-yard touchdown run by Conner Ferro-May. After a Conner Bauers PAT, the score was tied again 16-16.
The Kings scored quickly on a one-minute drive right at the end of the first half to take a 24-16 lead into the break.
Crescent coach Brian Shimko said it was a long half with endless penalties called on Muckleshoot.
“We must have had over 100 yards of penalties given to us. We had one penalty the whole half,” Shinko said. “And we still didn’t pull it out.”
The Kings scored just one touchdown in the third quarter, but then scored 16 straight points in the fourth to take a commanding lead. Ferro-May scored a 15-yard touchdown late for Crescent.
Shimko said all season this was a young team with just five seniors and was pleased the team made postseason. The Loggers finish the season 3-7. “I’m super proud of them. I’m looking forward to next year. Our numbers will be just as good next year. I’m super happy we made the playoffs.”
In other games from Friday:
Neah Bay 56, Winlock 6
Neah Bay got 254 yards rushing and three touchdowns from Jodell Wimberley in a district playoff win over Winlock.
Neah Bay (8-0) is the No. 2 seed in the state 1B tournament and is off until Nov. 18 or 19. They will play the winner of Pomeroy and Wellpinit.
Port Angeles 28, Chief Sealth 14
The Roughriders doubled up on 3A Chief Sealth as Port Angeles completed its season with three straight wins. The Riders finished the season 4-6.
Granite Falls 25, East Jefferson 6
The Rivals lost on the road 25-6 to Granite Falls to complete their season.
