QUILCENE — The Quilcene Rangers football team snapped its losing streak Saturday, getting off to a fast start in the first quarter with 30 points, going on to beat the Crescent Loggers 36-8.
Jayden Love got the scoring started on the first play of the game with an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. James Miller added an 80-yard run and a 2-yard rush for touchdowns and caught a 7-yard pass from Love for a third TD.
Love tacked on a 20-yard pass to Dominick Smith in the second quarter.
It was Quilcene’s first win of the year, though the Rangers’ first two losses were against a pair of good teams in Naselle and Mossyrock.
“It’s nice to win,” said Quilcene coach Trey Beathard. “Crescent is a young team with a lot of young kids. They’ve got some kids that are going to be good.”
Crescent’s touchdown was scored on an 8-yard pass from Conner Ferro-May to Conner Bauers. Bauers had a huge game for the Loggers, catching nine balls for 116 yards.
Miller led the Rangers with 171 yards rushing on seven carries. The Rangers ended up with 343 yards rushing as Miller, Mason Iverson, Andrew Lopez and Love all had 30 or more yards. Smith had two catches for 52 yards.
Taylor Boling led the Rangers with 12 tackles while Maxx Budneck had 11. Hunter Simmons also recovered a fumble.
For Crescent, the Loggers struggled to run the ball so threw it a lot. Henry Bourm completed 13 of 30 passes. Ferro-May also had two catches for 40 yards in addition to Bauers’ contributions. Lukas Love had three catches for 35 yards and Joshua Berson two for 29.
Beathard said he was glad to see the Rangers get off to a fast start. He said his players have been beginning games by jumping offsides too much early. He also said Quilcene is getting closer to getting its entire roster back.
Quilcene (1-2) had a bye week originally scheduled next week, but has set up a game with Entiat (0-3) in central Washington. Crescent (1-2) is at Chief Leschi next week.
North Kitsap 52, Port Angeles 0
SEATTLE — The Port Angeles Roughriders football team got a great experience playing a football in cavernous Lumen Field in Seattle.
The Riders went up against powerhouse North Kitsap, the No. 4-ranked 2A team in the state, losing 52-0. It was the second straight game Port Angeles got shut out by a top-10 team. Last week, the Riders lost to Anacortes, ranked No. 8 in the state.
“[Lumen Field] was a really good experience for us. They had a good time,” said coach Dustin Clark.
Clark said the Riders were able to move the ball on the Vikings as quarterback Parker Nickerson and receiver Blake Sohlberg had good games.
“We moved the ball pretty darn well. We just had a couple of big plays called back,” said Clark.
Clark also said Tanner Flores and Jason Hawes had good games for the Riders defensively.
Clark said what he told the team after this loss is to learn and understand from the game of what it takes to get to North Kitsap’s level.
“We were a lot better this week [than against Anacortes]. We were more physical,” Clark said.
The Riders (0-1, 1-2) have a big rivalry game Friday against Sequim (0-1, 0-3) at Civic Field.
Morton-White Pass 24, Forks 13
MORTON — The Forks Spartans got off to a great start against Morton-White Pass, but couldn’t sustain their early success in a 24-13 loss on the road Saturday.
“We give them kudos. They played tough, physical football,” said coach Trevor Highfield. “They outrushed us in that game.”
The Spartans got up 13-0 early, but the Timberwolves responded with two touchdowns at the end of the first half to take a 16-13 lead into the break.
Gunner Rogers had a 65-yard kickoff return on the opening kickoff but the Spartans couldn’t punch it in. Forks did get touchdowns from Walker Wheeler and Rogers.
Nate Dahlgren finished with 102 yards rushing on 23 carries while Sloan Tumaua had four catches for 51 yards. Highfield said Tumaua also had a great game on defense.
Highfield said the Forks’ defense did come up with two goal-line stands. The Spartans got a bad break when they forced a fumble in the red zone but Morton-White Pass recovered and went on to score.
He said one issue the team needs to address is pre-snap operations and the exchange of center to quarterback. He said a fumbled punt return also led to a Timberwolves touchdown.
“We just have to learn and get better. The saying is, ‘You never lose. You either win or you learn.’ We’re going to focus on the little things,” Highfield said.
Forks (1-2) has a home game next week, hosting Ilwaco (0-3).
Northwest Christian 39, Clallam Bay 27
CLALLAM BAY — Clallam Bay got into a shootout with visiting Northwest Christian, coming out on the short end 39-27 in a 6-man contest.
Daniel Cummings scored two touchdowns and a 2-point conversion for the Bruins. Coach George Patecek said William Hull and Dylan Simmons also had outstanding games on defense.
“They [NW Christian] played beautiful north-south football. We won the second quarter, but it wasn’t enough,” Patecek said. “It was a joy to watch the kids battle. We had the ability to win it.”
Patecek said the Mauricio Cruz-Lopez, Cummings and Hull were the leaders for the team offensively and defensively. “Those three guys stayed level-headed. They’re the backbone of the team,” he said.
Friday night game
Neah Bay 70, Lummi 6
LUMMI — Neah Bay’s big football rivalry with Lummi turned out to be another shocker for the Red Devils.
In a good way. And Neah Bay might be a new No. 1 come next week.
Neah Bay, ranked No. 2 among 1B schools, swamped the Blackhawks 70-6 on their field Friday night.
“They practise so well day in and day out,” said coach Kane Bachelor.
Bachelor said that in a similar blowout win (58-20) over Naselle last week, the Red Devils played well for a half, but “kind of faded down the stretch.” Against Lummi, Neah Bay put together a complete game.
“They’re really clicking right now,” Bachelor said.
Bachelor said quarterback Julian Carrick had four or five touchdowns on offense, and added a pair of interceptions on defense. In fact, the Red Devils had a total of five interceptions.
Bachelor also said Carrick had the play of the game near the end of the first half. He said he was simply running out the clock with Neah Bay up 30-6 and down at their own 6-yard line and called for a simple quarterback sneak.
Instead of running out the clock, Carrick scampered for 94 yards for a touchdown.
Then, as soon as Lummi got the ball back, Neil Bowechop got a quick interception and returned it to the house as the Red Devils scored 16 points in a matter of seconds.
“I was happy going into the half up 30-6. Julian and Neil turned it into 46-6,” Bachelor said.
Makyah Chambers added two more interceptions. “I was teasing him that he hasn’t gotten any interceptions this season. He put me in my place,” Bachelor said.
Bachelor said that despite the lopsided score, the Blackhawks played physical. “They actually did a good job wrapping up Jodell Wimberly,” he said. The Red Devils’ running back got a fair amount of yardage but was not able to break off any 50- or 70-yard runs like he did against Naselle.
Neah Bay (3-0) has a bye next week and next plays Crescent at Joyce at 1 p.m. Oct. 1.
In other Friday night games, Bainbridge beat Sequim 45-22 and South Whidbey beat East Jefferson 54-24.
