QUILCENE — Quilcene senior Bishop Budnek made his season debut a memorable one, scoring four touchdowns on the ground and piling up 173 yards on 24 carries as the Rangers handled a young Neah Bay squad 41-16 in an eight-man football game Saturday.
Budnek, the reigning SeaTac League MVP, broke his wrist during the shortened winter/spring season earlier this year and underwent two surgeries to repair the break.
His return wasn’t expected for another few weeks, but Quilcene isn’t complaining.
“The doc was very up front with me, and he told me I had to be very careful with it and keep praying,” Bishop Budnek said. “And [he told me] ‘You’re looking at 12 weeks and you’re back,’ and I’m back at week nine. It’s a blessing, and I’m very thankful.”
His presence adds another level to a talented Ranger squad that has its sights set on another deep postseason run.
“You add a really good athlete to your team you are going to be a little bit better on offense and defense,” said Rangers coach Trey Beathard. “Both him and Deakon [Budnek]. Those kids are big and strong and fast and that’s a good combination, And in eight-man football, smaller-classification football, there’s just not going to be as many big, strong and fast kids.”
Beathard has made clear Quilcene wasn’t exactly suffering without the elder Budnek, going 4-1 to start the season with a number of other experienced playmakers including Kevin Alejo, Ashton Johnston, Nathan Kieffer and Deakon Budnek, a junior and a mauler up front on both sides of the football.
Saturday, Quilcene built a 20-0 halftime lead, withstanding a late Neah Bay run by Julian Carrick inside the 10-yard line in the final seconds of the half.
The Rangers scored on a 5-yard pass from backup quarterback Isaiah Reimann to Kieffer, who leaked into the end zone all alone for an easy score.
Budnek got going with two first-half scores and Alejo plunged in from 1 yard out on the opening drive of the third quarter for a 26-0 lead.
Neah Bay answered quickly, scoring on a 69-yard scamper by Neil Bowechop.
“[Bowechop] took a lot of shots for us and took care of the football, and we had two guys playing through injuries — Julian playing through a shoulder and ankle injury,” said Neah Bay coach Kane Bachelor. He said some young Red Devils played the whole game, such as Chuckie Halttunen and Seactis Woodruff.
Carrick scored on a 42-yard run early in the fourth quarter.
“We have a young team, and Quilcene does not have that issue, and we got outplayed and outworked and to a certain extent out-schemed,” Bachelor said. “That will be an important film to watch as we will probably face these guys again in the playoffs.”
Carrick’s score was sandwiched by two other Budnek TD runs, the last complete with an artful leap over the goal line.
Even with 24 carries in his return, it felt like Budnek could have added another five to 10 runs, as the Red Devils struggled to stop the Rangers’ rushing attack.
But Quilcene has its playoff aspirations to think about.
“I think it was more looking for the future, and when you get to the playoffs, you have to have the ability to be a passing team, so we wanted to work on that and look to pass a little more,” Budnek said.
“I was a little slow getting my reads going, too. That will get better with more time, and I’ll get the cast off soon, too.”
Budnek praised his younger brother and a couple of other teammates for their play.
“Deakon has really been coming through for us,” Budnek said. “And Ashton Johnston made some big plays. And James [Miller] is playing tough in his first year at nose guard.”
Quilcene (1-0, 5-1) hosts Sound View Christian on Saturday.
Neah Bay (2-2) hosts Crescent on Friday.
“We need to get off to a faster start,” Bachelor said. “We had multiple eighth-graders and freshmen playing, and that will be the lesson for our young kids: we can’t leave it on the bus.”
Quilcene 41, Neah Bay 16
NB 0 0 8 8 — 16
Quil 14 6 14 7 — 41
First Quarter
Q — Kieffer 5 pass from Reimann (Budnek run) 6:15
Q — Budnek 15 run (run failed) 3:14
Second Quarter
Q — Budnek 1 run (run failed) 1:12
Third Quarter
Q — Alejo 1 run (run failed) 8:18
NB — Bowechop 69 run (Carrick run) 7:22
Q — Budnek 1 run (Budnek run) 4:43
Fourth Quarter
NB — Carrick 42 run (Bowechop run) 10:44
Q — Budnek 7 run (Reimann kick) 3:30
Individual Statistics
Passing
Neah Bay: Bowechop 3-6-37; Wimberly 0-1-0. Quilcene: Kieffer 6-10-67; Reimann1-1-5, TD.
Receiving
Neah Bay: Carrick 1-34, Wimberly 1-3, Johnson 1-0. Quilcene: Johnston 2-24, Kutler 1-15, Alejo 2-13, D. Budnek 1-15.
Rushing
Neah Bay: Bowechop 10-115, Carrick 8-81, Wimberly 9-13, Butterfield 1-11, Team 2-2. Quilcene: B. Budnek 24-173, Alejo 11-31, Kutler 5-15, Johnston 1-1, Kieffer 2-0.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-406-0674 or mcarman@peninsula dailynews.com.
