JOYCE — Even in the free-flowing brand of football that is 8-man football, it’s hard to spot your opponent a 20-point lead and expect to win.
That scenario played out Saturday in Joyce as Quilcene pushed out to a 20-point advantage after one quarter then held off a Loggers comeback in the second half in a 62-40 nonleague win over Crescent.
The Loggers twice pulled within six points of the Rangers in the third quarter at 32-26 and 40-34, but Crescent couldn’t stop Quilcene’s rushing attack, which piled up 520 yards on 66 attempts (7.87 yards per carry).
“It was a tough game. We really made it hard on ourselves at the start,” Loggers coach Brian Shimko said.
The Rangers (3-0) scored on their first three drives of the game. They took the opening kick and found the end zone on a 9-yard quarterback keeper by Ben Bruner, then recovered a Logger fumble on Crescent’s first offensive play and went up 12-0 on an Olin Reynolds plunge from four yards out. After forcing a Loggers punt, Quilcene quarterback Andy Johnston found Robert Comstock in the end zone on fourth down for a 9-yard TD strike with 44 seconds left in the first period.
“I like how we came together and played well today,” Reynolds said. “It’s cool to go 5-0 against a Peninsula rival, because this game is always really intense and fun for all of us. (Class 1B schools allow players to compete as eighth-graders on varsity teams).
The Rangers’ lead grew to 32-6 midway through the second and could have grown bigger, but Crescent’s KC Spencer added to his Class 1B career interceptions record by picking off Johnston deep in Logger territory.
Spencer, Crescent’s primary quarterback, then broke free for a 48-yard sideline scramble and next found Eric Emery all alone in the middle of the end zone for a 30-yard TD pass and a 32-14 Quilcene advantage at halftime.
Crescent scored twice in the first half of the third quarter on a 52-yard pass from Spencer to Emery and another 15-yard TD strike from Spencer to Noah Leonard to make it a one-score game at 40-34.
But Quilcene answered each Loggers TD with its own big plays. Johnston, playing with a cast on his wrist since early in the season, rumbled 54 yards for one score and Holdem Elkins connected with Eli Mahan on a 16-yard TD pass as the third quarter expired for a 48-34 lead.
Crescent would come no closer, as the Rangers relied on their multi-pronged rushing attack to kill the clock and ice the game.
Bruner led Quilcene with 15 carries for 195 yards and two TDs. Reynolds did much of the dirty work inside, carrying 21 times for 169 yards and a score and Mahan, also a tough runner inside, just missed out on the 100-yard barrier, racking up 99 yards on 13 carries. He also caught two TD passes.
“The running game is working really well for everyone because of how well the line is doing, and coach Beathard, obviously.”
“Our philosophy has been to spread the carries around and it worked for us,” Rangers coach Trey Beathard said. “We had some mistakes on some handoffs that we haven’t made this season, but that’s because [Crescent] likes to blitz and that creates pressure on the guys. And we made some holding and block in the back penalties because I coach the kids to stay on their blocks as long as possible and when the runner goes past, those blocks can turn into blocking in the back. Those penalties are my fault.”
”But that’s the best team we’ve played this season and they fought hard.”
Shimko said his team wasn’t able to respond to Quilcene’s time-consuming drives with enough big plays.
“We had some explosive plays, but we kind of got stuck in long drives and the more plays the more chances for a mistake,” he said. “We had a few possessions deep [in Quilcene’s red zone] where we came out with nothing and that hurt us.”
Beathard said the win was the first game in a three-game gauntlet for the Rangers, who face Rainier Christian on the road next week and host Tacoma Baptist on Oct. 7. Both Rainier Christian and Tacoma Baptist knocked off Quilcene in SeaTac League play last season.
Shimko and the Loggers open Northwest Football League play at home against Neah Bay (0-3) next Saturday.
“A little disappointing today, but I told the kids that the real season [league play] starts next week,” Shimko said.
Quilcene 62, Crescent 40
Quilcene 20 12 16 14— 62
Crescent 0 14 20 6— 40
First Quarter
Q—Bruner 9 run (pass failed)
Q—Reynolds 4 run (run failed)
Q—Comstock 9 pass from Johnston (Johnston run good)
Second Quarter
C—Buchanan 21 pass from Emery (conversion failed)
Q—Johnston 5 run (pass failed)
Q—Reynolds 10 run (pass failed)
C—Emery 30 pass from Spencer (Buchanan pass from Spencer)
Third Quarter
C—Emery 52 pass from Spencer (run failed)
C—Leonard 15 pass from Spencer (pass failed)
Q—Bruner 54 run (Johnston run)
C—Leonard 5 run (Leonard run)
Q—Mahan 15 pass from Elkins (run good)
Fourth Quarter
Q—Comstock 16 pass from Elkins (Johnston run good)
Q—Johnston 1 run (run failed)
C—Leonard 5 run (pass failed)
Individual Stats
Rushing—Q: Bruner 15-195, Reynolds 21-169, Mahan 13-99, Johnston 9-41, Newman 2-15, Budnek 3-13, Elkins 3-(-12). C: Leonard 13-79, Spencer 6-69, 2-29, Buchanan 2-11,
Passing—Q: Elkins 3-5-39, 2 TDs; Johnston 2-9-28, TD, INT. C: Spencer 10-17-258, 3 TDs, 2 INT; Emery 2-5-40, TD.
Receiving—Q: Comstock 2-25, Mahan 2-23, Bruner 1-19. C: Emery 4-168, Buchanan 4-96, Leonard 2-23, Cox 1-11.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
