ENTIAT — The Quilcene Rangers had a heartbreaking loss in more ways than one.
They lost their game Saturday 44-38 to Entiat. That’s not as important as losing starting quarterback Jayden Love to a broken leg.
Coach Trey Beathard’s thoughts were about Love, who had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. He wasn’t able to return with the team and was brought home by assistant coach Darren Dotson, who had gone with him to the hospital.
“That’s the most emotional halftime I’ve ever been a part of. It really shook us up,” he said. “It was pretty devastating to our kids. It hurts when a kid gets hurt.”
Beathard said Love was running out of bounds late in the first half to preserve the clock. He got tackled out of bounds, then hit by a second Entiat player out of bounds when his leg got broken. He didn’t believe it was intentional.
Love is a just a freshman, but has been leading the Rangers’ offense this year. In fact, he was having a great game before he got hurt, Beathard said. He had thrown for 161 yards and two touchdown passes of 40 and 50 yards to Deakon Budnek.
Freshman Oliver Hopkins filled in for Love and threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Budnek.
“He’s going to be really good at it. He’s super smart. He just hasn’t had the chance to play quarterback enough,” Beathard said.
James Miller finished the game with 124 yards rushing on 18 carries. He also had one catch for 30 yards and ran in three point-after touchdowns. Love had 26 yards rushing on three carries. Budnek had three catches for 100 yards and three touchdowns, and Hopkins had a 30-yard catch.
Budnek led the team with 18 tackles, including 12 solo tackles. “He was the best player on the field,” Beathard said. Maxx Budnek had 11 tackles, including three sacks, while Miller had nine tackles and Taylor Boling had seven tackles, including a sack. Boling also forced a fumble.
Quilcene (1-3) next plays Friday at Concrete (0-3).
Entiat 44, Quilcene 38
Quilcene 8 24 0 6 — 38
Entiat 8 20 8 8 — 44
First Quarter
Q — Miller 50 run (Love pass to D. Budnek)
Second Quarter
Q — D. Budnek 40 pass from Love (Miller run)
Q — D. Budnek 50 pass from Love (Miller run)
Q — Miller 5 run (Miller run)
Fourth Quarter
Q — D. Budnek 10 pass from Hopkins (PAT no good)
Individual Stats
Rushing — Q: Miller 18-124, Love 3-26, Iverson 6-24, Perez 7-26.
Passing — Q: Love 5-8-161, 2 TDs; Hopkins 1-7-10, TD, INT.
Receiving — Q: D. Budnek 3-100, Hopkins 1-30, Miller 1-30, Perez 1-11.
Lake Quinault 48, Clallam Bay 6
AMANDA PARK — Clallam Bay’s youth showed in a 48-6 loss against Lake Quinault on Saturday.
“They dominated us at the line of scrimmage,” said coach George Patecek. “Their defense absolutely destroyed our offense. We really couldn’t get anything together.”
Patecek said the team does like to play at Lake Quinault because it’s a friendly and gracious host.
Patecek said Parker Prater and Daniel Cummings had outstanding games in the loss. William Hull also had a good game with a 40-yard reception.
Clallam Bay (1-2) next hosts Mary M. Knight at 7 p.m. Friday. The Bruins beat Mary M. Knight 70-7 early this season.
