QUILCENE — A first quarter wave of offense, defense and special teams helped Quilcene wash over shorthanded Taholah 86-28 in a Quad-District playoff game to earn its first state tournament berth since 1998.
Quilcene took advantage of the Chitwins’ misfortune early on when Taholah lost senior quarterback Keanu Curleybear, a tough running bull of an athlete, to a left knee injury on the game’s first possession.
Curleybear was hurt after he picked up 16 on fourth-and-3 to give Taholah a first-and-goal from the Rangers’ 7-yard line.
The Chitwins scored on a catch by Terrance Jones on the next play to go up 6-0, but it was all Rangers after that.
“I never expected this,” Quilcene coach Byron Wilson said of Saturday’s blowout win.
“Obviously, Taholah losing Curleybear made a huge impact on them, but our boys made some great plays today. And credit to Taholah, their kids never quit and kept playing hard all game.”
Eli Harrison was everywhere for the Rangers in the first quarter, picking off three Taholah passes, returning one 99 yards for a score.
Harrison, who pitches for the Quilcene baseball team, might deserve a shot in the outfield when he’s not on the mound after playing so well in the deep center of the Rangers’ defense.
He finished with four interceptions on the day after picking off Smith-Kramer in the third quarter.
Harrison also returned a punt 33 yards for another score and found Triston Williams on a well-slotted pass to the sideline for a 45-yard catch and run to set up another Quilcene TD.
“I think we all just kind of came out here and played our hardest,” Harrison said of the team’s effort.
“We didn’t know how we would stack up against these guys; they barely lost to Evergreen [Lutheran, a team that beat Quilcene 54-14] so we just wanted to work our hardest and we had a lot of success today.”
The return of Rangers running back Colten Pol from a high-ankle sprain was successful, with Pol putting up three first-quarter touchdowns on runs of 3, 6 and 57 yards.
Quilcene led 36-6 after the first-quarter onslaught.
Harrison switched to running back for a play early in the second quarter and took advantage, running it in from 7 yards for another score.
Even when Taholah found success, Smith-Kramer answered with a 18-yard TD scamper, the Rangers had an answer, with A.J. Prater returning the ensuing kickoff 82 yards for a 52-14 lead.
Back at quarterback, Harrison added two more rushing scores, from 4 and 52 yards out, and Prater returned another interception 70 yards as the half ended to put Quilcene up 72-20.
Harrison ended with 275 yards of total offense and five touchdowns.
Pol added a fourth rushing score after halftime on a 45-yard yard rumble down the left sideline to finish with 12 carries for 190 yards.
“It feels incredible,” Pol said of making it to the state playoffs.
“This is the biggest accomplishment we’ve ever had and I credit our freshmen and sophomores for taking a beating in practice and coming back to make us better.
“And coach Wilson for believing in us. We did it for him. He’s not just a good coach, he’s a good man and we learn so much from him and the coaches [Trey Beathard and Everette Hunter] every day.”
Quilcene will face a tough test in first-round opponent Twin Valley (a combination of Wishkah Valley and Lake Quinault) at Stewart Field in Aberdeen this Saturday at 7 p.m..
Quilcene 86, Taholah 28
Taholah 6 14 0 8— 28
Quilcene 36 36 8 6— 86
First Quarter
T—Jones 7 pass from Northup (pass failed)
Q—Pol 3 rush (Pol rush)
Q—Pol 6 rush (rush failed)
Q—Harrison 33 punt return (rush failed)
Q—Harrison 99 interception return (Pol rush)
Q—Pol 57 rush (Prater rush)
Second Quarter
Q—Harrison 7 rush (Williams pass from Harrison)
T—Smith-Kramer 18 rush (rush good)
Q—Prater 82 kickoff return (Williams rush)
T—Jones 52 rush (pass failed)
Q—Harrison 4 rush (pass failed)
Q—Harrison 52 rush (Pol rush)
Q—Prater 70 interception return (rush failed)
Third Quarter
Q—Pol 45 rush (Prater rush)
Fourth Quarter
Q—Bessey 4 rush (rush failed)
T—Anderson 29 pass from Smith-Kramer (Smith-Kramer rush)
Individual Stats
Rushing— Q: Pol 12-190, Harrison 7-70, Bessey 4-47, Williams 8-40, Prater 4-32, Gallagher 2-6.
Passing—Q: Harrison 3-4-0, 72; Pol 1-1-0, 28.
Receiving—Q: Williams 1-45, Bessey 2-37, Pol 1-18.
