QUILCENE — There were some opening-game jitters — for players and Quilcene’s first-time head coach Trey Beathard — but the Rangers refocused and pasted the Mary M. Knight Owls 52-0 in an eight-man football contest.
“I have to give myself credit, the first play that I called we went double-double and both of the slot backs went in motion and almost ran into each other,” Beathard joked of Saturday’s game.
“And then early in the first quarter, both guards pulled and ran into each other.
“But then the kids settled down and played real well.”
Robert Comstock, a 6’5 weapon at tight end, caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from Andy Johnston to open the scoring for Quilcene.
Comstock caught three passes for 83 yards on the day.
“He’s a sophomore and a pretty big one right at 6’5, and they had a hard time guarding him,” Beathard said.
“He’s not blazing fast, but a lot faster than when he was little bigger as an eighth-grader.”
Ace Elkins and Olin Reynolds each added 41-yard touchdowns in the first quarter for the Rangers.
Elkins also scored on a 37-yard pass from Juan Rogers and a 34-yard run to close out the scoring in the fourth quarter.
Elkins ran nine times for 90 yards and also caught three balls for another 47 yards. He returned a pooch kick 55 yards to the Owls 1-yard line to open the second half.
“He also was the leading tackler [defensively] with 11,” Beathard said.
“He played really well for us.”
A 1-yard run by Acea Such trigged the 40-point running clock mercy rule soon after Elkins’ return.
Jarod Smith added nine tackles, returned an interception for 20 yards and forced a fumble for Quilcene.
Hayes Beathard totaled seven tackles and Reynolds returned an interception 38 yards.
“They did a nice job of shutting them down,” Beathard said of his defense.
“They completed a few longer passes but we tackled them quickly, and they weren’t able to sustain the drives. The defense did a real good job of not allowing that big play. When you can do that it makes everything easier.”
Beathard said his two quarterbacks, Johnston and Rogers, each did well and he plans to continue the platoon system.
“A lot of the that is determined by their protection,” Beathard said of the QB play.
“We only have one senior and one junior returning on the o-line, and I know we didn’t go against the world’s greatest defensive line, but I’m impressed with how they did for such a young group.”
Beathard said two sophomores and an eighth-grader round out the first-string offensive line.
The Rangers head to Oakville Friday at 7 p.m.
Quilcene 52, Mary M. Knight
Knight 0 0 0 0 — 0
Quilcene 18 16 6 12 — 52
First Quarter
Q — Comstock 31 pass from Johnston (run failed)
Q — Ace Elkins 41 run (run failed)
Q — Olin Reynolds 41 run (run failed)
Second Quarter
Q — Ace Elkins 37 pass from Rogers (Elkins run)
Q — Rogers 7 run (Elkins run)
Third Quarter
Q — Acea Such 1 run (run failed)
Fourth Quarter
Q — Eli Mahan 6 run (run failed)
Q — Ace Elkins 34 run (run failed)
Individual Stats
Rushing—Q: Such 8-46; Ace Elkins 9-90; Reynolds 6-62; Johnston 2-37; Rogers 2-(-4); Mahan 1-6.
Passing—Q: Johnston 4-4-90, TD; Rogers 2-4-74 TD, Int.; Holdem Elkins 0-1-0.
Receiving—Q: Jarod Smith 1-22; Ace Elkins 3-47; Comstock 3-83.
Tacoma Baptist 54, Crescent 6
UNIVERSITY PLACE — The Crusaders beat up on the Loggers on Saturday.
No details were reported.
Crescent (0-1) hosts Mary M. Knight (0-1) at 1 p.m. Saturday.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com
