SAMMAMISH — The Quilcene Rangers football team got off to a poor start in the 1B state quarterfinals, going in to the halftime break actually down to Winlock 12-7.
But, wow, what a third quarter.
Bishop Budnek went wild in the third quarter and the Rangers scored 30 points over the next 12 minutes to grab complete control of the game. They went on to win 51-28, making it to the state semifinals next weekend against perennial powerhouse Odessa.
Budnek scored five touchdowns in the game, four of them coming in the third quarter. Nathan Kieffer also threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Ashton Johnson in the first half and Kevin Alejo had an interception to help set up a 54-yard Budnek TD run.
“We were a little bit sloppy in the first half. We didn’t block as well as we needed to. And Bishop didn’t read the blocking. He’s usually super-good at that,” said coach Trey Beathard.
“He corrected that in the second half,” Beathard added.
Budnek had TD runs of two, eight, 54 and 14 yards in the third quarter. He also ran in three 2-point conversions to make it 37-20 at the end of three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, Budnek had another 7-yard touchdown run and 2-point conversion for 38 total points for the game. Shannon Kutler also had a 30-yard touchdown run.
Beathard said that while Budnek had a good game, the front line and fullback Alejo made the blocks to spring him.
“Kevin Alejo was the lead blocker. He did an unbelievably good job at blocking. You not only could see it, but you could hear it on the sideline,” Beathard said. The front line of Deakon Budnek, James Miller and Johnston also helped open up big holes, Beathard said.
Budnek ended up rushing for a staggering 337 yards on 33 carries. Alejo had 70 yards rushing on nine carries, while Johnston had a 22-yard catch for his touchdown and Kutler had 29 yards rushing.
Deakon Budnek had 25 total tackles on defense — 12 solo and 13 assist. Beathard said that is the most tackles he has ever seen in a game.
Alejo had nine tackles and his interception with a long return.
Now, the 9-1 Rangers have a huge challenge ahead of them in 10-1 Odessa. The Tigers lost a game earlier this season to powerhouse Almira-Coulee-Hartline, the first game Odessa had lost in three-and-a-half years, Beathard said.
Quilcene faced Odessa in the semifinals in 2018, losing 65-6.
The game will be played at 4 p.m. Saturday at Lions Field in Moses Lake. The other semifinal at the same field earlier in the day is a matchup a couple of other familiar 1B powers, ACH versus Naselle.
