Quilcene’s Bishop Budnek powers his way into the end zone for a 2-point conversion.

Leader photo by Brian Kelly

Members of the Quilcene Rangers football team and cheer squad flash fives during an after-game photo on the field following the win against Evergreen Lutheran.

Leader photo by Brian Kelly

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The rematch was a rout.

The Quilcene Rangers won their fifth-in-a-row football SeaTac League title, running away Saturday in Tacoma.

The Rangers piled up 525 rushing yards — 244 courtesy of the feet of senior Bishop Budnek — in a 69-38 shellacking of the Evergreen Lutheran Eagles.

It was a rematch of last year’s conference title game, with the Rangers again ending up on top in a big way.

Quilcene Coach Trey Beathard couldn’t have been happier.

Scratch that. Actually, he could have been.

“I’m just like a grouch,” he said after an afternoon of pleading and shouting from the sidelines.

“I just felt like it wasn’t our very best effort, to be honest with you. 

“We played pretty sloppy,” Beathard said.

“We’re going to have to play a lot better next week to win.”

Still, the outcome of the championship game never appeared to be in much doubt.

Quilcene led 11-6 after the first quarter and exploded in the second with 23 points to lead 34-18 at halftime.

The Rangers held the Eagles scoreless in the third and increased their advantage by another 12 points to enter the fourth quarter with a 46-18 edge.

There was a bit of touchdown trading in the fourth as Quilcene put another 23 points on the scoreboard and Evergreen Lutheran, 20.

Plump stats were the order of the day for the Rangers.

The Rangers rolled over the Eagles for 525 rushing yards.

Bishop Budnek busted loose for 244 yards on 19 carries, an average of 12.9 yards per run. He ran for 55 yards on his longest carry.

Fellow senior Kevin Alejo added 196 yards running on 15 carries.

Budnek and Alejo had three touchdowns each in the championship win.

Shannon Kutler had two touchdowns, while Isaiah Reimann stepped into the end zone for another.

Kutler also added 68 yards rushing to the Ranger offense, in four carries.

Dominic Smith led the team with 10 tackles; seven solo and three assisted. He also had a team-high four sacks. (James Miller added two more, and Ashton Johnston, one.)

Bishop Budnek added nine (six solo, three assisted) while James Miller finished with seven (four solo, three assisted).

Eighth-grader Jayden Love had two tackles; one solo and one assisted.

With their next game against Lummi Nation School — which handed the Rangers their only loss of the season 

With a 28-22 win on their home field — Beathard said Quilcene will need to get ready for a real test.

Beathard noted Saturday that they would either be playing Lummi or Neah Bay, both tough teams. (The Rangers learned later they would face Lummi on Saturday.)

“We’re going to have to really step up and be able to compete with either one of them,” he said.

“I just want to clean things up,” the coach said of his team’s play.

“We’re in the middle of the game and two or three plays in a row, our wideouts jump offsides. Just things that are so frustrating.

“That to me was the most frustrating thing. Trying to not be so sloppy,” Beathard said.

Despite the offensive output, there were other areas for improvement.

“Defensively, we didn’t tackle very well today. We didn’t gang tackle,” Beathard said.

Still, at the close of Saturday’s title game, the Rangers left the field with an impressive fifth consecutive title.

“I think that’s pretty cool, to be honest with you,” Beathard said. 

“We have the four seniors this year. They were SeaTac League champs for every year they played. For five years. That’s pretty cool. I’m proud of them for that,” he said.

The Rangers are scheduled to play their first post-season game against Lummi at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6 in Sequim.