PORT TOWNSEND — Eatonville slowed down Port Townsend’s potent running attack to claim a 16-0 Nisqually League victory over the Redskins at Memorial Field.
Jacob King ran for 87 yards, but Matt Cain and Tim Russell were held to a combined 44 yards rushing Saturday.
King struggled throwing the ball against the Cruisers, completing just 2 of 14 passes for 14 yards. Skyler Coppenrath and Cain had Port Townsend’s only receptions.
Defensively, the Redskins hung with Eatonville’s offense, holding it to six points through the first three quarters.
Joe Evans hauled in a pass from Jacob McCormick in the opening quarter for what would be the game’s only score until Jeff Patterson’s 6-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Jesse Bollen added a field goal to make it 16-0.
Port Townsend (0-1, 2-1) next plays Bellevue Christian at Lake Washington High School in Kirkland on Saturday.
Lopez 68, Quilcene 30
QUILCENE — The Rangers committed seven turnovers, which were way too many to beat a team of Lopez’s caliber.
“We can compete with them, we just made too many mistakes on our end,” Quilcene coach Nic Dahl said.
“Lopez is a good team, though, I won’t take anything away from them.”
The Rangers fumbled six times and threw one interception.
The positive side of the loss is that quarterback Jacob Pleines and receiver J.J. Smith hooked up nine times for 215 yards and three touchdowns through the air.
Pleines completed 17 of 31 passes for 306 yards. He also ran 13 times for 63 yards.
Josh King caught six passes for 64 yards, and Brandon Bessey had one for 40 yards.
Colton Pol led the Rangers running attack with 61 yards on eight carries.
On defense, Pol had 11 tackles, and Smith had seven.
“We can learn from stuff like this,” Dahl said of Saturday’s loss.
“I don’t want to say that you want a game like this, but it’s kind of good to see where you stand.”
Quilcene (1-1) hosts Clallam Bay (1-2) on Saturday afternoon.
Evergreen Lutheran 68, Crescent 6
TACOMA — The big and strong Eagles took advantage of their superior size and experience to overwhelm the young and inexperienced Loggers at Franklin Pierce High School.
Evergreen Lutheran scored 30 points in each of the first two quarters.
“Evergreen is exactly who we feared they would be,” Crescent coach Darrell Yount said.
“Improved version of last season. Big and talented. An impressive QB who just kind of tore us apart. Very disciplined and talent kids.”
Crescent was without two key players: Seniors Travis Walker, who leads the team in rushing and scoring, and Dane Kjerulf, an anchor on the defensive line.
Both are expected to return to action Saturday when the Loggers finally return to their home field after two games on the road to play Rainier Christian.
“We are young and the learning curve is steep. But we continue to show signs of improvement across the positions,” Yount said.
“We will continue to improve. Now whether that translates to success this season or if it is more down the road, that remains to be seen.
“You know, young is young and we don’t grow them up overnight.
“But we like their attitudes: Keep fighting, keep trying to improve. You’ve got to love that as a coach.”
Crescent’s lone score came on an 80-yard pass play from Quenton Wolfer to Zach Fletcher in the second quarter.
Wolfer had 135 yards passing, and Fletcher caught eight passes was on the receiving end of 132 of those yards. Martin Waldrip had the Loggers’ other reception.
Fletcher led the Loggers in rushing with 40 yards.
Wolfer also recorded 13 tackles.