Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Odessa's Daeton Deife receives a pass in Saturday's game against the Quilcene Rangers.
Odessa's Anthony Elder runs the ball down the field Nov. 27 in Moses Lake.
Odessa Tiger Zane McMillan
MOSES LAKE –The Odessa Tigers run at a state 1B football title ended Saturday, upended by the Quilcene Rangers.
The Rangers won the state semifinal game, 36-12, to advance to the title game against Almira/Coulee-Hartline, which won the other semifinal, 68-32. Both games took place at Lions Field.
Odessa came out strong, with a straight-ahead ground game.
The Tigers scored first with 8:43 left in the first quarter. The 2-point conversion attempt failed, and Odessa led, 6-0.
Quilcene responded in kind, running straight ahead and scoring with 3:44 left in the first quarter. The 2-point conversion attempt failed, too.
The game headed into the second stanza tied at 6, with backup quarterback Zane McMillan leading the Tigers offense.
Unofficial reports were that starter Collin Martin was out with a possible broken collarbone. Odessa also lost stand-out running back/defensive end Anthony Elder, who was evaluated for a possible hamstring injury.
Elder later returned to the defensive lineup.
During the second quarter, with 8:54 left in the half and Quilcene driving, the game was halted for a lengthy pause after one of the referees got sick on the turf, prompting the cleanup crew to take to the gridiron.
The game subsequently resumed and Quilcene added a touchdown with 3:14 left in the half. The conversion again failed.
The Rangers would score one more time in the half, on a sweep left, with 45 seconds left. This time, the 2-point conversion was good.
Quilcene took a 20-6 lead into the break.
The Rangers would really break open the game on the first play of the second half, scoring on the opening on-side kick.
With the 2-point conversion good, Quilcene took a 28-6 lead.
But Odessa wasn't going out without a fight.
With 7:50 left in the third quarter, McMillan scored on a quarterback keeper.
The 2-point conversion failed and the quarter ended with Quilcene 28, Odessa 12.
Quilcene added one more score with 8:09 left in the game. With the conversion, the Rangers had a 36-12 lead, which would be the final score of the game.
The time of possession summed up the game, with Quilcene's offense on the field for 36 minutes and Odessa's only 12.
In passing, sophomore McMillan completed 4-of-12 for 49 yards for Odessa. He also ran five times for minus-2 yards and a touchdown.
Senior Nathan Keiffer competed 2-of-4 for 17 yards for Quilcene. He carried the ball on four rushes for minus-1 yard.
On the ground, senior Davey McMillan carried 17 times for 134 yards to lead the Odessa offense. Junior teammate Elder carried once for 35 yards before being injured.
Sophomore Chad Strebeck carried 13 times for 31 yards and a touchdown, and senior Daeton Deife carried twice for 4yards.
Quilcene's ground game was led by senior Bishop Budnek, who ran the ball 37 times for 240 yards and all four of his team's touchdowns. Teammates senior Kevin Alejo carried 9 times for 29 yards, junior Shannon Kutler carried 3 times for 8 yards and eighth-grader Jayden Love once for minus-3 yards.
Receiving, freshman Corbyn Neilsen had two catches for 29 yards and senior Daeton Deife had 2 for 20 yards for Odessa.
Senior Kevin Alejo had two catches for Quilcene for 17 yards.
Davey McMillan, a regular rodeo competitor at the Ritzville Rodeo, led Odessa with 13 tackles. Deife added 11 and Neilsen had 10.
Roger Harnack is owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. An award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher who grew up in Eastern Washington, he's one of only two Washington state journalists ever to receive the international Golden Quill for editorial/commentary writing. Roger is committed to preserving local media, and along with it, a local voice for Eastern Washington.
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