FOOTBALL: Bonney Lake tunes up for playoffs with 38-7 win over Sumner

Bonney Lake, playing without starting quarterback Cole Schuler, didn’t have any problem closing out the regular season with a win, the final stop before the playoffs begin.

The Panthers beat Sumner 38-7 to win the annual Sunset Bowl Friday night at Sunset Chev Stadium in Sumner.

The win improved the Panthers’ overall record to 6-3 and 5-3 in the South Puget Sound League 3A standings. Sumner ended the season 2-7 and 2-6 in league play.

Without Schuler in the lineup, Panther coach Chad Barrett had his top two rushers and a freshman quarterback taking snaps throughout the game.

The Spartans watched as running backs Aaron Quevedo and Tyler Babakus took snaps in the spread formation on running situations, then freshman Chris Brown came in mostly for passing plays.

“Chris did an unbelievable job stepping in,” Barrett said. “He’s young, but he can throw the ball. All the players supported him and the line protected him.”

Brown completed 22-of-37 passes for 251 yards.

The Panthers were able to establish the run early. On their first series, they used 12 plays, including a 25-yarder to Colton Nash from Brown to help set up Babukas’ 1-yard touchdown run. The lead moved to 7-0 lead after Cody Cade’s first of five point-after kicks.

After a Sumner punt, Bonney Lake drove 80 yards in 10 plays with Babukas getting his second TD on a 2-yard run with 31 seconds left in the first quarter. The score was setup by Brown’s 44-yard competion to Austin Marshall.

After the Spartans’ second punt, the Panthers put together another scoring drive. The 70-yard, 12-play drive was capped by Quevedo’s 2-yard scoring run.

The Spartans took the ensuing kickoff and put their only points on the board in the second quarter. Alex Griffith scored on a 2-yard run with less than 90 seconds remaining in the first half.

But Bonney Lake wasted little time and was able to set Cade in field goal range with 32 seconds left. The junior drilled a 33-yarder for a 24-7 margin at halftime.

After a scoreless third period, the Panthers registered their fourth touchdown of the game. Brown threw his first varsity TD on a 7-yard competion to Lee Boggan for the score with 9:44 remaining.

Quevedo finished the scoring with a 1-yard run with 3:19 to play.

Babukus rushed for 113 yards in 19 carries.

Marshall caught 10 balls for 140 yards and Nash had five catches for 87.

Barrett gave credit to his defense.

“The kids did an outstanding job tackling and the coaches on defense did a great job adjusting,” Barrett said. “It’s not how many yards, but how many points you give up.”

The Panthers wound up as the No. 4 seed from the SPSL 3A, so their next game will be a subdistrict contest against Metro League champs O’Dea 7 p.m. Friday at Memorial Stadium in Seattle.

The winner will be District 2’s No. 1 seed into the state playoff bracket.