Jayden Love got a view of the Quilcene football field that most eighth-graders don’t get.

An aerial view.

And he got his look from above not once, but twice — courtesy of Ranger senior Kevin Alejo.

Love, a running back on the Quilcene varsity football team, was hoisted by Alejo high into the air two times during the Rangers’ ransacking of the Muckleshoot Kings in football last week.

Both came in the fourth quarter. The first was after Love ran 45 yards for a touchdown, and the second, after another final-stanza score where the 130-pound frosh scampered 40 yards untouched for his second TD of the evening.

That second touchdown got Ranger quarterback Nathan Kieffer’s attention.

Kieffer had scored the first touchdown of the Rangers’ 66-22 shellacking of the Kings, on a quarterback keeper that stretched into a 35-yard scoring run.

Looking over at Love held high in the air, Kieffer joked from the sidelines: “He’s going to score more touchdowns than me in this game.”

To be sure, it didn’t seem like the Rangers had shown much love at all for Muckleshoot during the game.

Love came in at the end of the game, with other second-team substitutions, as the contest was well out of reach as Ranger Coach Trey Beathard finally got a chance to put some of his younger players into the game.

That hadn’t happened in the team’s earlier games this year, closer affairs that put the notion out of mind, Beathard said.

Indeed, the dominating win by Quilcene came after their previous nailbiter against the Lummi Blackhawks, a game that found the Rangers on the lesser end of a 28-22 score.

Last week’s game couldn’t have been more different.

It was their first of the season at home, for one.

Still, there were a few moments that looked familiar.

“We made some mistakes,” Beathard said.

Even so, he added, there were plenty of highlights to go around, and the coach added that he was proud of how his team responded, given one of the team’s top players was out and the Rangers had been dinged by COVID concerns in recent weeks.

The Rangers jumped to a 14-0 advantage after the first quarter and held the Kings scoreless through the half, entering the third quarter with a 27-0 advantage.

Alejo scored the second TD of the game on an 8-yard run, and also put six more on the board in the second with a 20-yard touchdown dash.

A pick six by Isaiah Reimann gave the Rangers their last touchdown of the first half.

Muckleshoot finally found the end zone in the third, but missed the point-after try.

The Rangers scored 39 second-half points to close out the scoring.

Both touchdowns in the third came courtesy of the arm of Kieffer; first, a 4-yard toss to Ashton Johnston, followed by a 32-yard reception by Alejo.

Reimann uncapped a 30-yard run for a touchdown in the fourth, and the other score — beyond the two from Love — was a 60-yard touchdown run by Shannon Kutler.

Alejo finished with 13 carries for two TDs and 157 yards rushing.

Kieffer had 51 yards rushing, with carries and a touchdown.

Shannon Kutler cruised for 106 yards on seven carries, while Reimann had 59 yards on three carries.

Love finished with 92 yards on five runs.

Kieffer connected on seven-of-11 passes for 92 yards and two TDs.

Alejo had two receptions for 34 yards and a touchdown, while Dominic Smith had a pair of catches for 26 yards.

Johnston had two receptions for 21 yards and one TD.

On the defensive, Alejo had 10 tackles and two interceptions.

Smith contributed two sacks and 12 tackles, while Johnston added 11 tackles.

Taylor Boling added five tackles for the Rangers, and also caused two fumbles and recovered a fumble.

Walter Beck also had nine tackles for Quilcene.