Bret Rediger had a great birthday.
Unfortunately for a Coupeville High School football team that started the game seven players down, Rediger plays for Nooksack Valley and not the Wolves. So, when he romped to three touchdowns on his 18th birthday Friday night, pardon the local fans if they hardly felt like singing a group rendition of “Happy Birthday.”
Missing Danny Savalza, Brett Arnold, Korbin Korzan, Bryce Fleming, Anthony Maggio, Wiley Hesselgrave and Paul Schmakeit, Coupeville hung tough early but didn’t have the horses to pull out a win, eventually falling 55-15 to the Island invaders, who played virtually error-free ball.
Nooksack Valley’s first five scores all came on pass plays of 25 yards or more, with Rediger hauling in a 35-yard heave from quarterback Tanner Myhre and a 49-yard bomb from receiver Joey Scheffer. Myhre carved up a depleted Wolf defense for 274 yards through the air, completing 12 of 14 passes.
Coupeville got its scores on runs from Jake Tumblin and Gunnar Langvold (his third score of the season), while Josh Bayne was a multi-threat weapon, kicking an extra point after one touchdown and tossing a two-point conversion after the other.
Now 0-4 on the season, with a home match-up against Orcas Island set for next Friday, Sept. 28, Coupeville still has a chance to rebound and start a strong second-half run. To do so, they’ll need to get a few bodies back and fine-tune what did work right against Nooksack Valley, said Wolf coach Tony Maggio.
“Even with missing six starters we started strong and rushed the ball well. We were better on turnovers, although we did fumble on a kickoff return that hurt,” Maggio said. “We have to just keep getting better, and young kids got a lot of playing time, which will only make them better.”
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