Anthony Maggio (third from right) returned from a battle with a staph infection that sidelined him several weeks to make a key fumble recovery Friday. (Shelli Trumbull photo)
There was a storybook moment Friday night, even if almost no one in the overflow crowd seemed to realize or fully appreciate it.
Late in a Homecoming rout at the hands of an explosive Granite Falls squad (which scored touchdowns on four consecutive plays en route to a 47-14 victory), Coupeville High School senior nose guard Anthony Maggio crashed through the line and recovered a fumble. The turnover was nice, the fact Maggio was in uniform and creating havoc after fighting back against a vicious staph infection which threatened to erase his entire season, was the “Rudy” moment.
For those who were still paying attention in the waning moments, long after the game was decided, and shortly before the group dance to “Wobble Baby” took priority, it was Maggio’s shining moment, and fellow lineman Nick Streubel blowing up Granite Falls ball-carriers left and right, including recovering a fumble of his own, that put a little better spin on the evening’s events.
Because frankly, up until the Terrible Twosome (and others like Serigio Guerro, Aaron Wright and Korbin Korzan) laid down some tough love in the final quarter, it wasn’t the prettiest of nights for the guys in red and black. Coupeville fumbled the ball on the first play of the game and found themselves down 21-0 before late-arriving fans had settled in their seats.
Granite Falls had built a 7-0 lead when they decided to make things really, really simple. One play each series simple. A 70-yard run, a 63-yard run, a 46-yard run, a 34-yard run. Four snaps of the ball, four touchdowns, game effectively sewn up.
The Wolves did have their moments, with quarterback Josh Bayne hooking up with fleet-footed Bryce Fleming twice on graceful long passes. The first was for a touchdown, with Fleming hauling in a ball on the run in the right corner of the end zone, while the second was a 43-yard bomb down the left sideline that Fleming tipped, juggled and pulled in, all without breaking stride.
The second catch set up a six-yard scoring run from Jake Tumblin that pulled Coupeville back within two touchdowns with five minutes to play in the first half.
Bayne also found Riley Boyd for a huge pick-up in the waning moments of the half, but Boyd slipped after hauling in the pass and was prevented from achieving the break-away touchdown run he seemed poised to pull off.
With a comfortable lead, Granite Falls changed tactics in the second half and used short run after short run to burn huge chunks of time off the clock. Then, just to toss salt in the wound, they suddenly reverted to form and ripped off a 73-yard touchdown run with a mere eight second to play in the third quarter.
Now 1-5, the Wolves play two of their final three regular season games on the road, beginning with a trip to Langley next Friday, Oct. 12 to play South Whidbey. The lone remaining home game (Oct. 19) will be against a truly-scary King’s squad that has already obliterated Archbishop Thomas Murphy and features Brigham Young University recruit Billy Green at quarterback.
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