In that brief time before the rains came, Wolf coaches line up for the National Anthem Friday night. (Bob Martin photo)
As home football finales go, it wasn’t perfect.
It was cold Friday night. It was wet, with rain falling steadily in the second half. The band packed it in early, the score was lopsided and with the fun police having officially barred Wolf fans from tooting their vuvuzela horns in the stands, there was little left to do but grumble about the referees inability, or unwillingness, to toss an opposing player who made a blatant, violent illegal hit.
But look past the persistent rain and the pinpoint touchdown passes hurled by King’s quarterback Billy Green, as he led his visiting Knights to a 51-7 rout of CHS on Senior Night, and there was beauty to be found.
There was a dazzling catch and run by Coupeville running back Jake Tumblin, who took a pass from Josh Bayne, flipped it into another gear and lapped the field, out-sprinting the defense down the left sideline en route to a crowd-pleasing 70-yard touchdown.
There was senior Wolf captain Caleb Valko, back in the thick of things a week after suffering a separated shoulder, flinging blockers to the side and crushing Green on an intended quarterback keeper. Bryce Fleming saving a touchdown, chasing down the receiver in the open field. Tumblin flipping a King’s player up and over and body-slamming him on a third quarter tackle.
And then there were the smaller moments. Nick Streubel, soaked to the bone, having a drink of water and then turning and resolutely yanking his helmet back down on his head, returning to a game already lost and yet finding one more defensive stand deep inside himself.
The Wolf cheerleaders, especially the seniors, who led a wave late in the game and still insisted that “no one stops Big Red,” flinging toy footballs into the stands.
The moms who still yelled for their sons in the final moments, the notes the senior football players wrote to their parents thanking them for what they had meant to them and the numerous students who lingered after the game to take photos on the field with their classmates wearing soaked, grass-stained uniforms.
The big city papers will tell you that Green threw for four touchdowns and ran for another. My eyes told me he was operating on a different plane of existence than just about anyone else on the field, moving quickly when everyone else was slow, and slowing as other players flowed past him.
It wasn’t so much that Coupeville missed tackles, as that Green bobbed and weaved, and instinctively always knew where he wanted to go three moves before anyone else. Two seconds before being sacked, he would adjust his body ever so slightly, find a small pocket and then whip a wet ball on a perfect spiral, dropping it into a teeny, tiny gap between his receiver and the Wolf defender.
He’s good. Very good. And we’ll all be watching him play for Brigham Young University — the school that gave the world Steve Young and a thousand other great passers — on TV next year.
So, we got to see him play in person, and he was brutally efficient. As expected. Doesn’t take a thing away from the guys on the other side of the ball, young men who, while most of them will not play on that next level, continue to acquit themselves with great commitment and hustle.
The Wolves, now 2-6, have a road game at Sultan next Friday, Oct. 26 and then get to participate in a three team, two half games, one night battle royal Tuesday, Oct. 30 for a chance to earn a full playoff spot.
Coupeville may not be on the fast track to a possible state title like King’s, but that is no reason for anyone in Wolf Nation to hang their heads. The Wolves continue to play with class, something that’s easy to see, even through the rain.
Leave a comment