Coupeville Sports

Jared Dickson, one of the unsung stars of the CHS defense. (John Fisken photo)

It was a long trip, but no one was complaining.

The Coupeville High School football squad didn’t return to The Rock until 1 AM Saturday morning (with a pride run set for 8 AM), but after drilling Nooksack Valley 20-12 in a non-conference game Friday night, the jaunt to Everson was hardly a concern.

Now 2-2 on the season, the Wolves will get some rest time anyway, as they head into a bye week which should allow for a lot of their aches and pains to key players to finish healing. Coupeville kicks off a four-game stretch run of Cascade Conference games Friday, Oct. 11 at Granite Falls.

Its playoff hopes hinge on two factors, finishing .500 or better and being one of the top two of the three 1A schools in the conference.

The other two teams, King’s and South Whidbey, faced off Friday, with the Knights taking a 35-14 win over their Langley hosts.

Way down the road, Coupeville was using a bruising, sometimes electrifying running game to bust open its game. Then it turned to its lights-out defense, headed up by rampaging force of nature Nick Streubel, to seal the deal.

Nooksack Valley had the ball in its hands for one final Hail Mary play at the buzzer, but Coupeville refused to bend.

“Another stellar defensive performance,” Wolf coach Tony Maggio said. “I think we had two picks and at least two to three fumble recoveries. Great game to be part of!”

When they had the ball, Coupeville controlled the clock and the game, battering away for more than 200 yards on the ground.

Senior Jake Tumblin had his second straight big game after coming back from injury, busting off two big runs and compiling a sweet 127 yards on just 13 carries.

His touchdown on a 39-yard scamper put the game on ice, while Josh Bayne, bumped over to quarterback from wing while Gunnar Langvold rehabs a hurt knee, bulled into the end zone twice.

Bayne hit pay dirt on short runs of three and one yards, with both scores punctuated by extra points from the foot of Joel Walstad.

It was a team-wide rushing effort, as battering rams Brett Arnold and Lathom Kelley churned for key yardage, with Kelley nabbing some huge first downs for his team.