Coupeville Sports

Work the bag, blow up the polls. (John Fisken photo)

Well, if I was Klahowya, I think I’d be peeved right about now.

The Eagles are coming off of a 6-4 season on the gridiron, a second-place finish in the 1A Olympic League, and a trip to the postseason.

And yet, MaxPreps ranks them an astounding 374 slots BEHIND South Whidbey in a national football poll released today.

Yes, the same stinky cheese Falcons who staggered to a 1-9 mark last year.

It’s a strange, strange world in Poll Land, where Coupeville, which also went 1-9 a year ago, gets a little respect.

Not much, but at least a taste nationally, if not in-state.

The Wolves open at #52 (out of 55) teams in 1A, two slots ahead of Chimacum, which it lost to last year.

State-wide, Coupeville is #277 of 299 teams, while nation-wide, the Wolves are #12,997 of 14,578 teams.

Yes, you read that last number right — there are more than 14,000 schools playing high school football in the USA, from #1 IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL to #14,578 Navajo Pine, NM.

Defending 4A champion Gonzaga Prep, sitting at #213 nationally, is the top-rated Washington state school.

In case you were curious.

But, since Coupeville won’t be coming anywhere near GP, let’s look instead at how MaxPreps thinks the Wolves stack up against the 10 teams which are actually on the schedule:

South Whidbey (45th in 1A, 256th in state, 11,833rd in nation)
La Conner (12th in 2B, 179th in state, 8,097th in nation)
Nooksack Valley (22nd in 1A, 180th in state, 8,106th in nation)
Charles Wright Academy (30th in 1A, 224th in state, 10,385th in nation)
Vashon Island (37th in 1A, 238th in state, 11,237th in nation)
Port Townsend (13th in 1A, 116th in state, 5,529th in nation)
Bellevue Christian (35th in 1A, 230th in state, 10,893rd in nation)
Klahoywa (47th in 1A, 264th in state, 12,207th in nation)
Chimacum (54th in 1A, 280th in state, 13,143rd in nation)
Cascade Christian (14th in 1A, 121st in state, 5,834th in nation)

So, based on the preseason polls, Coupeville is slated for a second straight 1-9 mark.

But, that’s why they play the games.

Go out, pull off an upset or two and show the computers they know diddly and squat.