Coupeville Sports

   Dale Sherman, still basking in the glow of Coupeville’s 57-7 beat-down of La Conner in 1963. (Sherry Roberts photo)

Play like it’s 1963.

As the Coupeville High School football team heads to La Conner tonight (7 PM kickoff) to meet one of its most storied rivals, the stakes are relatively high for this early in the season.

While it’s a non-conference game, win and the Wolves open at 2-0 for the first time since 2009.

Plus, anytime you take down the Braves, who have a truly rich athletic history, it’s a cause for major celebration.

Which takes us back to Sept. 27, 1963 and the beat-down heard across the state.

That day a scrappy Coupeville squad found itself in a hole just one play into the game.

La Conner, having won the coin flip, took the opening kick-off to the house, returning it 80+ yards for a touchdown.

With barely a few seconds ticked off on the game clock, the Wolves were trailing, they were disorientated and they were desperate.

Or were they?

53 years down the road, the exact mood of the moment is probably hard to remember.

But this much is true, it shifted quickly.

Coupeville promptly threw down 57 unanswered points — eight touchdowns and a game-capping safety — and thrashed the bejeebers out of the Braves 57-7.

By the time they were done the Wolves would rack up a 386-23 advantage in yards, one of the most lopsided statistical games in CHS history.

Bob Rea, the strikeout king on the baseball diamond, got things going when he chucked a 46-yard bomb to receiver Denny Clark for a game-tying touchdown.

After that, it was boom, boom, boom, as the scores kept coming, one after another.

Rea connected with Clark for a second score, then the Wolves went to the ground with a relentless attack.

Denny Keith and Eddie Brown each rumbled into the end zone twice, while Dale Sherman and Gary Crandall both chipped in with their own stroll to pay dirt.

Crandall’s was a bit of a surprise, as he wasn’t even a running back.

With the score getting lopsided, Coupeville’s coaching staff moved Crandall, normally a lineman, into the backfield to give him a reward for his hard work.

Given the chance to inherit a skills position, he promptly rose to the occasion, shedding tacklers as he surged right up the middle to the promised land.

Not finished there, Crandall capped the scoring when, back at his normal position, he plastered a La Conner ball-carrier, riding him down in the end zone for a safety that brought a merciful end to the scoring onslaught.

The game remains one of the true high points in Coupeville football history, not only for the score, but for the level of the opponent toppled, as well.

It was truly a perfect storm.

And, it could and should be inspiration for the 2016 Wolves.

Go out there tonight and play like the ’63ers and 50+ years from now someone (maybe even me) will be telling your tale of triumph.