Coupeville senior QB Dawson Houston scored a rushing touchdown and a two-point conversion Friday against Port Townsend. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Marcus Carr sat on a bench in a darkening stadium Friday night, pondering the road ahead.
“We showed glimpses of really good play … and a lot of growing pains,” said the Coupeville High School football coach.
“We’re a young, young team with a lot of freshmen, but all those guys played hard all the way. I can’t even be mad when they’re doing it like that.”
The Wolf gridiron program is a work in progress, and the odds were stacked against them on opening night.
So, while the scoreboard read 49-16 at the end, with Coupeville coming out on the short end against visiting Port Townsend, the night was not a total loss.
The Wolves, who are taking a one-year hiatus from league action and are playing an independent schedule, started five freshmen in game one.
Four of those ninth graders – Kai Wong, Nick Armstrong, Kynel Hart, and Josh Upchurch – manned the line, while the fifth, the fearless Tim Ursu, a 105-pound fireball who fears no man, went toe-to-toe with Port Townsend’s bruising running back and popped his foe several times.
With Daylon Houston, Dominic Coffman, and Joven Light also seeing action, eight CHS freshman played their first varsity football game with just four days of school under their belt.
Overall, 10 of 25 players listed on the most current Wolf roster are high school newbies, with Scott Hilborn and Kevin Partida in street clothes Friday. Both are expected to be on the field soon.
While the independent schedule is meant to give the rebuilding CHS program a chance to play teams the Wolves should be competitive with, none of the games will be easy.
In the case of Port Townsend, the RedHawks have a fairly deep roster with 37 players on the roster, a dynamic senior quarterback in Noa Apker-Montoya, and a senior running back in Dylan Tracer who enjoys spending a lot of time ramming his way into the end zone.
The visitors didn’t play perfect ball Friday, far from it, but they were effective when they needed to be, and built a comfortable lead.
Despite a rash of penalties, including three separate times when a mangled play brought back a touchdown, the RedHawks scored early and often, blowing out to a 20-0 lead.
Coupeville had opened the game on offense, and looked to be in high gear as senior Sean Toomey-Stout snatched the kickoff and bolted 34 yards with the ball before being gang-tackled.
But even before the buzz could finish echoing through the stadium at Mickey Clark Field, things turned dire, as the Wolves fumbled the ball away on their first offensive snap.
Port Townsend made Coupeville pay, and it took only a few seconds.
Tracer roared through the heart of the defense, busted a would-be tackle or two and was off on a 41-yard jaunt to the end zone, the first of four times he would wind up there on the night.
While the Redhawks missed the extra point kick, their defense bottled Coupeville up in the early going, then tacked on two more scores thanks to Apker-Montoya.
The boyfriend of CHS volleyball star Hannah Davidson twirled in on a 15-yard scoring run of his own midway through the first quarter, then connected with Tanner Woodley on a 24-yard touchdown pass to open the second quarter.
Trailing by three scores, the Wolves needed a spark, and they got one from the most exciting gridiron giant on Whidbey Island, one Mr. Toomey-Stout.
While Port Townsend kicked away from him most of the game, they did go right at “The Torpedo” after their third touchdown, and he almost took the ball to the house.
Apker-Montoya, who doubles as the RedHawk kicker, caught him at the very end of a run which Coupeville PA announcer Willie Smith tallied up as “62 or 63 yards, or maybe 62 and a loooooong half-yard.”
Toomey-Stout’s torrid run put the RedHawk defense back on its heels and that opened things up for Andrew Martin, who promptly crashed in for Coupeville’s first score of the season.
The senior slammer, who played through bloody fingers, bouncing off Port Townsend players and often knocking them back several yards at the point of contact, swept in from 16 yards out.
Despite being bloodied, Wolf running back Andrew Martin had a stellar night on both sides of the ball. (Jonathan Martin photo)
Martin, who busted off runs of 23, 16, 13, and 13, unofficially collected 94 yards on the ground Friday, though a video review may likely push him up over 100.
Wolf quarterback Dawson Houston tacked on a two-point conversion run after Martin’s score, then came back to score his own rushing TD right before the end of the first half.
Several power runs by Martin, including one in which he lowered his shoulder and drilled a RedHawk defender up into the third row of seats, drove Coupeville down the field.
Then, Houston laid a beautiful pass into the far left corner, dropping the ball right onto Gavin Knoblich’s fingertips for 24 yards, and got seven more on a little flicker to Toomey-Stout, before running in for the score.
This time around, Martin picked up the conversion, pulling Coupeville within 27-16 at the half.
Martin ripped off four runs of 13 or more yards, scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion and racked up a ton of tackles. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Still in the game at that point, the Wolves would get no closer, as their battle-tested rivals closed with great efficiency.
Port Townsend chewed up the clock in the second half, tacking on two more scores from Tracer and a safety when the Wolves sent a bad snap into the back of the end zone.
Upholding their reputation with being “that team,” and maybe still smarting from a 10-point loss to Coupeville last season, the RedHawks declined to go into victory formation up 42-16 with the clock running down.
Instead, they chose to cover the Vegas spread by letting Jerome Reaux, Jr. (very much not a bench-warmer) sprint in for a touchdown from 11 yards out with a mere 14 ticks on the scoreboard.
Afterwards, upholding his own reputation as a guy who doesn’t complain about or seem to dwell too much on petty irritants, Carr kept his focus strictly on what matters — his own team.
Four of the next five games are on the road, with long trips to Vashon Island, Friday Harbor, Kittitas, and Tenino.
Between now and Oct. 18, the Wolves play only once at home, when they face La Conner Sept. 27.
Which actually kind of makes Carr happy.
“We were a good road team last year; this will be good for us,” he said.
As his young players continue to grow, he’ll look to a handful of veterans, such as Toomey-Stout, Houston, and Martin, to lead the way.
“Our running game looked good; Andy played really well offensively,” Carr said. “We still need to work some on our passing game, but we’ll get there.
“Helps a lot to have a guy like Sean. Couldn’t ask for a better leader.”
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