Isaiah Bittner and the CHS football team join a new league this fall. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
If the world is back to normal, Coupeville High School football kicks off a new season September 4.
While no one knows how the coronavirus pandemic will play out, the Wolves do have a 10-game schedule set for their move to a new league and classification.
If prep athletic teams are allowed to compete this fall, Coupeville will be in the Northwest 2B/1B League, after spending the last two school years in the 1A North Sound Conference.
After a long stretch of time in which it was one of the smallest 1A schools in the state, CHS will now be one of the bigger 2B schools for at least the next four years.
The new classification counts, which were approved in January, stretch from 2020-2024.
With the other five North Sound Conference schools remaining at the 1A level, Coupeville hit the road and was welcomed back to its old stomping grounds.
In the Northwest League, the Wolves will face rivals which they have a long history with, as CHS was part of the league in previous decades.
The new set-up of the league has four 1B schools (Mount Vernon Christian, Darrington, Concrete, and Orcas Island) and four 2B schools (La Conner, Friday Harbor, Coupeville, and Chimacum).
Chimacum, which competed in the 1A Olympic League with Coupeville from 2014-2018, is the surprise addition, as they were left without a league after dropping down to 2B in the new classification counts.
Port Townsend and Klahowya remain at the 1A level, and will join the Nisqually League this fall, leaving only 2A schools in the Olympic League.
Chimacum applied to join the 2B Pacific League, but that conference opted to add Forks instead.
After that, the Cowboys were accepted into the Northwest League.
While most sports will feature all eight NWL teams competing together, football won’t.
On the gridiron, Coupeville will play home-and-away series with the other three 2B schools, with the rest of the schedule filled out with non-conference games.
The Wolves retain their annual matchup with South Whidbey, as the next-door neighbors vie for ownership of The Bucket.
The only team on the schedule that Coupeville coaches, players, and fans may be unfamiliar with is Napavine, which is slated to visit Whidbey late in the season.
Spoiler alert – it’ll give everyone a chance in Wolf Nation to see firsthand how we stack up against one of the best 2B gridiron programs in the state.
The Tigers captured a state title in 1976, then had sporadic success in the tourney until 2008, when they launched an incredible run.
Napavine football has ripped off 12 straight trips to the state playoffs, going 26-10 in postseason games while winning titles in 2008 and 2016.
It also has three runner-up finishes (2014, 2015, 2018), three trips to the semifinals (2011, 2017, 2019) and three to the quarterfinals (2009, 2010, 2013).
The one, and only time, the Tigers were knocked out in the first round in the last 12 years came in 2012, when they fell 19-14 to Raymond.
They say you have to beat the best to be the best.
For Coupeville, which is coming off its first winning season in more than a decade after going 5-4 last fall, the Napavine game will certainly qualify.
2020 CHS football schedule
(* = league game):
Fri-Sept. 4 — Port Townsend (6 PM)
Fri-Sept. 11 — @South Whidbey (7 PM)
Fri-Sept. 18 — @Forks (TBD)
Fri-Sept. 25 — La Conner (7 PM) *
Fri-Oct. 2 — Chimacum (7 PM) *
Fri-Oct. 9 — @Friday Harbor (7 PM) *
Fri-Oct. 16 — @La Conner (7 PM) *
Sat-Oct. 24 — Napavine (TBD)
Fri-Oct. 30 — Friday Harbor (7 PM) *
Thur-Nov. 5 — @Chimacum (7 PM) *
**Which of the five home games will be Homecoming is not set yet.**
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