Coupeville Sports

Chase Anderson is a two-way warrior for Coupeville. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

A lot has changed in a year.

Jump back to fall 2022 and 2B Coupeville pounded the crud out of 2A Bellingham to the tune of 48-6, part of a 7-2 season for the Wolves.

Now, return to 2023 and the tide has turned, as the Bayhawks answered back Friday on their home field, shredding CHS for seven touchdowns — all on plays of 30+ yards — en route to a 50-7 victory.

The non-conference loss drops the Wolves, who were missing five starters, to 1-5 on the season heading into a Homecoming showdown with Forks, which is 4-1 with a Saturday clash with Friday Harbor on their schedule.

Coupeville had the game’s first highlight play Friday, with Marcelo Gebhard recovering a Bellingham fumble.

After that, positive plays were few and far between for the Wolves.

The Bayhawks defense stiffened and got the ball back, then quarterback Josh Leonard went to work.

A 6-foot-3 senior who transferred from Squalicum to join his dad Adam, the head coach at Bellingham, he tossed four touchdown passes in the first quarter, breaking off 49, 40, 58, and 42-yard scoring bombs.

Toss in a 38-yard scoring run by Christian Olberg and the home team was up 36-0 at the first break.

Bellingham added a pair of rushing touchdowns, covering 30 and 37 yards, to coast into halftime with a 50-0 lead and a running clock on the horizon.

In the midst of all that scoring, Coupeville did force another turnover, with freshman Davin Houston snaring a fumble to join Gebhard in the ball retrieval business.

With the clock rolling relentlessly, neither team scored in the third quarter, then Coupeville finally cracked the end zone on its own long-distance play.

Logan Downes limbers up his arm. (Bailey Thule photo)

Senior QB Logan Downes connected on a 49-yard scoring strike with sophomore Chase Anderson midway through the fourth quarter, with Anderson tacking on the PAT.

It was the fourth touchdown of the season for the young gun, pulling him closer to fellow sophomore Aiden O’Neill, who leads the Wolves with five scores.

For Downes, the pass was historical.

His 13th touchdown bomb of the season, it gives him 33 for his career, tying him with current CHS boys’ basketball coach Brad Sherman for #2 all-time in program history.

Logan Downes needs two TD passes to tie older brother Hunter for the top spot, and three to stand alone on top of gunslinger hill.