Coupeville Sports

  Dear Everett Herald, Professor Valko is not impressed with your research. He fails you. (Nanette Streubel photo)

One man believes in Coupeville.

Virtually every one who projects winners in high school football games seems to think Sultan will nip the Wolves Friday night. Most think it will be a close game, but all six voters in the Everett Herald’s weekly pick-em poll give the host Turks the edge.

Which is fine, since none of those “experts” will actually be on the field. When it comes down to it, the only opinions which will really matter belong to the guys who pull on the helmets and pads and tighten their chin straps.

And when you talk to the man at the center of the storm — CHS senior lineman and team captain Caleb Valko — it’s apparent he and his teammates don’t put a whole lot of faith in the Herald’s ability to predict the outcome of their final regular season game.

“Everyone picked Sultan to win this year, but I beg to differ,” Valko said.

In the hours leading up to the battle royal, Valko took a few moments out from preparation (and maybe a minute or two devoted to home work) to give us an exclusive scouting report from inside Wolf HQ.

Roll film…

“They are a passing team with occasional runs,” Valko said. “I especially think our match-ups for our d-line are great this week.

“Last year Anthony Maggio ate this kid’s lunch up and he will do it again this year,” he added. “Carson (Risner) and Nick (Streubel) are gonna have no problem either.”

The Wolves will need to control Sultan quarterback Antonio Rivas, or at least slow him down a bit to give their secondary time to make plays.

“Korbin (Korzan), Bryce (Fleming), Danny (Savalza), Brett (Arnold), Jake (Tumblin), Wade (Schaef) and Josh Bayne, our secondary, will have a good amount of pressure on their shoulders covering receivers while our d-line tries to limit the qb’s passing time,” Valko said. “I’ve watched a lot of film, enough to know that our secondary is by far good enough to take these kids. And our d-line is ready to man handle.”

“They better come to fight, cause I promise we are going straight for the KO.”

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When Caleb Valko (63) destroys your ball carrier, it’s a hair-raising experience for a rival coach. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

“First off, I just wanna say that I want this game more than any other game I have played in the last 11 years as a football player.”

Pardon Caleb Valko if he seems a bit worked up right now. The Coupeville High School senior lineman is counting down the days to Football Armageddon ’12 — an all-Island grudge match between the 1-5 Wolves and 2-4 South Whidbey (7 PM Friday, Oct. 12 in Langley) that may very well determine which of the two teams make the playoffs.
 
With two of the three 1A teams in the Cascade Conference advancing to the postseason (we think) — and undefeated King’s, which already thrashed the Falcons 49-12, seemingly being a lock for one of those slots — the winner Friday night will grab the other berth. If there is another berth.

That was up in the air Tuesday morning, as Wolf coach Tony Maggio was still trying to get a definitive answer from the league.

Whether there are two slots or just one slot available this season, things would get complicated if Coupeville lost to South Whidbey, then bounced back and shocked the world the next week, when they host King’s (Friday, Oct. 19).

That game will be a bit tricky, however, as the Knights, who feature Brigham Young University recruit Billy Green at quarterback, have outscored their opponents 281-93 this season, scoring 40+ points in every one of their six wins.

For now, the scenario is simple for the Wolves — win local supremacy first and then see how everything else shakes out.

“This is my last Island rivalry game,” Valko said. “I want that bucket!”

Adopting his alter ego of being a Jon Gruden-style analyst, Valko exclusively broke down the match-ups for coupevillesports.com. Friday, he’ll look to break down any Falcon runners who stray in his direction.

“South Whidbey is a team that spreads the ball around with a lot of passing mixed with rushing. It’s a good thing we have run-stoppers like Nick Streubel and Anthony Maggio. And, if they try throwing, they better brace themselves to get hit as soon as they touch the ball by Jake Tumblin, Bryce Fleming, Korbin Korzan, and now that he has overcome his concussion, Gunnar Langvold.”

“Defensively, player for player, we beat the snot out of them all day, 365 days a year. However, football is a team sport. We need to be better as a team. And we can’t have the silly penalties all over the place. Those absolutely kill us.”

“Offensively, I don’t think they have anybody on their d-line that can cause any major problems … maybe #73, but he is going to have to go up against our power house guards Ben Haight and Carson Risner.”

“Their best tackler, #30, middle linebacker, will most definitely need to be blocked every play because he is one of their better athletes; he’s a hustle play maker. So that’s one thing we need to work on.”

“I’m not sure if they have anybody that can cover Wade Schaef in the receiver spot, or catch Bryce, Brett Arnold, Danny Savalza or Jake at the wing spots. Also, this is going to be the first game where we have all our starters back!” 

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The football future for Wolf freshman quarterback Dalton Martin (top left) is so bright, his younger brother can’t bear to look.

There is no better scouting report than that which comes from the players on your own team.

With the current Coupeville High School football team, senior Caleb Valko is one of the studs, joining fellow linemen Anthony Maggio and Nick Streubel as the BMOCs. He’s out front — sometimes literally, as the line drives forward, opening holes for Jake Tumblin, Danny Savalza, Brett Arnold and Co.

So who better to ruminate on the future of Wolf football than one of the current leaders of the squad? We defer to Mr. Valko, who was taking a break from looking at the college football offers he had just received (Pacific Lutheran, Northwestern and Westminster) to opine on the state of freshman in the program, a state that appears to be pretty darn good.

Dalton Martin is a beastly QB for how young he is. He still has tons of room to mature and grow, but he will be better than most in these upcoming years with the cannon and speed he already has.

Wiley Hesselgrave … I don’t even know why, but he likes hanging with the big dogs. He enjoys going up and hitting me and Nick, sometimes even both of us at the same time!! That can only build character. He is already a freakishly good athlete and I can’t wait to see him his junior or senior year.

Cole Payne is starting to get it. When he started I didn’t expect much out of him, but he has gotten so much stronger and faster since our preseason camp and I expect nothing less than an elite JV season this year.

Dominic Ellis and Lathom Kelley are both very solid runners for being only 13 or 14 years old. Those kids might have to step up a little more than they already have to play some swing, but they are also doing great.

Jake and Josh Lord and Austin Kirch are the meat of the freshmen class. They come out every day and grind with the big boys like Oscar Liquidano and Carson Risner. And it’s not easy. I have to give major props to those kids for sticking with it and getting better every day.

Ian Buie is a lengthy tight end that will have fun enjoying his reach advantage this year over all those small JV kids. He, as far as I have seen, is side by side with these other kids. Great potential and talent.

Those are the ones off the top of my head. I think I got em all.

And then Mr. Valko was gone, leaving behind a depth chart and his binoculars, having returned to the gridiron to show all those young turks how the big boys do work.

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