Jon Atkins is Coupeville’s fourth head football coach in the last seven years. (John Fisken photos)
Sophomore Ryan Labrador (front) will help anchor the lines.
Everything’s new.
New head coach, new assistants (well, two of three), new league (sort of), a new set-up for the fans (for a season at least) and, ultimately, everyone hopes, newfound success on the field.
When the Coupeville High School football team kicks off its season at home Saturday, Sept. 3 with an Island rivalry game against non-conference foe South Whidbey (7 PM), it will be a team looking to the future, and not the past.
Intent on improving on last year’s 1-9 mark, the Wolves want to post the program’s first winning record since 2005, they want to make the playoffs, they want to put a league title on the gym wall.
To do all of that, or any of that, though, they need to build each step of the way, something preached by first-year head coach Jon Atkins.
“A successful year would be that we improve each week,” he said. “And that we stay true as a team to our core values of Competition, Leadership, Family, Commitment and Toughness.”
Atkins is the school’s fourth gridiron head coach in the last seven years, jumping from an assistant job at Oak Harbor to replace Brett Smedley, who left after one season to return home to work at Columbia River.
His staff includes one holdover in veteran assistant coach Ryan King, a former Wolf player who was on that 2005 team, and two relative newcomers in Brad Sherman and Jonathan Martin.
Both are former star prep players themselves, with Sherman a prairie legend for his career at CHS, where he still owns the school passing records.
Along with a turnover in coaching staff, Coupeville football has two new wrinkles this season.
With the home bleachers having been ripped out to make room for the installation of a brand new eight-lane track oval around the football field, temporary seating will be used this season.
Bleachers will be brought over from baseball and tennis, but fans are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and/or embrace the idea of standing for one season.
Permanent covered bleachers are planned for the 2017 season, and will spring up on what is currently the road team’s side, in front of the apartments.
While you’re lounging in your lawn chair, you’ll also get a chance to get familiar with a few new teams, as Coupeville and its three fellow 1A Olympic League rivals have merged with the Nisqually League for football.
The agreement means the Wolves will play a seven-game league schedule (after opening with three non-conference tilts) and no longer have to play schools more than once a season.
In addition to Port Townsend, Klahowya and Chimacum, Coupeville now faces Vashon Island, Bellevue Christian, Cascade Christian and Charles Wright Academy in league play.
Depending on how allocations break out, the combined league will either send its top two or three teams straight on to the state playoffs.
Two-time defending Olympic League champ Port Townsend, which has a new coach in former Coupeville assistant Alex Heilig, and perennial state title contender Cascade Christian are the heavyweights, while Vashon boasts the state’s top rusher in Bryce Hoisington.
As a junior, he ripped Coupeville for a state-record 573 yards and nine touchdowns in the team’s non-conference finale, capping a season in which he gained a state-record 2,929 yards.
Vashon comes to Coupeville Sept. 30.
The Wolves counter with a number of returning players, led by junior quarterback Hunter Downes.
He got off to a strong start in 2015, connecting on 26 of 47 passes for 272 yards, before injuries sidelined him for much of his sophomore campaign.
Healthy, with a stronger arm and a bigger body, and working with Sherman on a daily basis, Downes is primed for a breakout season and will have some help getting there.
Junior Hunter Smith was the second-best receiver in the Olympic League last year, hauling in 32 passes, and he could swing between receiver and running back this time around.
Seniors Jacob Martin (the team’s leading returning rusher), Clay Reilly and Mitchell Carroll and sophomores Chris Battaglia and Teo Keilwitz are all potential backfield weapons, while juniors Jacob Zettle, Cameron Toomey-Stout and Jake Hoagland will be counted on as receivers.
The lines will be anchored by senior Uriel Liquidano, juniors Julian Welling and James Vidoni and sophomores Dane Lucero, Josh Robinson, Ryan Labrador and Jake Pease.
Coupeville will count on a bevy of hard-hitting linebackers (Battaglia, Martin, Welling, Liquidano, Keilwitz) to control things on defense, with ball-hawks like Smith and Reilly holding down the corners.
Smith set a school record with seven interceptions as a sophomore, which tied him for best in the state among players from all divisions.
Reilly might have been Coupeville’s best weapon a year ago, however, as he led all 1A punters, racking up 1,156 yards on 34 boots, earning First-Team All-League honors.
While returning players are expected to lead the way, Atkins doesn’t rule out newcomers like hard-charging freshman Sean Toomey-Stout making an impact.
“We have some freshmen that should get to see the field on some special teams,” Atkins said. “I think everyone on the roster will contribute this year.”
However the roster plays out, the Wolves are hard at work, building for a competitive future.
“Our biggest strength is our players desire and work ethic to be great,” Atkins said. “Learning a new system and a new coach can be difficult, but they are flying around and learning, watching film and doing what is needed to get done to make a great team.”
At the end of the day, win or lose, the head coach wants his team to be remembered for the right reason.
“I want Coupeville football to be known as the toughest team in the Olympic/Nisqually League.”
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