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Tavian Woolett

Tavian Woolett (submitted photo)

“I love the rush of excitement I get when me or a teammate gets a big hit or something goes our way.”

Coupeville High School freshman Tavian Woolett lives for the electricity of the gridiron, and it shows when he talks about the game.

Now in his third year — he started playing as a seventh grader — Woolett splits time between safety and tight end for the Wolves and made his debut Tuesday in Coupeville’s JV game against South Whidbey.

He drew praise after that game from CHS coach Ryan King, and is intent on building on that early buzz.

“My goals are to keep trying my best during each game and to do good in school, so I can come back and play next season,” he said.

Woolett is hard at work fine-tuning his skills on both sides of the ball.

“My strength is stopping the opposite team’s QB completing deep passes,” he said. “I want to work on memorizing more plays on offense.”

Football is not his only sport, as he has prior experience with boxing and wrestling, plus time put in on his board.

“I used to skateboard a lot to pass my time,” Woolett said.

In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with family and friends and listening to music, and he draws inspiration from his fellow football warriors.

“All my teammates have helped me a lot and helped me do better.”

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Chris Battaglia (John Fisken photo)

   When Chris Battaglia gets rollin’, the ground starts shakin’. (John Fisken photo)

Wiley Hesselgrave (Steve Smith photo)

   You dare to put your mitts on Wiley Hesselgrave (10) when he’s about to break a big run? This does not please Mr. Hesselgrave whatsoever. (Steve Smith photo)

Shane Losey

   Every hair on Shane Losey’s neck is screaming one thing … RUN!! (Fisken photo)

Jacob Martin

   Having scooped up a fumble, Jacob Martin (32) has eyes only for the end zone. Spoiler: he made it. (Smith photo)

attack

   A pack of Wolves, led by Cameron Toomey-Stout (11), devour a Falcon runner. (Fisken photo)

Hunter Smith

Hunter Smith (4) gets all electric in the open field. (Smith photo)

Julian Welling

   Julian Welling (51) and Hesselgrave prepare to initiate the Sandwich Protocol, in which they take one Falcon and squish him between two tacklers. (Smith photo)

The sounds of fall are echoing across Whidbey.

Helmets hitting pads. Quarterbacks screaming signals. Fans bellowing for their teams. Roving photographers firing off a million clicks a second.

As Coupeville High School opened a new football season with two games — a varsity contest at South Whidbey Friday and a JV battle at home in Cow Town Tuesday — photo men Steve Smith and John Fisken were hard at work documenting the hard-hitting action.

The photos above are courtesy them.

To see more of Smith’s work on the varsity game, and possibly purchase some, pop over to:

http://www.cascadeathletics.com/index.php?act=view_gallery&gallery=8905&league=2&page_name=photo_store&school=0&sport=0

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Cameron Toomey-Stout (11) climbs the stairway to football heaven. (John Fisken photos)

   Cameron Toomey-Stout (11) climbs the stairway to football heaven. (John Fisken photos)

Football coaches never really retire. Orson Christensen (left) and Tony Maggio, still drawing up plays even while on sabbatical.

   Football coaches never really retire. Orson Christensen (left) and Tony Maggio, still drawing up plays even while on sabbatical.

Wolf QB Shane Losey comes out chuckin'.

Wolf QB Shane Losey comes out chuckin’.

The scoreboard didn’t tell the entire story.

While the Coupeville High School JV football squad may have fallen 24-0 to visiting South Whidbey Tuesday, there were more positives than negatives.

“Game was closer than you think,” said CHS coach Ryan King. “Overall, these young kids played so well and they fought till the very end. Scoreboard may say differently, but who cares.

“Watching these young guys play through pain, play tired, pretty much give it their all, that’s a win for me,” he added. “What I saw tonight was the future of this program and as they keep putting in the work and we get things clicking, the future is very bright.”

While the Wolves didn’t crack the end zone, their offense did move the ball fairly consistently, with freshman quarterback Shane Losey hooking up with receivers Cameron Toomey-Stout, Tavian Woolett and Jake Hoagland for big plays.

Providing balance, freshman Chris Battaglia “ran the ball really well.”

On the defensive side, the Wolves brought pressure from all sides, especially after halftime.

“Man, I can’t even tell you how proud I am of their defense,” King said. “To never give up and to hold them scoreless the whole second half and to come up with huge stops.”

Woolett and Hoagland picked off passes, Ethan Marx “came up huge for us and made some great plays” and the Wolf linebackers were strong all game.

That unit includes Battaglia, Losey, Teo Keilwitz and Jacob Smith, who exited the game with a possible broken hand.

King also praised his d-line unit of Tyler McCalmont, Ryan Labrador, Matt Stevens, Axel Partida, Jake Pease, Josh Robinson and James Vidoni.

“They really brought the pressure,” King said. “I can’t say who had the best game cause they all did.”

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Hunter Downes (John Fisken photos)

   Wolf sophomore QB Hunter Downes threw for 139 yards in his high school varsity debut Friday. (John Fisken photo)

They lost, but they piled up some stats.

While the final score of Friday’s season opener wasn’t quite what the Coupeville High School football squad wanted, the Wolves had their moments.

And now, at least in the early stages of teams reporting in to Maxpreps.com, several players are among the best in class 1A.

Topping the chart are receiver C.J. Smith, who leads all receivers in yards gained, and kicker Zane Bundy, who was flawless on extra point attempts in his high school debut.

Not to be outdone, other Wolves like Jacob Martin, Lathom Kelley and Hunter Downes are firmly entrenched in the top three in their category after one game.

There’s a long season to play, but never skip a chance to celebrate your accomplishments along the way.

Current stats after one game (and, if you disagree with the numbers, talk to your coaches — they’re the ones who came up with these numbers, not me).

Offense:

Passing:

Hunter Downes 9 completions for 139 yards (#3 in 1A) with 1 TD and 2 INTs

Receiving:

C.J. Smith 3 receptions for 94 yards (#1 in 1A)
Wiley Hesselgrave
4-27
Hunter Smith 2-18

Rushing:

Lathom Kelley 14 carries for 37 yards (#6 in 1A)
Downes 2-1

Kickoff/punt returns:

Hesselgrave 4 for 73 yards (#4 in 1A)

Total yards:

Downes 140 (#5 in 1A)
C. Smith 94 (#8 in 1A)
Kelley 37
Hesselgrave 27
H. Smith 18

Touchdowns:

Jacob Martin 1
C. Smith 1

PATs:

Zane Bundy 2 (#1 in 1A)

Points:

Martin 6
C. Smith 6
Bundy 2

Defense:

Tackles:

Kelley 13 (#2 in 1A)
Hesselgrave 6
Mitchell Carroll 5
Julian Welling 5
Ty Eck 4
Brenden Gilbert 3
Martin 3
Uriel Liquidano 3
Tyler McCalmont 3
Mitchell Losey 2
Chris Battaglia 1
Jordan Ford 1
Clay Reilly 1
H. Smith 1

Sacks:

Hesselgrave 1 (#2 in 1A)
Martin
1 (#2 in 1A)

Interceptions:

Martin 1
Reilly 1
H. Smith 1

Fumble recoveries:

Martin 2
Ford 1

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Lathom Kelley: American Bad-Ass

Lathom Kelley: American Bad-Ass

Lathom, Lathom, Lathom

The Coupeville High School Class of 2016 has a parade of talented athletes — Makana Stone, Wiley Hesselgrave, Dalton Martin, Sylvia Hurlburt, Jared Helmstadter, Ryan Griggs, McKenzie Bailey and on and on.

But one dude stands out, the wild child, the rebel, the Lone Wolf who most closely resembles an outlaw country singer from the ’70s (I’m leaning towards Waylon Jennings), both in looks and attitude.

I’m serious.

Go listen to Jennings sing “I’ve Always Been Crazy” and tell me you don’t pick up parallels to Lathom Kelley, and I mean that with deep respect.

Waylon was The Man, and so is Lathom.

As he celebrates his 18th birthday today, Mr. Kelley is a fireball of intensity, exploding upwards and off the walls at CHS.

Sometimes literally, as when he sprints by you and zooms up the gym wall, executing a back-flip punctuated by a guttural scream and huge grin after sticking the landing like a Ukrainian gymnast winning the gold medal.

He is the most entertaining guy in sports entertainment, Coupeville division, mainly cause you never know what he’s about to do.

On the football field, he is pure, crackling electricity, madly thumping rival runners, then crashing through the line himself, throwing care to the wind as he churns out yardage.

Put him near a track oval and there is nothing the guy can’t do. Seriously.

While he has his areas of expertise, such as sprints, part of the fun of the past few years has been watching Lathom cartwheel from event to event, randomly picking up a new challenge and then kicking booty with no prior preparation.

Off the athletic stage, his sarcastic grin just barely disguises the good dude underneath.

The impression I have always had of him is of a guy who lives and dies for his close friends and family.

A genuinely nice guy, but also the person most likely to cap a roving pack of zombies and save the world, if it came to that.

Athletes come and athletes go, and some make more of an impression than others, either through their accomplishments or their personality.

But, every once in awhile, a true supernova comes hurtling through the door, grabs the world by the lapels and screams, “Let’s get this party started!!”

Lathom is one of a kind, of that there is no doubt. And we are a better school, a better town, for having him burn brightly here these past years.

Much respect, on your birthday and every day, man.

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