Mitchell Losey rushed for 22 yards and made a pair of tackles in Friday night’s loss. (John Fisken photo)
They can still make the playoffs.
Even after being pounded 56-20 at Port Townsend Friday, and losing their second-leading rusher to a broken hand, the Coupeville High School football squad is still very much in contention for a postseason berth.
To get there, though, the injury-plagued Wolves will need to take care of business and/or get a little help during the final two weeks of league play.
With the loss, CHS sits at 3-3 overall, 2-2 in the 1A Olympic League.
Port Townsend (4-2) and Klahowya (3-3), which routed Chimacum 41-15 Thursday, are atop the league at 3-1.
Chimacum (0-6), which Coupeville plays next Friday, Oct. 17, is 0-4 in league play.
The top two teams will advance to the playoffs, and, if the Wolves don’t stumble against the winless Cowboys, they would be in a tie for the second berth with the loser of next Friday’s Klahowya vs. Port Townsend tilt.
Coupeville closes league play Oct. 24, when it hosts Klahowya for Homecoming.
The Wolves then play a non-conference game at Concrete on Halloween night.
If Port Townsend beats Klahowya, the Redhawks would all but clinch the league title, with just a rivalry game against Chimacum remaining on its league scheule.
If that happens, Coupeville (barring an upset loss to the Cowboys) and Klahowya would face off at 3-2 with the second playoff berth on the line.
If Klahowya avenges an earlier loss to Port Towsend, however, then comes to Cow Town and stumbles, and the Redhawks still tame the Cowboys, all three schools not named Chimacum would finish at 4-2, having split games against each other.
After that, I have no idea.
To get to that point, however, Coupeville will need to get its defense back to where it was over the first four games.
After a strong start Friday — the game was tied 14-14 after one quarter and Coupeville was within two scores at the half — the Wolves were shredded in the second half.
“Our defense is missing right now,” said CHS coach Tony Maggio.
Port Townsend ran the score up in the second half, tacking on three touchdowns to widen a 35-20 halftime bulge.
The Wolf defensive unit is one currently scarred by injuries, and it added another when junior two-way terror Lathom Kelley broke his hand prior to the game and was unable to play.
Along with being a force on defense, Kelley is also the team’s second leading rusher and ran for 189 yards and three touchdowns when Coupeville beat Port Townsend 29-21 two weeks ago.
Josh Bayne paced the Wolf ‘d’ Friday, recording 10 tackles and assisting on three others, while Wiley Hesselgrave (8-2), Oscar Liquidano (7-0), Aaron Wright (4-2), Matt Shank (5-0), Hunter Smith (4-0) and Jacob Martin (3-0) all chipped in.
Mitchell Losey (2 tackles), Ryan Griggs (1), CJ Smith (1) and Isaac Vargas (1) also got their names in the stat sheets, with Wright and Vargas recovering fumbles.
On the offensive side of the ball, Coupeville had a nice mix, throwing for 200 yards and rushing for 123 more.
Wolf QB Joel Walstad, still recovering from a hip pointer, connected on 16 of 32 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown, while Bayne hooked up with Griggs on a 43-yard pass on his only attempt.
Griggs led the Wolf receivers, hauling down four catches for 92 yards. Bayne (5-51), Hesselgrave (3-39), Martin (3-17) and CJ Smith (1-1) were also effective targets.
Where Port Townsend excelled was in largely shutting down the Wolf running game, which had blistered them the first time around.
Playing in Coupeville, the Wolves rumbled for 333 yards. Friday, that number went way, way down, with Bayne, the #2 rusher in 1A, held to 61 yards on 17 carries.
Martin (4-33), Losey (3-22), Hesselgrave (1-6) and Walstad (1-1) all carried the ball as well, with limited success.
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