Coupeville Sports

   Xavier Clark unleashes a little play he calls “The Stunner” on a hapless King’s player. (John Fisken photos)

Wolf freshman QB Steven Cope unleashes a bomb.

Brenden Gilbert brings down a Knight.

Cole Payne gets tripped up as he tries to scramble for big yardage.

Trouble wrapping up the runner came back to bite the Wolves Monday.

Despite big defensive games from a number of players, headlined by Xavier Clark ripping through the line to mow down the visiting King’s quarterback several times, the Coupeville High School JV football team fell 26-8 on a chilly afternoon.

Clark and JR Pendergrass both got to the Knights signal caller, with Pendergrass knocking him down with a quick two-handed blast to the chest, but when King’s got the ball away, trouble started.

Time and again, the Wolves had a Knights player in their grasp, only to let him slip free again. On one touchdown run, the scoring player broke through eight different potential tacklers.

That tipped what was a very close game for most of the way, with King’s scoring two fourth-quarter touchdowns to blow open what was still a 13-8 game with ten minutes to play.

Coupeville had toughened up and made several stops on fourth down prior to that, while King’s racked up a series of flags that called back potential game-breaking plays.

Down 13-0, the Wolves, playing without starting quarterback Joel Walstad (gone on a family trip) finally broke through when Tyree Booker took off down the left sideline for a huge run, zipping virtually untouched for almost the length of the field.

Jacob Martin added the two-point conversion on a tackle-busting run up the gut.

Coupeville closes its JV season with a road trip to Sultan Monday. Nov. 4.

**The photos above are courtesy of traveling photographer John Fisken. To see more head over to:

http://www.cascadeathletics.com/index.php?act=view_gallery&gallery=4657&league=2&page=1&page_name=photo_store&school=24&sport=0

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Team tackling at its finest. (John Fisken photos)

Uriel Liquidano absolutely, positively refuses to let the runner get away.

Cole Payne rests for a moment while waiting for the ref to signal a touchdown.

Joel Walstad prepares to tee off.

Jacob Martin takes the hand-off and prepares to do some damage.

Xavier Clark (52) gives his teammates a brief pep talk. “Unleash Hell … on my command!!”

It’s a 2-for-1 special today, as both the Coupeville High School JV football team and the varsity girls’ soccer team play at home, on the same field.

The gridiron gang hosts King’s at 4 PM, followed by soccer’s Senior Night against Granite Falls at 6:30.

In preparation, we offer up a few left-over Wolf football pics that have been hanging around, waiting to be used. Bask in the glow.

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Sage Downes prepares to kick some fanny. (Olivia Kelley photo)

Unblow the whistle and things might have gone differently.

On the same day game three of the World Series was decided on a highly controversial call by the umps, a ref who thought they saw something they really didn’t helped derail the Anacortes Midget Sea Hawks football team in its playoff opener.

The Sea Hawks, who feature three Coupeville Elementary students (Matthew Kelley, Jake Mitten, Sage Downes), fell 16-12 to Oak Harbor in a battle of 6-2 teams, ending their season.

The call in question happened early, when the Anacortes quarterback was smacked, hard, right after handing the ball off to the speedy Kelley. He had a wide open path down the sidelines to a game-opening touchdown, but the play was whistled dead when a ref on the far side thought the man down still had the ball.

Anacortes, playing on coach Pat Kelley’s birthday, rallied from the setback and held the lead late into the game before giving up what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown.

“The kids played wonderful. We got them to stop stacking the box by throwing the ball well and it opened up runs for other kids,” Kelley said. “Very tough one to accept, but we will have a great team next year. I keep down a really strong group of eight and send 17 up to Juniors.”

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Jake Tumblin, Coupeville’s leading rusher, left the game in the third quarter Friday with a concussion. (John Fisken photo)

Players come and players go.

The Coupeville High School football team got back its most fearsome lineman Friday, then promptly lost its most explosive offensive weapon, and his primary backup, during a 28-0 loss to the #9 ranked 1A team in the state.

Senior Nick Streubel returned after missing Homecoming with a tweaked ankle and was able to play the entire game at King’s on defense and the second half on offense, but Jake Tumblin was sent to the ER with a concussion in the third quarter and will miss the regular season finale against Sultan.

While he will have to sit out Senior Night Nov. 1, there is a good chance Tumblin would be available the following week when Coupeville (3-4) would get a crossover game against an opponent yet to be determined.

That game would pit the Wolves against another team that failed to make the playoffs.

Tumblin’s running mate, sophomore Lathom Kelley (shoulder or collarbone) and senior lineman Joey Edwards (helmet to the back) were also injured, while junior center Carson Risner was able to make his first appearance in weeks after coming back from an MCL injury.

When they were able to keep their players upright, the Wolves matched up surprisingly well with a team that has legitimate state title hopes.

Spurred on by the return of Streubel, AKA The Big Hurt, who it badly missed a week ago against South Whidbey, Coupeville held the host Knights to far less than their season average.

With Tumblin going down, the Wolves just couldn’t answer King’s back with much offensive pop of their own.

“We played them tough on defense,” said CHS coach Tony Maggio. “Fun game, just couldn’t get the offense rolling.”

King’s used the Wilkins brothers to put the game on ice. Koa Wilkins threw for two short touchdowns (nine and 15 yards) while rushing for a third on a seven-yard scamper, while Laka Wilkins opened the scoring with a 19-yard bolt to the end zone.

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