Coupeville Sports

Wolf QB Josh Bayne fights for extra yards in a game against Port Townsend. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

It’s official. No football in week five.

Friday, Oct. 4 will be a bye week for the Coupeville High School football squad, after the school was unable to find an opponent to play a non-conference game against that week.

CHS had to scramble after its original opponent in that slot backed out of the game, leaving an opening on the schedule. Administrators came close to finding a replacement, but were unable to nail down a game in the end, as most other schools had their schedules set.

The Wolves will play non-conference foes the next two weeks (hosting Lynden Christian Sept. 20, then traveling to Nooksack Valley Sept. 27). Then, after the bye, they will start a four-game stretch against fellow Cascade Conference teams with a road game at Granite Falls Oct. 11.

Playing in the second-year of a two-year plan to ease pressure on an undermanned squad, Coupeville, the smallest 1A school in the 1A/2A league, is playing fellow 1A schools South Whidbey and King’s and the two smallest 2A squads — Granite Falls and Sultan.

The Wolves will not play the biggest conference schools — Cedarcrest and Lakewood — or the league’s football factory, Archbishop Thomas Murphy, this season.

Without the built-in ease of having a full conference schedule, CHS had to work extra hard to find far more non-conference games than normal.

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Matt Kelley (18) takes a breather after another big run. (Pat Kelley photos)

Jake Mitten is ready to go.

Sage Downes prepares for battle.

“Any of those opposing players rough up my Coupeville boys, and I’m coming over there!!”

The Coupeville connection continues to pay off.

Bolstered by their Whidbey warriors, the Anacortes Midget Sea Hawks football squad improved to 3-0 with a win over Burlington that wasn’t as close as the score might indicate.

While 32-28 sounds like a nail-biter, Burlington scored twice in the final six minutes against the second-string Anacortes defense to tighten things up. Until then, it was all Sea Hawks all the time.

The Wolf trio of Matt Kelley, Sage Downes and Jake Mitten all made their impact felt, with Kelley scoring a dramatic touchdown. Wearing bright red shoes that made him stand out, Kelley shed five tacklers on his way to a 28-yard scoring romp down the right side right before halftime.

Downs busted out three runs of plus-15 yards himself, setting up a Sea Hawks score when he plunged to the one-yard line, while Mitten laid down key blocks from his tight end position.

Cameron Berow paced Anacortes with two touchdowns, while Brock Illston and Kelley each popped for another. Gaige Berow converted four two-point PATs.

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Speedy receiver Tyree Booker prepares to take flight.

Wolf center Carson Risner (left) rumbles in the trenches.

The Wolves, led by quarterback Gunnar Langvold (6), huddle up.

With Langvold hobbled by a sprain, backup QB Josh Bayne came in to throw for 140 yards.

A small smidgen of the epically-sized CHS cheer squad.

The final score Friday night wasn’t what Coupeville High School wanted, but the effort was certainly there.

Playing with a battered, bruised team that was missing all of its varsity running backs, the Wolves fell 41-0 at Port Townsend (a game story can be found further down this blog), but they kept fighting until the final gun.

On the scene, trusty camera in hand, was photo whiz Shelli Trumbull, who continues to do more than just about anyone to record the school days sports memories of current CHS and CMS student athletes.

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