Coupeville High School football players Daylon Houston (left) and Aiden O’Neill, off to Friday Harbor on a business trip. (Davin Houston photo)
One year, two epic streaks spiked.
First, the Coupeville High School boys basketball team broke a 34-year dry spell, advancing to the state tournament for the first time since 1988.
And now, after a 43-14 dismantling of host Friday Harbor — it was 43-0 when CHS pulled most of its starters — the Wolf football squad is state-bound for the first time since 1990.
The win, Coupeville’s sixth-straight on the gridiron, lifts it to 7-1 on the season and caps a flawless 4-0 run through the Northwest 2B/1B League.
After previously clinching at least a tie for their first conference title since the ol’ ball coach, Ron Bagby, was still sportin’ short shorts, the Wolves won the NWL crown outright Friday night.
It’s the third league title for CHS football, with the 2022 squad joining the 1974 and 1990 teams, and this will be the fifth trip to state for the program.
The 12-team 2B state tourney kicks off Nov. 11, and the Wolves won’t know their foe or the site of their opening game until the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association seeds the teams Sunday, Nov. 6.
For a look at the still-blank state bracket, pop over to:
http://www.nw1a2bathletics.com/m2/tourn.php?act=vt&tid=3666
To punch their state ticket, the Wolves took a business trip to Friday Harbor and, quite simply, punched their hosts in the mouth.
Do the CHS football players, ages 14-18, really understand how ferocious Mike Tyson was in his prime in the ’80s and ’90s?
You know, those years where each time he stepped into the boxing ring you thought he might actually kill the poor sap trying to hide in the other corner, weeping into his gloves?
Maybe. Maybe not.
But, to a man, they imitated Iron Mike Friday, inflicting damage, both physical and emotional.
Peyton Caveness, warrior. (Brenna Silveira photo)
Dominic Coffman and Scott Hilborn, operating behind a line of big ol’ boys like William Davidson, Zane Oldenstadt, and Josh Upchurch, ran over Friday Harbor.
Then Wolf QB Logan Downes gashed the already-hurting defense, with fleet-footed receivers like Daylon Houston, Tim Ursu, and Hunter Bronec hauling in buttery-soft passes.
Coupeville scored on each of its first six possessions Friday and wasn’t subtle about it.
Coffman capped an opening 50-yard drive, plunging into the end zone on a short bull run, garnering what would be the first of four touchdowns on the night for the CHS senior.
Tack on a Daylon Houston PAT, force and recover a Friday Harbor fumble three plays later, then score again, and the tone was set.
Touchdowns #2 and #3 also came via Coffman — a 13-yard burst to freedom around the left side, followed by a 25-yard jaunt down the right sideline.
In between those scores, Friday Harbor put together its best drive of the game and got absolutely zip to show for it.
The Wolverines ran 15 plays, starting in the first quarter and ending in the second, went from their own 33-yard line to Coupeville’s 19, but had back-to-back running plays absolutely blown up at the end by CHS defenders.
Facing a fourth-and-nine, Friday Harbor went for the field goal, only to watch in horror as the ball ended up somewhere down around the ferry parking lot instead of splitting the uprights.
Coupeville tacked on a fourth touchdown right before the half, with Downes lofting a scoring strike into the waiting hands of Ursu.
Tim Ursu, unleashed. (Photo courtesy Ashleigh Casey)
Pushing the Wolf advantage to 28-0, it capped a drive in which CHS, facing a fourth-and-four, laughed at the danger and pulled off a 23-yard pass play with Bronec using a death grip to pluck the incoming ball from the heavens.
If Friday Harbor thought it might pull off a miracle second-half comeback, those hopes were dashed.
Quickly.
Hilborn outran a Wolverines receiver in a sprint downfield, then came back to the ball to pick it off, a roundhouse right to the temple for Friday Harbor.
Seconds later (OK, three plays), it was time for the Wolf weapons to detonate one more time.
Knocking Friday Harbor defenders off their feet, Hilborn shot in from 20 yards out for a touchdown, then Coupeville muffed the snap on the PAT.
Which might have been the plan all along, as Daylon Houston stopped in mid-stride, dropped his kicking leg back to Earth, snatched the ball off the sod, and flipped the jets.
Showcasing his wheels, Daniel and Alia’s middle son took off like a bat out of Hell, and beat a pack of defenders to the corner, waving bye-bye-bye as he notched his first two-point conversion of the season.
“Hey Dawson … mom says I’m faster than you.” (Alia Houston photo)
Tack on touchdown #4 for Coffman, this one on a 63-yard rumble down the left sideline, and a final Houston PAT and we had arrived at 43-0 and the end of the third quarter.
Now, give Friday Harbor some credit.
Trying to retain a bit of dignity as the league title was ripped from their hands on the night they celebrated Homecoming, the Wolverines scored twice in the waning moments against Coupeville’s younger players.
Which is fine and dandy, but Coupeville has still outscored its foes 349-101 this year, with Friday’s six-touchdown effort giving the Wolves 50 TD’s.
Riding his four-score effort, Coffman reclaims the team lead with 13 TD’s, while Ursu and Hilborn each have 12.
Downes first-half scoring pass was his 17th touchdown heave of the season, leaving him one off of Joel Walstad’s single-season CHS record of 18, set back in 2014.
As a team, the Wolves have rushed for 24 TD’s and thrown for 18 — freshman Chase Anderson connected on one while subbing for Downes earlier this season.
The school single-season team records, both set in 2014 by Josh Bayne, Walstad, and Co., are 26 TD’s on the ground and 20 through the air.
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