Gabe Shaw and the Coupeville defense came up big Friday night in a 13-0 win over La Conner. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Sean Toomey-Stout (1), seen in an earlier game, blew up fools on defense, while also scoring a touchdown off of a 35-yard catch-and-run. (Stephanie Martin photo)
It wasn’t pretty, but they’ll take it.
Despite having three touchdowns waved off because of penalties Friday, the Coupeville High School football team was able to lean on a suffocating defense and blank visiting La Conner 13-0.
The victory brings the Wolves back to .500 at 2-2 on the season, heading into a long road trip to Kittitas next Saturday, Oct. 5.
Friday night’s game, played against one of Coupeville’s longest-running rivals, was the kind which looks great on the scoreboard and maybe not as much when it comes time for players and coaches to look at game film.
The Wolves shot themselves in the foot numerous times, racking up a ton of penalties, which ultimately could have hurt a lot worse than they did.
Twice Coupeville captain Sean Toomey-Stout took punt returns to the house, only to have penalties on his teammates negate his game-busting plays.
The first time, “The Torpedo” exploded for 55 yards down the left sideline in the first quarter.
Jump forward to late in the third, and La Conner, apparently having not gotten the memo not to kick to Toomey-Stout, watched as he snatched up a bouncing punt and slashed through the defense, ending a 60-yard plus romp in the end zone.
Only to have to walk the ball back down the field once again, passing a virtual sea of flags thrown at his blockers.
Another penalty on Coupeville would momentarily eject the Wolves from the end zone for a third time in the fourth quarter, but this time the hometown team made it right back in, thanks to a two-yard plunge by Ben Smith.
That score, followed by a Daylon Houston PAT, came with a hair over five minutes left in the game, and stretched a 6-0 nail-biter into a much more comfortable 13-0 romp.
It also capped a strong performance for Smith, who was Coupeville’s workhorse on this misty night.
Running hard, legs driving all night long, the Wolf junior finished with an unofficial total of 81 yards on 18 carries, capping things with his first varsity touchdown.
Smith also had his moments on defense, including a key tackle on the first possession of the game, blasting the Braves ball-carrier and forcing the first of five La Conner punts.
Coupeville took immediate advantage, scoring the only touchdown it would need two plays later.
Taking over at the La Conner 30-yard line, the Wolves picked up a false start penalty on their first offensive play — a hint of things to come — then made some magic.
Sprinting away from a would-be tackler, senior quarterback Dawson Houston threw across his body on the move, dropping a sweet pass down the left sideline, right between Toomey-Stout and the world’s most over-matched defensive back.
Toomey-Stout spun into the air like a muscular ballerina, snatched the ball off the top of his defender’s helmet, landed, and two or three large strides later, was relaxing in the end zone with the prettiest touchdown of the season.
It was a stab right through the heart, and not even a muffed snap on the extra point could dampen the enthusiastic response of the Wolf faithful.
Up 6-0 with 6:56 left in the first quarter, Coupeville looked ready to exchange big offensive punches if necessary.
It wouldn’t need to, though, as the Wolf defense basically shut down any and everything La Conner’s offense might have been planning.
Swarming to the ball, and winning the battle on the line, Coupeville’s defense looked the best it has all season, stuffing Braves runners and batting down La Conner passes.
The visitors had six possessions in the first half. Four ended in punts, the other two in a failure to convert on fourth down.
Those two possessions both ended on passes which hit the ground, but played out differently.
On the first one, La Conner’s quarterback, facing fourth-and-seven from the Coupeville 22-yard line, had a man open but flat-out missed him.
Next possession, the Braves gunslinger was rattled on third down when Alex Jimenez and Gavin Straub blew through the line to team on a bone-crunching sack, then put up a weak lob on fourth down which had little hope of success.
After its opening touchdown toss, Coupeville wasn’t exactly tearing up the field on offense, either.
The Wolves punted three times in the first half, one fewer than La Conner, and had another drive end on a misfired fourth-down pass.
Neither offense went nuclear in the second half, but the Wolves got the yards they needed with Smith and Andrew Martin carrying the rushing load, while the Braves stalled out time and again.
La Conner needed just a single yard for a first down early in the third quarter, only to have Toomey-Stout get out the big paddle.
Shedding two would-be blockers, he blasted through a teeny-tiny hole, stepped up into the face of an oncoming Braves rusher and dropped him with a resounding thud.
That set the Wolf student section jumpin’, and the stadium at Mickey Clark Field to bouncin’, which brought a huge grin to the face of CHS Athletic Director/PA announcer Willie Smith.
“Bout time!,” the man with the velvet fog voice declared.
It wasn’t the last time the defense would inspire the Wolf fans, as Coupeville collected two fumbles and an interception in the game’s final 14 minutes.
The first fumble was snatched up by Dakota Eck, making his season debut after overcoming a nasty preseason arm injury.
The second ball to pop free did so into a seething mass of Wolf defenders, making it hard at first to tell who snatched up the wayward football.
After the crowds had parted, however, CHS freshman Scott Hilborn was the last man holding on to the ball, continuing a strong start to his promising prep career.
After a game where the teams combined for approximately 2,367 penalties, Coupeville closed the night with five minutes of perfection.
Sage Downes, patrolling deep, picked off a La Conner pass to blunt the Braves final offensive chance, then the Wolves handed the ball to Martin four straight times to end things.
Ramming straight up the gut against a defense which had no desire to amass any more bruises, Martin kept the clock (and the chains) moving, tearing off yardage and sending the fans home happy.
With the win, the CHS Class of 2020 finishes 3-1 against La Conner, having rebounded from a 53-6 loss as freshmen to beat the Braves 40-6, 33-12, and 13-0 the last three seasons.
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