Other teams are stumblin’, while Coupeville is rumblin’. (John Fisken photo)
This? This is epic.
For a Wolf football team to go into the heart of privilege and excellence and deliver a beat-down of the magnitude seen Wednesday is almost unfathomable. But it happened.
With Ty and Gabe Eck combining for five touchdowns, the Coupeville Middle School gridiron squad drilled King’s 55-14 in a butt-whuppin’ that may reverberate for years to come. If these same players face off later in high school, a warning has been served — Wolf Nation is on the rise.
Even better, it wasn’t just a two-man show.
“I would say that the kids played with a lot of heart and intensity,” said assistant coach Ron Wright. “Everyone in all positions (QB, O line, RB, wings, receivers, D line, DB’s, linebackers and safety) executed their job the way we practiced.
“It didn’t matter it they were first string or second string, they all contributed.”
Coupeville ran wild with the ball, using a mix of big passes and even bigger runs to keep the scoreboard operator hopping.
Both Eck brothers busted off a pair of scoring runs apiece, while Gabe hauled in a scoring toss from quarterback Hunter Downes. The Wolf signal caller also scored on a short run, while Chris Battaglia scored on his very first time running the ball.
The hard-hitting Wolf defense capped the scoring when Cameron Toomey-Stout took back a pick six 30 yards for a touchdown.
Whether it was the starters or the reserves, a fired-up Wolf defense hit first, last and often.
James Vidoni, Alex Turner, Toomey-Stout, Downes, Battaglia and the Ecks led the way, while newer players such as Brian Roberts and Jaushon Collett got their first tackles of the season.
Battalia led CMS with 12 tackles while Turner recovered a fumble.
Coupeville, now 2-1 on the season, is growing stronger each game, as it meshes its veterans (Turner is in his sixth year, the Ecks are in their eighth season, having started before first grade) with a handful of raw, inexperienced players.
To beat the biggest, baddest name in the Cascade Conference is huge.
“I did not think that the players were really aware of the significance of winning against King’s as the coaches and parents were,” mom Kenia Eck said. “They were just all happy to win and that they all got to contribute to that win.
“Once the news got out that they had won and the score of the game, it was all over Facebook before they bus even got back to school.”
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