Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Downes busts records, Wolves thrash Braves

October 20, 2023 by David Svien

Hunter Downes was in La Conner Friday to see younger brother Logan break his CHS career touchdown passing record. (Angie Downes photo)

Logan Downes made up for lost time.

Returning from a one-game absence due to illness, the Coupeville High School senior quarterback had a record-setting night Friday in La Conner.

Or actually, make that a record-setting first half, as the Wolves blew out to a big lead and CHS coach Bennett Richter rested his gunslinger after halftime during a 43-12 win.

The gridiron guru is likely playing the long game, making sure his QB will be hale, hearty and healthy for the regular-season finale.

That comes in just six days, as a lack of refs in the area has bumped Coupeville’s Senior Night to Thursday, Oct. 26.

The Wolves, now 2-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 2-6 overall, welcome Friday Harbor to Cow Town, with a 4:00 PM kickoff and festivities at halftime.

A revenge victory over the Wolverines (3-0, 4-3) gives Coupeville a share of the league title and forces a tiebreaker to decide which NWL team advances to the state tourney.

To get into that position, CHS needed to take care of business on its trip to La Conner, and, after a brief burp, did just that.

Linemen Zane Oldenstadt (left) and William Davidson bask in the glow of victory. (Michelle Glass photo)

Now, if you only watched the first five minutes or so, you might be thrown off by the final score.

Downes didn’t get to fling a pass on the opening drive, and four rushing attempts only netted eight yards, as Coupeville turned the ball over.

Taking advantage, La Conner churned and burned its way downfield, using a nine-play drive that consisted of one body-slamming run after another to cover 45 yards.

A face mask penalty on the Wolves set the Braves up at the three-yard line, and CJ Edwards promptly plowed into the end zone to make the local Homecoming crowd get briefly giddy.

Briefly.

Coupeville snuffed out a two-point conversion run to keep the deficit at 6-0, then promptly kicked off a run of 43 straight points.

And I do mean promptly.

A strong kickoff return by fleet-footed frosh Davin Houston gave the Wolves the ball at the 50-yard line, followed by Downes connecting with Chase Anderson on a pass play that finished in the end zone.

Up 7-6, Coupeville forced a punt, Downes flung another 45-yard bomb to Anderson, and the Wolves were surging.

A lost fumble very briefly interrupted the flow, but after that the first half was a master class of quarterback play.

Jack Porter dreams of touchdown catches. (Parker Hammons photo)

Downes chucked a 47-yard scoring strike to Jack Porter, added a two-point conversion pass to Hunter Bronec after a La Conner penalty on the PAT attempt, and was just getting started.

The wily senior broke the school career touchdown passing record with his third tally of the night, hooking up with Bronec from 10 yards out.

After that came a second scoring lob to Anderson and a short five-yard TD strike to Aiden O’Neill on the very last play of the half.

Beating the clock and the defense, Downes staked Coupeville to a 36-6 lead and exited stage left with at least a share of all three Wolf TD passing records.

His five scoring strikes Friday matches his own school single-game record, set last season.

The TD pass to O’Neill is his 18th of the current campaign, tying him with Joel Walstad for the school single-season mark, originally set in 2014.

And career-wise?

Logan Downes opened the night with 33 touchdown passes, tied for #2 all-time with current CHS basketball coach Brad Sherman, two behind the record holder, big bro Hunter Downes.

Now the youngest of Ralph and Angie’s three sons sits alone atop the heap with 38 TD passes and counting heading into the clash with Friday Harbor.

Johnny Porter is coming to wreck your night. (Parker Hammons photo)

While the record-setting night gets a lot of the buzz, and deservedly so, there were other Wolves who had big performances against La Conner.

Bronec scored Coupeville’s lone second half touchdown, recovering a fumble and taking it to the house to cap a night in which he scored on both offense and defense.

Then there was big, bad senior Mikey Robinett, who spent much of the night flinging would-be blockers out of his way and making life severely uncomfortable for any La Conner player who dared to touch the football.

Johnny Porter crashed through the line time and again, tearing off rushing yardage, while freshman QB Matthew Gilbert got to play the entire second half in relief of Downes.

Cameron Breaux to Zane Oldenstadt, William Davidson to Malachi Somes and beyond, go up and down the roster and the Wolves got contributions from everyone.

Half of Coupeville’s games have seen the 2B Wolves playing up against quality 1A and 2A schools this season — making their win/loss record a little deceptive.

But now they head home, masters of their own destiny.

Win league, get back to state. It’s still the goal, and it’s what will be on the line next Thursday.

Bow Down to Cow Town. (Parker Hammons photo)

Posted in Football | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments »

Booters claim Senior Night win

October 20, 2023 by David Svien

Nick Guay knocked in a goal Friday to help spark a Senior Night win. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It was a nice change of pace.

Riding an emotional wave on Senior Night, the Coupeville High School soccer squad played its final home game of the season Friday afternoon and exited with a bang.

Blanking visiting La Conner 2-0, the Wolves snapped a three-game skid, giving their five veterans a final victory on the turf at Mickey Clark Field.

Now 3-4 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 6-5 overall, Coupeville isn’t done, as it still has a road game on Orcas Island Oct. 24.

And while playoff hopes are on life support, they’re not completely dead.

A lot will have to happen over the next couple of days to make that a reality, but, in the words of James Bond, “Never Say Never Again.”

When they took the pitch Friday, the Wolves knew they needed a win to fan the faint embers of their remaining playoff dreams, but they also wanted to win for other reasons.

The sixth win gives this year’s squad the most victories in coach Robert Wood’s four-year run at the helm.

Showing continued growth coming out of a pandemic and a moment where it appeared the program would be shut down for lack of players, the Wolves are going uphill.

They finished 1-5 during a Covid-shortened 2020 season, then 4-10, 5-9, and now sit at 6-5 this time around.

The core of the rebuild has been Coupeville’s seniors, with Andrew Williams and Nick Guay playing all four seasons for Wood.

Hank Milnes and Cole White joined later, with Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim returning to soccer for his senior season after several years away from the game.

Hank Milnes stands tall on defense. (Mia Farris photo)

The furious five-pack, with help from their younger counterparts, have been ranked as high as #4 in the state this season, and have the ability to impress when everything is clicking.

Facing a scrappy, if inconsistent, La Conner squad, the Wolves came hard, attacking the goal all night.

The only problem was the Braves goaltender played like a man channeling legendary Italian netminder Gigi Buffon (thank you, Google…), throwing his body 1,001 different directions while punching balls away in frantic fashion.

On one attack, the Wolves peppered the net with three shots in rapid succession, only to see them all deflected.

But Coupeville kept pressing, and finally broke through right before stoppage time in the first half.

Sophomore scoring sensation Ezra Boilek banged home a penalty kick, the ball finding the top left of the net to finally get a goal on the big board.

It was Boilek’s team-leading eighth score during his first season running the CHS pitch, and Coupeville’s defense made the tally stand up.

Wolf goaltender Hurlee Bronec was a little less flashy than his La Conner counterpart on this day, but ultimately more effective.

Making numerous saves, he refused to let the Braves earn any satisfaction, with some big-time help from his defense, which scrambled, juked, and jostled their way to a shutout.

Hurlee Bronec, keeper of the net. (Jackie Saia photo)

Coupeville’s fans wanted a second goal, to give their team a little breathing room, and White, who “puts in more miles than anyone” according to his coach, came dangerously close, sliding several balls just past the net.

The Wolves finally got the cushion thanks to Guay, who was the right man in the right place.

Wandering past the net, he got his head on a ball and banked it through a wall of defenders to set the final margin at 2-0.

It was Guay’s sixth goal of the season and the 14th of his CHS career.

That breaks a tie with former Wolf ace Aidan Wilson and cements the lanky Wolf senior as the #6 scorer in program history.

Posted in soccer | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

CEA, CESA endorse Ford, Leavitt

October 20, 2023 by David Svien

Ballots are in the mail and votes wait to be counted.

As we head towards the general election Nov. 7, two Coupeville School Board seats are up for grabs.

Incumbent Alison Perera, who was appointed to her position to replace the retiring Glenda Merwine, faces off with David Ford, while Leann Leavitt and Chic Merwine square off for the other open gig.

With that in mind, local unions have released their endorsements, which you can read below:

 

Coupeville Education Association (CEA) and Coupeville Educational Support Association (CESA) are the unions whose members make up the majority of the educators that serve our students and their families in the Coupeville School District as teachers, counselors, nurses, paraeducators, secretaries, and several additional categories of critical support staff members.

Given our on-the-ground daily roles in our local public schools, we understand the importance of the school board, the individuals who serve on it, and how their decisions affect the district, staff, students, and our community.

As such, we have decided to jointly endorse school board candidates during this election season.

This process included candidates completing a questionnaire on their beliefs about public education as well as an in-person interview with representatives of CEA and CESA.

While we appreciate the impressive background of service each candidate we interviewed has provided our community, after putting in the necessary effort to properly examine the candidates in greater detail, we chose to endorse the candidates that were best able to articulate a clear understanding of issues facing the Coupeville School District.

As a result of this thoughtful collaborative endorsement process between the two unions, we
are pleased to announce our endorsement of David Ford and Leann Leavitt.

In addition to the endorsements of CEA and CESA, David and Leann have received the official endorsement of the Washington Education Association Political Action Committee.

Who is David Ford?

David is a Coupeville High School graduate, his wife is a Coupeville High School graduate, he has a child who is a Coupeville High School graduate, and he has two grandchildren who are students in the Coupeville School District.

He has served for over 28 years in the Naval Service and has served the school district as a member of the district’s budget committee.

David shows an acute knowledge of the current struggles the district is facing with regards to safety, equity, and accountability.

Who is Leann Leavitt?

Leann is a Coupeville High School graduate and parent; she has one child who recently graduated from Coupeville High School and has two still in the district.

She has several years of experience as a leader within the Coupeville Booster Club and as a former Coupeville Elementary PTA President.

Leann brings a unique perspective with a very strong understanding of the mental health challenges, as well as the physical and emotional safety issues, our students are facing in the district.

Please join us in encouraging voters to support David Ford and Leann Leavitt.

We look forward to working with them as school board directors.

 

Marc DeArmond
Coupeville Education Association Co-President and Endorsement Committee Member

Jennifer Mostafavinassab
Coupeville Education Association Co-President

Shelly LaRue
Coupeville Educational Support Association President and Endorsement Committee Member and WEA Fourth Corner ESP/ACT Representative

Annalisa Hiroyasu
Coupeville Education Association Endorsement Committee Member and WEA Fourth Corner Equity Representative

Cassandra Light
Coupeville Educational Support Association Endorsement Committee Member

Posted in elections | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Return (revenge?) of the parade pics!

October 20, 2023 by David Svien

When she’s not celebrating Homecoming, Riley White is in training for the next Karate Kid reboot. (Jackie Saia photos)

Never too late for parade pics.

Homecoming was a week ago, but a new batch of photos from Coupeville High School’s parade have just surfaced.

And we here at Coupeville Sports are all about raking in page hits for displaying glossy images.

So jump back in time seven days with me.

PS — I’m well aware the first photo is from the game itself, and not the parade.

PPS — Don’t worry about it, the other seven are, so that’s 87.5% parade pics in a story about parade pics. It’ll do.

Posted in Homecoming | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

School Board bumps meeting

October 20, 2023 by David Svien

With Mikey Robinett and crew celebrating Senior Night Oct. 26, the Coupeville School Board is bumping its monthly meeting to avoid a conflict. (Bailey Thule photo)

Always write your schedule in pencil, not pen.

The Coupeville School Board has moved its regular board meeting from Thursday, Oct. 26 to Monday, Oct. 30.

The event, which goes down in the Kathleen Anderson Board Room on the CHS campus, and is also livestreamed, starts at 5:30 PM.

The shift is to prevent a conflict with Coupeville High School’s Senior Night for football and cheer.

That game, originally set for Oct. 27, was recently bumped up a night thanks to a referee shortage.

Instead of playing under Friday Night Lights, the Wolves host Friday Harbor — in a game with huge playoff implications — at 4:00 PM on a Thursday afternoon.

Posted in Football, school board | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »