Wiley Hesselgrave, destroyer of souls. (John Fisken photos)
Even recent shoulder surgery couldn’t keep CHS softball star McKayla Bailey (and mom Donna) away from the game.
Willie Smith (left) and Joel Norris keep things hoppin’ in the press box.
Wiley Hesselgrave was back and the Earth trembled.
Returning to the lineup after missing a game with a hurt shoulder, the Coupeville High School junior linebacker was like a wild beast unleashed Friday night, and it kick-started his Wolf teammates.
Hitting harder than they had a week before, with Hesselgrave laying down bone-crackin’ licks to set the pace, CHS rolled out to a 27-0 lead after one quarter before strolling home with a 48-24 win over visiting Chimacum.
The victory lifted Coupeville to 2-1 overall, 1-0 in Olympic League play.
It also sets up an early-season battle for first place in the new four-team 1A league.
Port Townsend (2-1, 1-0), which beat Klahowya 22-9 Friday, travels to Whidbey next Friday, Sept. 26, with a 5:30 kickoff.
They’ll find a Wolf team waiting for them which ripped off four touchdowns in four minutes against Chimacum.
After trading punts with the Cowboys, Coupeville broke through on a one-yard quarterback keeper by Joel Walstad with five and a half minutes in the quarter.
The score was set up by runs of 13 and 12 yards by Josh Bayne and a quick pass-catch-and-smash-through-three-would-be-tacklers from Walstad to Hesselgrave.
Then the dam broke.
Jumping on Chimacum errors — a fumble recovery by Bayne and an onside kick snagged by a freewheeling Hesselgrave — the Wolves punched in touchdowns on back-to-back offensive plays.
The first was another 1-yard keeper by Walstad, the second a broken play that turned magical.
Scrambling to evade a would-be sacker, Walstad stayed on his feet just long enough to allow Bayne to break free, hitting the speedy senior in mid-stride for a 33-yard scoring strike.
Coupeville tacked on a two-point conversion, with Walstad lobbing a pass to his tallest target, six-foot-two junior Ryan Griggs, who plucked the ball from the heavens.
Not done, the Wolves forced another fumble recovery and three plays later, Bayne strolled up the middle, virtually untouched, for a five-yard touchdown run.
Up 27-0, CHS got two more scores before the halftime break.
Bayne scored the third of his four touchdowns on the night on an eight-yard burst to the promised land, then CJ Smith made a sensational catch, going airborne and reaching over two defenders, while being lit up, to haul in a 20-yard bomb from Walstad.
After that, the second half was all about letting the clock run freely and getting young players such as Cameron Toomey-Stout, Hunter Downes, Mitchell Carroll and Clay Reilly some solid varsity action.
Chimacum, playing for pride, punched in three scores in the second half to make the final score more reasonable, but Coupeville had also long ago taken its foot off the gas pedal.
Walstad, who had thrown for 200+ yards in both of the first two games, settled for more of a game-managing role this time around. He completed six of 11 passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns.
Bayne hauled in three passes for 57 yards, Smith collected two for 57 and Hesselgrave’s reception and demolition of the Chimacum defense netted 14 yards.
Coupeville opted to get most of its offense on the ground, with Bayne busting out several big runs as he rolled up 171 yards on just 13 carries.
Two-way terror Hesselgrave tossed in 94 yards on seven runs, with Lathom Kelley (4-47) and Jacob Martin (4-6) also chipping in.
The unsung heroes were blockers like Martin and the Wolf line — Aaron Wright, Isaac Vargas, Brenden Gilbert, Oscar Liquidano and Matt Shank — who controlled play and blew big holes open for their guys.
Many of them were also featured in a defensive front which Wolf coach Tony Maggio credited heavily, saying “Our defense was really impressive. They really swarmed to the ball and didn’t give up any big plays, especially in the early going.”
Shank and Bayne each netted eight tackles, while Kelley (7), Wright (5), Hesselgrave (4), Gabe Wynn (3), Vargas (3), Gilbert (2), Liquidano (1) and James Vidoni (1) brought the heat, as well.
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