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Posts Tagged ‘anniversary’

Bring ’em home!!

Posted in Football, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 31, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Wolf QB Jason McFadyen operates under center during the undefeated 1990 season.

   Wolf QB Jason McFadyen operates under center during the undefeated 1990 season. (Photo courtesy Jason McFadyen)

Artifacts from the greatest

   Artifacts from the olden days — a preseason memo from Wolf coach Ron Bagby and a program from the home state playoff game. (Courtesy Tom Roehl Archives)

It's a photo of a photo.

I took a photo of a 25-year-old photo. I got skills.

Let’s throw a party.

The greatest football team in Coupeville High School history, the undefeated 1990 squad, hits a magical milestone this year.

It will be 25 years since that Wolf squad, led by the precision passing of Jason McFadyen and an unstoppable running attack, went 9-0, outscoring its opponents 258-107.

While they fell to Rainier in a home state quarterfinal playoff game played on a windswept Mickey Clark Field Nov. 10, 1990, they remain the gold standard.

No Wolf team has come close to that win total since then, and that trip to the state playoffs, the fourth in school history, was also the last one a CHS gridiron squad has earned.

Which is why we need to take a moment this season and acknowledge that squad.

And, in a moment of perfect symmetry, I have the ideal time.

Coupeville plays four home games this coming season, all in October.

The first three are 1A Olympic League contests (Oct. 2 against Port Townsend, Oct. 9 against Klahowya and Homecoming Oct. 16 against Chimacum).

The regular-season finale, though, on Friday, Oct. 30 is a non-conference affair against Concrete.

Which would be the perfect game to honor the ’90 squad, since back then Concrete was a fellow Northwest B League opponent, and the Wolves beat Concrete 10-0 in the season’s biggest win.

Frank Marti capped a 122-yard rushing performance with a one-yard touchdown plunge in the fourth quarter, then Brad Haslam dropped the punctuation mark with a 34-yard field goal.

Wins over Darrington, Orcas Island and La Conner would cap the regular season, but win #6, coming over the power team in the league, was the one that shocked the world.

So, we need to make this happen.

Whether it’s the Coupeville Booster Club, school officials, current football coaches, the players on that team, or us, the fans, we have three months to make this a reality.

At halftime on Oct. 30, the ’90 squad should come back to claim the Cow Town field.

So, here, from that playoff roster, are the guys we’re looking to find.

If you know them, if you are them, spread the word. We’re gonna make this happen.

1990 Coupeville Wolves:

Coaches:

Ron Bagby
Brian O’Hara
Tom Roehl (RIP)
Jon Prater

Manager:

Brent Fitzgerald

Seniors:

Brian Barr
Ben Biskovich
Sean Dillon
Chris Frey
Les Hall
Mark Lester
Frank Marti
Jason McFadyen
Ryan Samplawski
Aaron Williams

Juniors:

Danny Bonacci
Matt Cross
Brad Haslam
Van Kellems
Ben Russell
Todd Smith
Nate Steele
Tracy Wilson

Sophomores:

Troy Blouin
Todd Brown
Ted Clifton
Eric Lester
Craig McGregor
Gerald McIntosh
Jason McManigle
David McMillan

Freshmen:

Ross Buckner
Scott Gadbois
Scott Kirkwood
Kit Manzanares
Jerimiah Prater
Virgil Roehl
Joe Staples
Kevin Steiner

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Forever the champs!!

Posted in Baseball, Little League, tagged , , , , on July 24, 2015| Leave a Comment »

13 players. 1 dream. Forever the champs.

Top to bottom, from left column: Brendan Coleman, Aaron Curtin, Aaron Trumbull, Carson Risner, Kurtis Smith, Ben Etzell, Korbin Korzan, Brian Norris, Morgan Payne, Jake and Chris Tumblin, Wade Schaef, Paul Schmakeit, Kyle Bodamer.

Today is historical.

Five years ago to the day, Coupeville stood tall and shocked the world.

Capping a miracle run, the Central Whidbey Little League Junior (13-14) baseball squad stormed from behind to upend West Valley and win a state title.

It took three runs in the bottom of the seventh just to force extra innings, then one more in the tenth to win, but, in the end, the pride of the prairie pulled out a 10-9 win on Saturday, July 24, 2010.

It is a day that will live in the memory banks of those 13 Coupeville players and coach Chris Tumblin, a day when they refused to let early despair win out.

Central Whidbey had fallen 4-3 earlier that day, losing on a balk in the seventh. It could have destroyed them, but it didn’t.

That resolve showed through in the final game, as the future Wolves refused to buckle, even when they fell behind 5-0 after just two innings of play.

Chipping away, Central Whidbey closed to 9-6, but stood three outs away from a season-ending loss.

Then, as it had done all postseason, the squad rallied.

Stringing together hits from Aaron Trumbull, Wade Schaef and Morgan Payne, mixed in with a West Valley error or two, Whidbey got all three runs it would need.

Given new life, the small-town diamond men handed the ball to Kurtis Smith.

Smith surrendered just one lone hit over the next three innings, and, in the tenth, kicked off Central Whidbey’s offense with a double of his own.

A walk to Jake Tumblin put two runners on, before Smith was forced at third on a fielder’s choice on which Ben Etzell reached first.

A bit of luck kept the rally alive, as Tumblin, caught in a rundown on an attempted steal, busted up the pickle and slapped his hand on third before the tag.

Cue history, as Trumbull lashed an infield single that plated the speedy Tumblin and set off a celebration that went on for days.

The first-ever state title for a team coming out of District 11 (Skagit and Island counties), it remains, five years later, as a defining moment in local sports history.

Eight of the 13 players would go on to play four years of baseball at Coupeville High School, and every one of the players now owns a diploma from the school.

As they move forward with their lives and accomplish new things, they will remain linked, by one day when they stood as a team, as brothers, and ruled the entire state.

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