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Posts Tagged ‘Cedar Park Christian’

“I’m so proud of these young men!!”

Posted in Football, tagged , , , , on September 28, 2024| Leave a Comment »

The Wolves bask in the glow of a stunning come-from-behind win. (Jeff Porter photo)

“It was unreal, they never quit battling and did not give up. It was crazy!”

Proud pops Jeff Porter was over the moon Saturday, after the Coupeville High School football team pulled off one of the most stunning wins in program history.

Trailing Cedar Park Christian-Bothell 49-28, the Wolves stormed back to score the game’s final 27 points to claim an improbable, and very satisfying, 55-49 non-conference victory.

And those final six points to decide things and lift CHS to 3-1 on the season?

They came when Wolf senior Johnny Porter blocked a field goal attempt on the game’s final play, followed by sophomore Davin Houston plucking the ball out of the air and taking the recovery 70+ yards for a walk-off touchdown.

Or run-off touchdown, if you will.

Coupeville, which has opened with four straight games against 1A schools, finally gets a chance to square off with a fellow 2B squad next week.

That will come Friday, Oct. 4, when the Wolves host Friday Harbor (2-2) for Homecoming.

Kickoff is 6:00 PM and the rumble will be the first of two meetings this season between the only Northwest 2B/1B League teams to currently be playing 11-man football.

While that tussle will have major playoff implications, the Wolves will come in on a major high.

Coupeville got back several players who weren’t available for their loss to Granite Falls a week ago, and the returning stars meshed perfectly with their teammates.

Back under center after a week of pacing the sidelines in street clothes, starting quarterback Chase Anderson both ran and threw for multiple touchdowns.

The junior gunslinger connected with Jack Porter, Hunter Bronec, and Houston on scoring strikes, with his hookup with Houston going for 60+ yards.

Jack Porter heads out to be awesome. (David Somes photo)

And yet, at least in the early going, Cedar Park seemed to have an answer for everything Coupeville threw at it, responding with its own offensive explosions.

Wolf fab frosh Liam Blas picked off an Eagle pass and returned it for a touchdown to knot things up at 14-14, but CPC rebounded to lead 21-14 at the half.

The Anderson to Houston pass play forced another tie early in the second half, but then Cedar Park started to pull away with three straight touchdowns to go up 42-21.

The teams exchanged scoring drives, but that still left things at 49-28 in favor of the private school gridiron warriors.

Things looked bleak, at least on the scoreboard, but CHS coach Bennett Richter and his team made Journey proud by living up to the mantra of “don’t stop believin’.”

Hunter Bronec hauled in his first touchdown pass of the season to make it 49-35, and the Wolves recovered an onside kick and drove for a rushing touchdown from Anderson to tighten things up.

A missed PAT left CHS trailing 49-41, however, forcing the Wolves to find some major mojo in the waning moments.

Cue the Steve Perry.

Not only did Coupeville punch in another touchdown, but the Wolves also pulled off a two-point conversion pass from Anderson to Houston to get all the way back at 49-49.

Davin Houston came up huge and can now go brag to his older brothers Dawson and Daylon, who both starred for the Wolves. (David Somes photo)

That set up the frantic final moments, with CPC getting in position to escape with a win in front of its home fans, only to have Coupeville play spoiler in epic fashion.

Which left Richter, like his players and their parents, sky high as the group headed back to Whidbey.

“Our boys showed extreme resilience today and never quit!!” Richter said.

“I tell them every week that we have everything we need in this locker room! And every week they believe in that more and more!

“Today is a testament to that hard work and belief!”

With the spotlight at its hottest, and the action at its most tense, the Wolves rose to the moment.

“We had big games from everyone today,” Richter said. “Chase was outstanding late.

“Every time we really needed a big play someone stepped up! Couldn’t be more of a team win and I’m so proud of these young men!!”

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Get butter, cause they’re on a roll

Posted in soccer, tagged , , , , , on September 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Nick Guay dropped a note-perfect mix tape during pregame warmups, then scored his 13th career goal in a big Coupeville win. (Carly Burt photo)

Flawless? No. Thrilling? Yes.

The Coupeville High School soccer squad might not have delivered its best performance of the season Friday, but the Wolf booters still had way too much firepower for visiting Cedar Park Christian-Lynnwood.

Raining down goals under Friday Night Lights and using a suffocating defense to allow goaltender Hurlee Bronec plenty of rest time, CHS strolled to a crowd-pleasing 4-0 win.

The victory, coming in both team’s Northwest 2B/1B League opener, lifts Coupeville to 1-0 in conference play, 4-1 overall.

The core of a first-place team. (Jackie Saia photo)

Now, the Wolves will carry a four-game winning streak on the road next week, traveling to Mount Vernon Christian for a matchup with a dangerous Hurricanes squad.

Coupeville will need to clean up its passing to hang with MVC, a perennial state tourney contender, but the goal-scoring, enthusiasm, and team camaraderie is already present.

The Wolves have proven quite adept at bashing away and scoring goals this season, and that was on display Friday night.

Cole White broke open a scoreless tie in the game’s 21st minute, peppering the CPC goalie with a laser, before fellow senior Nick Guay popped in a shot seven minutes later.

Around the two first-half scores, the Wolves had numerous other chances which just missed.

Preston Epp and Guay slapped shots which drifted just a bit at the end, sliding past the net, while Ayden Wyman was robbed by a nice save from the visiting netminder.

Awarded a penalty kick after being knocked around in a scrum, Wyman, who tallied 13 goals in two years with the Wolf girls’ team, came dangerously close to becoming the first CHS female to score in a boys’ game.

While she was (barely) denied, Coupeville picked up another two goals after the halftime break.

White punched in his second score of the night 15 minutes into the second half, before Preston Epp went on a rampage, beating the CPC goalie on a breakaway to cap the offensive output.

Facing off with a defense led by Hank Milnes and Andrew Williams, Cedar Park had few chances to score.

Jedi master Hurlee Bronec compels the ball to stop using just his mind. (Jackie Saia photo)

CPC’s best try came courtesy a penalty kick, but the shooter went wide right, perhaps chilled by the sight of Bronec coldly staring him down.

Or the gathered Wolf fans screaming and thumping the metal seats, creating a wall of sound which rippled across the prairie.

With his two scores Friday, White moves into a tie with Guay for the season lead, as both gunners have tallied five apiece.

Now with 13 career goals, Guay jumps a rung, and is tied with Wolf grad Aidan Wilson for #6 all-time, while White has nine celebrations.

That ties him with pitch legend Jon Chittim for #12.

Preston Epp, just a junior, has two goals on the season, and seven for his career, as he also continues to move up the list.

He already owns the family record, edging older brother Cameron, who scored four times during his own strong prep career.

#7 has scored seven times in his CHS career. (Jackie Saia photo)

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Tough foe, lousy weather, lessons learned

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on April 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Freshman catcher Teagan Calkins smacked two hits Thursday, while also playing strong defense behind the plate. (Jackie Saia photo)

Iron sharpens iron.

So, you play a strong non-conference schedule and the on-field battles with good teams will help you hone your own skills.

But it also means you may take some losses along the way, especially if your team is stocked full of younger players still finding their way.

Such is the case for this year’s edition of the Coupeville High School varsity softball squad, which played an 8th grader, a freshman, and five sophomores Thursday against visiting Cedar Park Christian-Bothell.

And while the Wolves also had five seniors in the lineup, that group lost a season-and-a-half to the pandemic at the start of their high school run.

It makes for an interesting science experiment for CHS coach Kevin McGranahan, who saw his team make some very good plays Thursday, and some far less noteworthy ones.

By the time the nearly three-hour game, full of prairie wind and rain, was done, Coupeville absorbed a 15-5 loss.

But the non-conference defeat, which drops the Wolves to 4-4 on the season, didn’t become a blowout until the latter stages and went the full seven innings.

Cedar Park was only ahead 4-1 entering the top of the fifth but broke through for another 11 runs across the final three frames.

A series of Wolf errors, mixed with balls which rode the gusty winds to find holes in the defense, hurt late, but Coupeville never gave up.

Mia Farris and Haylee Armstrong, patrolling the outfield while trying to stay upright in the wind, both tracked down hard-hit balls and made solid catches while on the run.

Equally adept at reading the swirling gusts was freshman catcher Teagan Calkins, who twice fired off her face mask and sprinted to the backstop to snatch foul balls out of the air for crucial outs.

Combining defense with grit, Wolf relief pitcher Gwen Gustafson — shortly after being drilled in the leg with a hot liner back up the middle — flung herself forward to spear a bunt attempt which went airborne instead of to the ground.

To go along with its often-inspired defense, Coupeville racked up five hits and 14 walks, with Madison McMillan and Taylor Brotemarkle being plunked by wayward fastballs.

The Wolves had runners aboard every inning but came up just short of breaking things wide open.

Sometimes it was CPC making strong defensive plays — picking a straying runner off of third or turning a double play on a wicked Farris liner which was two inches away from being an extra-base hit.

Other times, it was Coupeville stopping itself, as the Wolf hitters went chasing after pitches out of the strike zone.

“Don’t help her out!” McGranahan cautioned his sluggers, but some bad pitches proved to be too enticing, and CHS ended every inning with runners still aboard.

Farris tapped home with Coupeville’s first run in the bottom of the third by getting creative.

The sophomore sensation walked, stole second by a mile, then scooted to third on a passed ball and sailed home on a wild pitch.

The Wolves picked up a run in the fifth, with Maya Lucero lashing a two-out RBI single that plated Calkins, then scored two more in the sixth.

Starting that mini rally with two outs and no one on base, CHS picked up a single from Calkins and a walk from Brotemarkle, before McMillan crunched a two-run double to center.

Coupeville’s final run came in the seventh, with Farris punching an RBI single into a gap, sending Jada Heaton hustling home.

The Wolves have a chance to get right back in a winning groove with a Northwest 2B/1B League clash Saturday against winless Concrete.

Originally scheduled to be a road game, it’s been moved to Coupeville, which has a slightly better weather forecast that day.

First pitch is 1 PM.

 

Thursday stats:

Taylor Brotemarkle — Two walks
Teagan Calkins — Two singles, one walk
Mia Farris — One single, one walk
Jada Heaton — Three walks
Allie Lucero — Three walks
Maya Lucero — One single, two walks
Madison McMillan — One double, one walk
Melanie Navarro — One walk

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Weather woes delay CHS softball game

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on March 31, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Teagan Calkins is ready to play, but weather is not cooperating. (Jackie Saia photo)

No freezing on the prairie for you today.

A couple of hours after Friday’s home girls’ tennis match was postponed due to looming rain, school officials also bumped softball off the schedule.

Coupeville was slated to host Cedar Park Christian-Bothell, but the game has been moved to Thursday, Apr. 6, with first pitch set for 4:00 PM.

The Wolves are still set to host Orcas Island Saturday at noon, with the game dedicated to cancer awareness, but Mother Nature will have the final say.

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Pitch kings rain down goals

Posted in Boys Soccer, tagged , , , , on October 5, 2022| 1 Comment »

Cameron Epp peppered the net with a pair of goals in a road win. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

There were so many goals, they lost track of who all scored.

But better a win with a slight blip in the stat sheet, than a loss in which no one has to tally up scores.

Emerging from the wilds of Lynnwood Tuesday, the Coupeville High School boys soccer team headed back to Whidbey riding the high of winning a rout.

Pushing Cedar Park Christian around the pitch all afternoon, the Wolves polished off their Northwest 2B/1B League rival 7-0.

The victory lifts Coupeville to 1-0 in conference action, 3-3 overall.

It also sets them up for a key matchup at home Saturday with Mount Vernon Christian (1-1 in league, 4-3-1 overall).

The second half of a doubleheader, action kicks at 3 PM, with the boys tilt following on the heels of a girls rumble between CHS and Crosspoint Academy at 1 PM.

With Cedar Park Christian being a bottom feeder among the nine schools playing boys soccer in the NWL, Coupeville coach Robert Wood shuffled things around a bit.

“Strategic game for us tonight, prepping for MVC this weekend,” he said. “New formation and bench players getting a majority of time, putting starters in support roles, restricting touches and movement.

“All to prepare for the fast, aggressive game MVC will throw at us.”

Cael Wilson, here in goal, stepped out and knocked home two goals Tuesday in Lynnwood. (Morgan White photo)

When it comes to punching the ball into the back of the net, Coupeville was led by Cameron Epp and Cael Wilson, who netted two goals apiece.

Nick Guay and Grant Steller each added a tally, while who scored the seventh goal is anyone’s guess at this moment.

Wilson, Guay, and Steller scored for the first time this season, and Coupeville now has nine booters in the scoring column during the current campaign.

 

UPDATE: The seventh goal has been found. It came off of the toe of Nick Guay, giving him two scores in the game.

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