Zander Pulliam and Coupeville won 50-8 on Senior Night. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
This was a tricky game, and Bennett Richter handled it masterfully.
When he sent his Coupeville High School football team onto its home turf Friday night to face visiting Winlock, the gridiron guru was looking for multiple things.
He wanted a win, to get the Wolves to 5-3 heading into a Halloween showdown with Friday Harbor, when CHS will go for the knockout punch in a bid to claim the Northwest 2B/1B League title.
He wanted to send his veterans out winners on Senior Night, while also giving his younger players a chance to shine under the bright lights.
But he also wanted to be respectful of a Winlock team which came to town at 0-6, with just 14 players in uniform, and finished with less than that standing upright.
So, give Richter credit, for guiding Coupeville to a 50-8 non-conference win in a game which was lopsided but not unnecessarily cruel.
And give the Cardinals credit, for enduring a 325-mile round trip. For balling out every play from start to finish, and for not walking away at halftime.
Coupeville has been where Winlock is, trying to hold a team and a program together, and here’s to hoping its coaching staff, led by Ernie Samples, is able to build back like the Wolves have.
CHS, chasing its second trip to the state tourney in the last three years under Richter, struck early and often against the Cardinals, scoring each of the six times it touched the ball in the first half.
After stopping Winlock on its opening drive, the Wolves struck gold immediately when Chase Anderson returned the ensuing punt 60 yards for a touchdown.
Taking the kick on the left side of the field, the Coupeville quarterback slashed to the right side, blew through several would-be tacklers and was off to the races, returning a kick for a score for the second straight game.
Anderson almost busted off another touchdown run on Winlock’s second punt, but was pulled down just shy of nirvana at the two-yard line.
That set up a quick scoring plunge from Johnny Porter, with Anderson hooking up with Jack Porter on a two-point conversion pass to make it 15-0.
Coupeville hadn’t planned on going for the conversion, but what the hey.
A bad snap on the PAT bounced right to Anderson, who immediately transformed from being a kicker to taking a step to his right and lofting the ball to his receiver, who alertly headed to the end zone when the play started to go wrong.
The refs knifed Coupeville in the back on the next Winlock possession, waving off a pick six from Davin Houston when they spotted a phantom block in the back on the return.
Not to be denied, the Wolves got a 17-yard run from Johnny Porter on the next play to loosen up the defense, before Anderson connected with Jack Porter on a 33-yard scoring strike to push the lead to 22-0.
Marquette Cunningham (left) gets ready to rumble. (Coupeville High School yearbook staff photo)
The refs continued to be picky, denying Marquette Cunningham a TD run thanks to another holding call, but the Wolves responded by reaching deep into their roster.
Richmond Bandong, a freshman who has largely gone under the radar, became a made man with a one-yard scoring run, earning a quiet fist pump of approval from Richter as he stalked the sideline.
Coupeville made it 43-0 by halftime, with Anderson hucking a 30-yard TD pass to Hunter Bronec, and Johnny Porter crashing in from 30 yards out right before the break.
The second half, played with a running clock and with Winlock still fighting with the minimum players available, saw Coupeville have a chance to get playing time for everyone.
Senior Zander Pulliam made his season debut and played several series at QB, while younger guys like Nathan Coxsey, Jude Swankie, Easton Green, and Chance Hart earned the opportunity to hear their name called by the PA announcer after making big plays.
Fab frosh Liam Blas recorded his second touchdown of the season Friday night. (Stephanie Blas photo)
Freshman Liam Blas scored Coupeville’s final touchdown, breaking free on a 17-yard scoring run in the third quarter, while senior lineman Marcelo Gebhard almost broke free for a huge run after recovering an onside kick.
The rampaging heart and soul of the Wolf defense, Gebhard carried multiple Winlock players on his back as he careened down the near sideline, before the Cardinals finally managed to gang-tackle him to the ground.
Now, while this is Coupeville Sports, and the Wolves have much to celebrate and much more success to chase, we’re going to close this with a couple more words about Winlock.
The Cardinals refused to go down, busting the shutout up late, when sophomore QB Landon Cline ran away from the Wolf defense for a touchdown, followed by freshman Jaxyn Pelagio pulling off a two-point conversion run.
We’ve seen struggling programs before, been the struggling program before.
When you play to the last play like Winlock, long after the loss has been handed to you, good things can come of it down the road.
Coupeville turned its own fortunes around.
Anacortes, a 2A school reduced to playing a JV-only schedule a few years back, got KO’d by the Wolves at their lowest point. Last year the Seahawks won a state title, thrashing one of the elites in Tumwater.
Celebrate what the Wolves have accomplished, and what they are accomplishing.
But take a moment to pay tribute to Winlock — its record doesn’t tell the whole story.
It’s my blog and here we hail the 14 Cardinals who drove 325 miles round trip tonight and honored their school and their program:
Isaac Blanksman
Daelen Bradshaw
Landon Cline
James Cusson
Mason Lippincott
Carlos Magallon
John Mansfield
Kaiden McKay
Jaxyn Pelagio
Trent Poirrier
Lincoln Ruiz
Tucker St. Paul
Gabriel Toms
Monte Williams
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