Teo Keilwitz (left) and Clay Reilly take down a Falcon. (John Fisken photos)
Hunter Smith dives for the end zone. Spoiler: he made it.
Ignoring the man mountain headed his way, Wolf QB Joel Walstad prepares to fire a TD pass.
You can’t get away from Jacob Martin.
Every game matters, but one matters just a bit more.
Coupeville and South Whidbey were made to be arch-rivals, reasonably close in student body size and proximity, and their turf war has been a memorable one over the years, regardless of sport.
But when the Wolves and Falcons meet on the gridiron, there’s a little something extra at stake, as that clash is the only one which has a trophy.
“The Bucket” (literally a large bucket with each school’s logo on one side) is a fairly recent invention, a way to settle a feud which blossomed at a volleyball match about a decade back.
Coupeville Athletic Director Willie Smith hatched the idea and now, each fall, the victor claims the trophy and owns it for the next year.
Coupeville will carry The Bucket with it when it heads to Langley this year, kicking off a new school sports year Friday, Sept. 1, still basking in last year’s 41-10 rout of the Falcons.
With CHS coach Jon Atkins entering his second year at the helm, he’ll try and do something which evaded his recent predecessors — Jay Silver, Tony Maggio and Brett Smedley — and guide the Wolves to back-to-back wins in the grudge match.
After busting a five-year run of South Whidbey wins with an 18-13 victory in 2012, Coupeville fell 57-33 in 2013, won 35-28 in 2014, lost 27-14 in 2015 then romped to a win last year.
Silver (0-2) and Smedley (0-1) never beat the Falcons, while Maggio’s success (2-1) included him out-coaching former college coach Chris Tormey in 2014.
This time around, South Whidbey has turned to former long-time coach Mark Hodson, who was recruited to save a program in free-fall.
The Falcons, who lost their final seven games last season en route to a 1-8 mark, are taking a break from the 1A/2A Cascade Conference (at least for a season) and will play an independent football schedule this fall.
After opening with fellow 1A schools Coupeville and Chimacum, South Whidbey will face Valley View Secondary, a Canadian team.
Then it’s on to six straight games against 2B schools — Ocosta, Friday Harbor, La Conner, Darrington, Concrete and Liberty Bell.
Not having to face Cascade Conference foes like ATM, Cedarcrest or King’s will give Hodson and Co. a chance to rebuild a roster which was severely depleted from previous seasons.
Regardless of record (Coupeville was 3-7 last season), the season-opening match-up of Wolves and Falcons is huge.
The winner gets bragging rights to go with possession of The Bucket, an undefeated record (for at least a week), an emotional boost and memories.
As we sit here, a mere 23 days away from this year’s clash, a handful of Coupeville players looked back at their own battles and what they remember:
JR Pendergrass:
My sophomore year, we were beating South Whidbey and we had the ball, running the clock down.
The player across from me on the line kept hitting me every time we took a knee to run the clock, because we were winning, and it took all the power in my being not to plant him in the ground.
Raymond Beiriger:
Junior year, it was my first year playing. And even though I was JV, we all went to watch the varsity play, and watching them fight for something that meant everything to them.
It really inspired me to play my senior year and try harder.
Watching them win The Bucket was amazing and I was super happy.
Uriel Liquidano:
Best memory was last year when South Whidbey was talking all this smack about how they where going to beat us and take The Bucket, that was pretty funny.
Good times, gonna miss playing on a Friday night. #OurBucket.
Jacob Martin:
Breaking a 70-yard TD and scoring the first TD of the game!
Korbin Korzan:
Sophomore year, varsity OLB, we won The Bucket. One of my best high school memories of all time.
