They may have lost Friday night, but Wolf seniors like JR Pendergrass earned respect for their play. (John Fisken photo)
Respect is a funny thing.
You have to earn it, and, sometimes you get it when least expected.
It would be easy to look at just the final score of Friday night’s game, in which a rain-drenched Coupeville High School squad lost 65-17 to visiting Concrete, a loss that dropped the Wolves to 1-8, and write off everyone involved.
Another blowout. Another loss.
To do so would be to miss the small moments, those glimmers of hope, when individual players threw themselves into the heart of the storm and emerged as stronger men for their refusal to roll over and accept defeat.
If you missed JR Pendergrass, a senior lineman who is not going to win a team sprinting competition, run down a play after several of his teammates had given up, you missed the whole story.
In his Senior Night message, Pendergrass called on future CHS players to “WATCH THE BALL!”
Which is exactly what he did.
It was a smart play, a hustle play, a heart play, from a guy who has fought every day to be on that field, and sure as Hell wasn’t going to depart it without busting his rear until the final buzzer.
Much respect, JR.
When you’re 48 points behind, the rain is slashing down, the ball bounces free and the only player remotely in the location is a Concrete defender who is already mentally planning his touchdown dance, it would be easy to let the shoulders slump and head towards the sideline.
But not if you’re Ryan Griggs.
A senior who has fought through a lot to get back on the field this season, he accelerated down the left sideline, tearing up big chunks of yardage with his long strides.
The Lion who had recovered the fumble took maybe two steps when a cruise missile wearing #1 ripped through his spine, causing the ball to pop free, where a Wolf scooped it back up.
The play didn’t change the score, didn’t shift the momentum, but it was (where have he heard this before?) a smart play, a hustle play, a heart play.
Much respect, Ryan.
Of course, we can also talk about the big-time scoring plays.
Freshman Gabe Eck hooking up with senior Jordan Ford on a 45-yard scoring strike to open the game.
Senior Lathom Kelley scooping up a short kickoff and taking it to the house, his yellow shoes a blur of motion as he cut once, then just dropped the jets and headed to the end zone on a 70+ yard return.
Zane Bundy cranking a field goal from 24 yards out, the ball erupting off his foot with an audible bang.
It wasn’t enough on a night when Concrete scored at will, racking up 30 points in the first quarter and another 28 in the second. The Lions ran, and they ran well, running right over the Wolf defense, time and again.
But let’s return to talking about respect again.
In a call that will live in infamy and add to the long-held belief that Coupeville just has no luck with officials, the Wolves lost their best player, for today and (possibly) tomorrow.
Wiley Hesselgrave, a rock-solid, hard-nosed senior who has spent four years playing the game as hard, as clean, and as full of passion as any player to pull on the red and black, took a hand-off and went left, slashing for yardage.
Taken down by a tackler right in front of the press box, he was then assaulted by a second Lion who launched themselves onto the prone Hesselgrave. It was a blatant late hit and Concrete was flagged.
But…
Despite little evidence to support such a call, the ref then ejected Hesselgrave, saying he had swung at the Concrete player as they got back up.
I will tell you this. In 25 years of high school sports coverage, I have seen two players throw a fully legitimate punch in the heat of the moment.
One was in an Oak Harbor High School girls’ basketball game, the punch dropped the intended target like a rock, and a small riot broke loose.
The second time, an Orcas Island boys’ basketball player took a full, looping swing that barely missed connecting with Aaron Trumbull’s face, and yet, somehow, was NOT ejected by a ref who was three inches from the scene of the crime.
I know what a punch looks like.
Friday night, unless we are all blind (and there were two seasoned football coaches, one current and one former, in the press box), nothing remotely close to a punch was thrown.
Nothing remotely close to a shove, for that matter.
It was a perplexing ejection, and a costly one for Coupeville.
When Hesselgrave was removed, the game was still relatively close (the Wolves were in the middle of a drive that resulted in Bundy’s field goal, which shaved the lead to 30-17).
Worse, barring a successful appeal, the ejection results in the player missing his team’s next game.
In this case, that would be Tuesday’s half-game tiebreaker in Sequim against Chimacum, which will decide the Olympic League’s #3 playoff team.
The respect I mentioned comes not from the ejection. It comes from how Hesselgrave handled himself afterwards.
Many players would pout. Would scream. Would throw their helmets. Would storm off and spend the rest of the game far apart from their teammates.
Hesselgrave did none of that.
He took his punishment, whether it was warranted or not, and held his head high. He stayed right in the middle of all of his teammates, talking to them, encouraging them, rooting for them.
Wiley was Friday night, in a bad moment, what he has always been in good moments.
What he has been for four years.
A leader. A class act. A stand-up guy.
Hesselgrave is a self-contained dude. He’s not a self promoter or a showboat. He is the rare modern-day player who would fit in just fine with the old school guys.
He deserved a better ending to his Senior Night, but life is not always fair.
But know this. Wins and losses fade as life moves on. Respect never does.
Much respect, Wiley.
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