Coupeville senior Marcelo Gebhard was a rampaging beast on defense Friday in a Homecoming win. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
“I don’t know what to say, I’m just happy!!”
Bouncing between a steady string of well-wishers, from lil’ kids to Wolf cheerleaders, Coupeville High School football coach Bennett Richter beamed under the fading Friday Night Lights at Mickey Clark Field.
His squad had just outmuscled a Friday Harbor gridiron program which prides itself on toughness, capturing an 18-5 Homecoming victory in a game marked by big hits and stellar defense.
Now 1-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 4-1 overall, the Wolves control their playoff destiny.
They will travel to Friday Harbor Nov. 1 for the regular-season finale, and a sweep of the Wolverines (0-1, 2-3) will hand Coupeville football a conference crown and a chance to vie for a state playoff berth.
But that game is still a month away, with non-conference tilts against South Whidbey, Adna, and Winlock left to play between now and then.
For the moment, Richter was content to bask in the thrill of a well-crafted win.
“Make my boys dance tomorrow night,” he told the CHS cheerleaders with a big laugh. “Any wallflowers, tell them they’ll run at practice next week.”
There were no wallflowers during the game, as the Wolves, to a man, lowered their shoulders and drilled their rivals.
Whether gutting out a couple of extra yards on offense or making sure Friday Harbor would be denied a touchdown, even to the last second of the game, Coupeville’s crew came with a fury.
“You can’t win against your rival without everyone contributing,” Richter said. “And that’s what happened.
“We matched their physicality, the offense did enough, and the defense did a lot. They were dialed in and knew what to do.”
For one play, the Wolves looked to be in (mild) disarray, then turned things around with a vengeance.
Taking the opening kickoff, Coupeville tried to pull off a trick play, with multiple players converging, and then one shooting out of the pack with the ball.
Unfortunately, the ball popped loose in the melee, and while CHS recovered it, Friday Harbor brought the ball carrier down for a game-opening safety.
Trailing 2-0 and forced to boot the ball right back to the Wolverines, the hometown squad never flinched, however.
Coupeville forced a punt on Friday Harbor’s first drive, thanks to big-time tackles from Marcelo Gebhard, Davin Houston, and Riley Lawless, who shed blockers and wrestled their foes to the turf.
The visitors proved to be a defensive-minded bunch, as well, keeping the game at 2-0 throughout a very fast-moving first quarter.
But an explosion was on the horizon.
Three plays into the second quarter, Wolf quarterback Chase Anderson scrambled for an eternity, moving from one sideline to the other as would-be tackler after would-be tackler tried, and failed, to bring down the elusive junior.
That gave Jack Porter time to work the sideline, and he hauled in a long pass fired by Anderson, who had finally tired of his cross-country run.
Bang-boom, 81 yards later, the Wolves were on the board with the game’s first touchdown, though a missed PAT left things at 6-2.
Hunter Bronec will be a benevolent ruler. (Brittney Spolar photo)
After forcing another punt, Coupeville had a chance to drop the hammer, driving 63 yards in six plays, with Jack Porter and Hunter Bronec both breaking tackles on 20+ yard catches.
But the Wolves needed 65 to score, with the ball coming loose and being recovered on the two-yard line as CHS tried to ram it into the end zone on a running play.
If Friday Harbor thought it had reclaimed the momentum, it was sadly disappointed, as Anderson almost immediately picked off a pass while falling backward through the air.
That set up an exhilarating, and somewhat bizarre, final minute of the first half.
Clinging to a 6-2 lead and facing fourth-and-25 from the 50-yard line, Anderson spun a gorgeous 33-yard air strike to Jack Porter, who cradled the ball to his chest as he crashed out of bounds.
With the clock running down to 0:09, Anderson (and his big leg) blasted a 41-yard field goal through the uprights to stretch the lead to 9-2.
Time for Friday Harbor to kneel down and head into the locker room and … here we go.
The Wolverines instead chucked their own dangerous pass, which was snagged under great pressure, while Coupeville was whistled for roughing the passer.
Granted one play with no time left on the clock, after a big yardage gain, Friday Harbor called on their own placekicker, Victor Valasquez.
The long-range wizard, who has dinged Coupeville before, launched his own 45-yard field goal attempt high into the prairie night, and it split the uprights with plenty of room to spare.
Which meant the visitors scored on the very first, and very last, play of the first half, yet still trailed 9-5 at the break.
So there.
If the first half was two teams standing in the middle of the boxing ring swinging, the second half was a complete KO for Coupeville.
Friday Harbor had the ball four times over the final 24 minutes, and turned it over on downs twice, punted (badly) once, and was stuffed while trying to score a meaningless touchdown on the game’s final play.
Jack Porter, Gebhard, and Anderson had big-buzz tackles, but everyone on defense, from Camden Glover to Johnny Porter to Liam Blas and beyond, had the whuppin’ sticks out.
On offense, Anderson tacked on a 31-yard field goal midway through the third quarter to make it 12-5, then listened to a plea from above.
Back operating the scoreboard after a game off for a family trip, and bringing cookies with him, Joel “The Ice Cream Man” Norris leaned forward with three minutes to play in the frame and mouthed the words.
“They need a touchdown, now.”
Make it so.
Mere seconds later, Anderson spun a ball to the heavens, Houston cut back to bring the pass in while making a defensive back fall down, and Coupeville had a game-busting 43-yard touchdown heave-and-catch.
It was Houston’s fourth score of the season and put the cherry on the sundae.
From there, Coupeville was content to run clock, with Johnny Porter abusing Friday Harbor by rushing right over them, while Anderson and Marquette Cunningham added in some fancy cuts while carrying the ball.
Up next, The Battle for the Bucket against South Whidbey. (Jeff Porter photo)
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