football | Coupeville Sports

Posts Tagged ‘football’

Back to bustin’ heads!!

Posted in Football, tagged Brett Smedley, CHS Wolves, football, Lathom Kelley, spring camp, Wiley Hesselgrave on June 1, 2015| Leave a Comment »

After taking the hand-off from Hunter Downes (back), Lathom Kelley plunges for yardage. (John Fisken photos)

Having been on a baseball field until just recently, Julian Welling is still looking around for his mitt.

Cameron Toomey-Stout is locked on the ball.

JR Pendergrass anchors the line.

Coupeville’s new head coach, Brett Smedley, runs his first official practice.

Mitchell Carroll rises up to snag the ball.

A look at the Wolf roster (or at least everyone who was there on Day 1).

Football is back. Sort of.

Led by seniors-to-be Wiley Hesselgrave, Lathom Kelley and Ryan Griggs, the Coupeville High School gridiron squad kicked off the start of spring practice Monday.

While the season opener (Sept. 4 at South Whidbey) is still three months away, the early work gave the Wolves a chance to get used to a new coach.

With the departure of Tony Maggio, former assistant coach Brett Smedley has taken the reigns and Monday was his first day of running things.

As returning players and newbies ran through plays, traveling photo man John Fisken (doing double duty between Coupeville and Oak Harbor, where his son will play football in the fall) snapped the pics above.

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Tyler Cermak wants to do pushups for you!!

Posted in Football, Fundraisers, tagged CHS Wolves, football, fundraisers, pushups, Tyler Cermak on April 29, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Tyler Cermak

Tyler Cermak is the quickest in all the land.

When the Coupeville High School football squad does a fundraiser to nab bucks to help players pay for a summer camp at Central Washington University, he may or may not do the most pushups.

But he was the first Wolf to think about hitting me up for an article, so he wins that one-time jackpot.

The “Push-Up-A-Thon”, which runs through May 28 (the actual event does not have a concrete day yet), involves CHS players getting pledges or donations based on how many pushups (proper form) they can do in a four-minute spell.

For example, if you pledge $1 per pushup, and Mr. Cermak rips off 70, you’d owe him $70.

The pledge can be for any amount, or, if you’re worried he’s a pushup machine just waiting to go ballistic on you, a person can also just donate a set amount.

Tyler can be contacted at 17thargrave@coupeville.k12.wa.us or, if you have questions, call Coupeville football coach Brett Smedley at 360-901-2482.

P.S. — You can also pledge or donate to any Wolf football player of your choosing, but I’m only writing one article.

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Big day for Big Hurt!!

Posted in A freakin' American hero, Football, Happy birthday, tagged Central Washington University, CHS Wolf alumni, football, Happy birthday, Nick Streubel, The Big Hurt on April 22, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Nick Streubel, AKA The Big Hurt. (John Fisken photo)

There was a brief moment when Nick Streubel was a little guy.

A very brief moment.

Nowadays, the Central Washington University football lineman, and former Wolf legend, is a weight room-approved beast whose muscular outer layer (barely) disguises the easy-going, super-friendly guy he really is.

One of my most enduring memories of The Big Hurt, who celebrates the big 1-9 today, came after a basketball game.

Streubel, the most physically imposing specimen on the CHS campus, was hanging out on the court with teammates, family and friends and the young son of Wolf assistant boys’ basketball coach Dustin Van Velkinburgh was among the entourage.

Lifting the little boy up into the heavens, Nick balanced him on his shoulders and handed him a ball, then moved over under the basket so the super-excited kid could try and dunk the ball.

As attempt after attempt failed, Streubel, huge smile splashed across his face, held the boy aloft, encouraging him.

Then, success, and The Big Hurt swept the boy to the floor and high-fived him halfway across the gym.

Of course, there was also the time after a game in Port Townsend, one played on a field of mud that smelled like cow manure.

Streubel, covered head to toe in the gunk (and unable to shower as the team made a dash for the last ferry) spotted Coach V and took off after him, intent on giving him a full-body hug.

Bowling over teammates, mud flying everywhere while Van Velkinburgh, laughing hysterically, did his best to evade him, Streubel made the dock itself shake.

The point of this all is that Nick, while a top athlete (football, basketball, track and before high school, as a swim sensation), is a better person.

He’s just a good guy, and that has always shone through.

Parents David and Nanette Streubel (and proud big sis Amanda) raised him the right way, and Nicholas earned the respect, admiration and friendship of many in Cow Town.

Of all the athletes who have signed college scholarships during the 25 years I’ve covered high school sports on Whidbey Island, I’m pretty sure I was happiest to see him write his name on the paper.

Happy birthday, Nick.

It was an honor to cover your athletic exploits and it’s always been a pleasure to know you.

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Birthday boys bash heads, earn praise!!

Posted in Baseball, Boys Basketball, Football, Happy birthday, tagged birthday cake, CHS Wolves, football, Gabe Wynn, Happy birthday, Jacob Martin on April 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Birthday boys Jacob Martin (left) and Gabe Wynn contemplate the chances of gettin’ some cake. (John Fisken photos)

Wynn hits the line at maximum velocity.

Martin prepares to hit someone, hard.

They are the present, and the future, of Wolf sports.

CHS sophomores Jacob Martin and Gabe Wynn, who share a birthday today, are among the brightest stars on the Cow Town scene these days.

During football season, #32 (Martin) and #33 (Wynn) were a hard-hittin’ duo on defense who also piled up some serious yardage on offense.

As they move into their junior seasons, those numbers should only increase.

Wynn is also a hoops stud (he saw varsity playing time as early as his freshman year) and baseball player who is following in the prodigious athletic footsteps of his mom, Robyn (Seth) Myers, a former standout at Oak Harbor.

Which is all fine and good, but the duo also stand tall as two of the classier dudes to rep the red and black.

Watch either one in practice, or in how they respond to their coaches when given instruction, and you will see two young men who represent the best of what Wolf Nation would hope for their athletes to be.

As Jacob and Gabe celebrate their birthdays today, take a quick moment to wish them the best.

They have earned it.

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Heart of a champion!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, Boys Soccer, Football, Happy birthday, tagged Basketball, CHS Wolves, football, Happy birthday, Isaac Vargas, Soccer on April 19, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Isaac Vargas (John Fisken photos)

The kid has no quit in him.

That’s what I thought early in the first season that I saw Isaac Vargas play.

He was suiting up for the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball squad and still wearing glasses when he played.

During a scramble for the ball, he got smacked in the face and the glasses flew off his nose and hit the court.

Without pausing, he kicked them to the bench and took off down the court, possibly blindly, pursuing his man, who had the ball and was hoping to push the attack.

Vargas, who celebrates a birthday today, has kept that same go-for-broke style through all of his sports, whether it be hoops, soccer or football, where he made an impact as one of the leaders on the Wolf line.

He might not be the loudest or the brashest player — he actually seems pretty laid-back most of the time — but there is obviously a fire that burns in his heart.

Watching him give his all for the past three years, I have to say, I’m impressed.

If everyone played with Ike’s hustle, guts and drive, they’d be better for it.

Happy birthday, Mr. Vargas.

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