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Posts Tagged ‘football’

Gridiron legend a music star on the rise

Posted in music, tagged , , , , on December 30, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Former Wolf football coach Kwamane Bowens (left) just released a new eight-song EP. (Photo from Bowens Facebook page)

The days keep poppin’, the music keeps droppin’.

Former Coupeville High School football coach Kwamane Bowens, recording as Groovie Mane, released his newest batch of songs Wednesday — just in time to carry listeners through the New Years celebrations.

His EP, titled Artist, features eight songs from the man who brought his D-1 gridiron skills along with him when he worked with the Wolves as part of Marcus Carr’s coaching staff.

 

To find all the tracks, pop over to Bowens Soundcloud page at:

Groovie Mane | Free Listening on SoundCloud

 

Or check out new tracks such as Life Scars on his YouTube page:

 

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Ben Smith tackles college football dream

Posted in Football, tagged , , , , on December 18, 2020| 1 Comment »

Coupeville senior Ben Smith poses during a visit to Culver-Stockton College. (Photo courtesy Deb Smith)

Ben Smith is Missouri-bound after graduation.

The Coupeville High School senior signed a letter of intent Friday to play football at Culver-Stockton College in Canton.

Repping a private Christian liberal arts college founded in 1853, the Wildcats compete in the 14-team Heart of America Athletic Conference.

Culver-Stockton is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

The Wildcats saw most of their season cancelled this fall due to COVID-19 concerns, but plan on being back on the field by the time Smith is in town.

Culver-Stockton’s defining moment this fall came in a 34-17 home win over Evangel (Mo.) in September.

Tom Sallay enters his fifth year as head coach of the ‘Cat program in 2021.

Puttin’ in work since day one. (Photo courtesy Deb Smith)

For Ben Smith, younger brother of former Coupeville track star Jacob Smith, Culver-Stockton just jumped out among the schools he had been in contact with.

“It fits my academic levels,” he said. “And the location of it is such a wonderful, beautiful state, and is a chance for me to get out and see more of the world.”

Smith plans to study Sports Management at the school, and continues to put in work preparing for the jump to another level of football.

He won’t know his spot on the roster until workouts begin, but coaches have talked to him about playing nickelback and running back.

While at CHS, Smith has been a two-way player, layin’ down licks on both sides of the ball.

He was a running back and defensive end last fall during his junior season.

Teaming up with senior Andrew Martin to form a wham-bam rushing combo, Smith had big games in wins over Vashon Island, Kittitas, and La Conner.

Now, like the rest of the Wolves, he’s hopeful the pandemic eases enough for a final high school gridiron season this spring.

Running over folks during his junior season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Smith is headed to a college with a long, rich history.

Originally known as Christian University, it survived several occupations during the Civil War, even after federal troops seized the joint, burning down fences and gutting buildings.

Rebuilt and refurbished, the school changed its name in 1917, in tribute to big-bucks donors Mary Culver and Robert Stockton.

Notable alumni from the school include opera singer Michèle Crider, former United States Senator Edward V. Long –who wrote the final draft of the Freedom of Information Act — and several professional athletes.

Bob Hendren and Jason Kaiser both played in the National Football League, while Harold Kottman hit the hardwood with the Boston Celtics.

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Football coaches, players push for return to play

Posted in Football, tagged , , , , on December 10, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Will Coupeville High School football players return to Mickey Clark Field this spring? (David Stern photo)

High school football coaches from three states are pushing hard for government and health department officials to allow athletes to play this spring.

The West Coast Coaching Alliance organized in November, and represents California, Oregon, and Washington.

The group has been using social media to push its fight, with many football players posting videos to sites such as Instagram and Twitter this week.

Players were instructed to “thoughtfully consider the positive benefits of permitting students to participate in educationally based athletics activities,” use a positive tone, and avoid political messaging.

Unlike other protestors, the Alliance is not calling for education-based sports to immediately begin.

But the coaches want to see each state hold to its schedule for bringing back competition.

In Washington state, the current plan calls for traditional winter sports such as basketball to run from February 1 to March 20.

After that, fall sports would go March 15-May 1, with football beginning practices March 8.

Spring sports would cap a reduced 2020-2021 school athletic year, running from April 26 to June 12.

Each season would be seven weeks in length, with regional championship events likely replacing state tournaments.

However, with COVID cases and deaths spiking throughout the state, one of two things would have to happen for high school sports to start-up Feb. 1 in Washington.

Either case rates will have to rapidly fall over the next month-plus, or state officials will have to re-do (and loosen) current guidelines.

Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Executive Director Mick Hoffman pushed for the latter in an op-ed piece — “They’re running out of time to make memories” | Coupeville Sports.

That’s a position favored by the Coaching Alliance, as well.

While acknowledging the reality of the pandemic, it points to other states which have played high school sports — some more successfully than others — as offering a road map the Western states could follow.

Their statement:

West Coast Coaching Alliance Statement (calcoachesassociation.net)

In the meantime, the social media campaign will continue, with coaches and advisors posting videos this Saturday, Dec. 12, followed by family, friends, and neighbors of high school athletes Dec. 19.

 

An example of the athlete videos:

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Once Wolves, always stars

Posted in Football, tagged , , , , , on December 3, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Former Wolf Cade Golden with dad Michael.

While Coupeville High School football players are hoping to play a delayed season this spring, two former Wolves just wrapped seasons in other states.

Gabe Shaw, whose family moved to Florida before this school year, was a junior lineman in the Sunshine state.

Meanwhile, Cade Golden, who suited up for Coupeville Middle School back in the day, wrapped up his prep run as a quarterback in Alabama.

Shaw, who was a crucial part of last fall’s CHS gridiron squad, which captured the program’s first winning record since 2005, now plays at Clay High School in Green Cove Springs.

The Blue Devils, who rep a 5A school, began the year 7-0 and finished 9-2, falling in their third playoff game.

Clay opened the postseason with 43-0 and 35-0 wins over Leesburg and Atlantic (Port Orange), respectively, before coming up on the short end of the stick 38-7 to Vanguard last Friday.

Shaw spent his first season in Florida pulling double duty, working as an offensive tackle and defensive end.

During his time in Coupeville, Golden flung the ball around for CMS, often targeting Jake Mitten.

After a move back to his family’s stomping grounds, the QB played at several schools, finishing his run at Thompson High School in Alabaster, Alabama.

A powerhouse in the state, the Warriors won back-to-back 7A state titles during Golden’s junior and senior seasons.

The second of those came courtesy of one of the most stunning comebacks in recent prep history, as seen in this ESPN clip.

Golden was the backup to Thompson QB Conner Harrell, who threw for 3,400+ yards and 40 touchdowns this season, against just three interceptions.

The former Wolf completed five of six passes for 57 yards as a senior, tossing a TD against Sparkman.

While Golden might have preferred more playing time, the experience has been invaluable for his development.

“Thank you Thompson HS for an unforgettable last 2 years of HS Football,” the QB wrote on Twitter.

“I’ve learned so much that will help me in my next chapter of life. I truly appreciate and love my teammates and coaches.”

And don’t think Golden is being overlooked by talent scouts at the next level.

The 6-foot-1, 180-pound senior (who also has a 4.0 GPA) has college offers from schools such as LaGrange College, Clarke University, Norwich University, and Sewanee: University of the South.

Coupeville grad Sarah Wright is currently a sophomore softball player at Sewanee.

Golden also has Preferred Walk-On offers from at least two NCAA D-1 schools, Florida State and Tennessee.

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Prep sports pushed back

Posted in Everything changes, tagged , , , , on November 18, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville gunner Ty Hamilton splashes home a jumper. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Basketball is not cancelled, just postponed.

Again.

After meeting Tuesday, the Executive Board of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association announced its latest adjustment to the 2020-2021 athletic schedule.

With COVID-19 cases spiking statewide, and Governor Jay Inslee having recently issued restrictions which include athletes not practicing inside for at least the next four weeks, a December 28 start for basketball became more unlikely.

The WIAA confirmed that, opting to delay the start of hoops season to Feb. 1, 2021.

At that point, it will be almost a year since a Coupeville High School team in any sport has played a game.

The last time a CHS squad faced off with a rival school came Feb. 11, 2020, when the Wolf girls basketball squad lost a home playoff game to Meridian.

The pandemic kicked into high gear shortly afterwards, with spring sports cancelled in 2019, and fall sports postponed in recent months.

The plan is still to have three complete sports seasons for the 2020-2021 school year, if positive COVID-19 case numbers drop.

Under the latest plan, each season will last seven weeks and end with a “regional culminating event” in place of state tournaments.

Traditional winter sports, which for Coupeville is basketball, will start February 1 and end March 20.

After that, traditional fall sports (football, volleyball, cross country, boys tennis, girls and boys soccer) will go from March 15 to May 1.

Football teams, which have to have more practices than other sports before playing, will start March 8.

The traditional spring sports (softball, track and field, baseball, girls tennis) will close the school year, with practices beginning April 26 and the season ending June 12.

Once we hit those start dates, the ability to play will be decided by whether counties are reaching goals set by state health officials.

To play basketball, which, like football, is considered a “high risk” sport, schools have to be in counties that have less than 25 new cases per 100,000 people in a 14-day period, and less than 5% positive cases overall.

Also, 50% of schools in a WIAA region (by classification) must be eligible to participate in league games.

That means at least four of eight schools in the revamped Northwest 1B/2B League will have to be ready to go for basketball to begin.

With another delay to the start of actual play, the WIAA also voted Tuesday to extend the open coaching window to January 23.

That window, which has been extended twice now, allows coaches to work with student/athletes and have practices.

CHS, under the guidance of Athletic Director Willie Smith, has been holding carefully-monitored workouts for most of its sports programs.

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