Gabe Eck | Coupeville Sports

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Sack kings and gunslingers unite!!

Posted in Hall o' Fame, tagged 1996, CHS Wolves, defense, Gabe Eck, Hall of Fame, sacks on September 25, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Gabe Eck holds Coupeville High School’s single-game passing record with 403 yards. (John Fisken photo)

The Sack Kings. (Photo courtesy Tom Roehl Archives)

I have football on the brain.

Having spent a good chunk of time recently going through stat sheets, newspaper clippings and wadded-up bits of old paperwork, I have been able to pull together a pretty good approximation of what Coupeville High School’s gridiron records should be.

To see the full list, pop over to: https://coupevillesports.com/2016/09/10/roll-call-of-the-gridiron-greats/.

Then, come back here as we use today’s Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame induction, our 66th so far, to pay tribute to two of those records.

Spanning the decades, and both sides of the ball, we’re honoring a record single-game performance and a season’s worth of work by a fired-up defense.

So welcome to these hallowed digital walls former Wolf QB Gabe Eck, being honored for the night he threw for 403 yards against Chimacum, and the 1996 CHS defense, which holds the school’s record for most sacks by a team in a season.

After this, you’ll find them atop the blog, under the Legends tab.

And soon, immortalized on the school’s football record board in the gym, once the update is completed.

First up is Eck, who, although he only played one season in the red and black (he’s sporting Oak Harbor purple and gold this season) accomplished something no other CHS gunslinger ever did.

It was the night of Sept. 18, 2015, and Coupeville had jumped across on the ferry to face Chimacum.

Both teams entered at 0-2, and, after an injury to starting QB Hunter Downes, Eck, who had thrown eight passes at the high school level, was making his first prep start.

He responded in high style, completing 19 of 34 passes, spreading the ball out among five receivers as the Wolves captured their only win of the 2015 campaign, a 28-26 thriller sealed by a fourth-quarter field goal off the foot of Zane Bundy.

Hunter Smith was Eck’s main target, hauling in nine passes for 178 yards (just 24 shy of the school single-game receiving record).

CJ Smith (4-93), Ty Eck (3-82), Jordan Ford (1-28) and Lathom Kelley (2-22) also snagged aerials, with Ty Eck reaching the end zone twice and Hunter Smith once.

Coupeville kept its hosts guessing, as Wiley Hesselgrave rampaged for 152 yards on the ground, but it’s Gabe Eck’s arm which holds a place in Wolf lore.

The Wolves have had a string of strong QB’s (Bob Rea, Corey Cross, Scott McGraw, Brad Sherman, Ian Smith and Joel Walstad, to name but a few), but the highest any of them (Sherman) ever reached was 386 passing yards in a single game.

The only member of the 400-yard club walked the halls at CHS for just a year, but, until someone takes his record down, his impact outweighed his tenure.

Joining Eck’s single-game performance in the Hall is the season-long rampage thrown down 20 years ago by the 1996 gridiron squad.

While sacks are a relatively new stat (back in the ’40s and ’50s they were just tallied as tackles), all my research could find no more effective Wolf team at snaring the elusive QB than the one which played 20 seasons ago.

Led by the school’s career sack leader, Nick Sellgren, Coupeville recorded 22 sacks that season, spread among six Wolves.

Sellgren topped the charts with seven take-downs, while Joey Biller (4), Bill Marti (3), Rich Morris (3), Jason Sechrist (3) and Justin Thiesen (2) all chipped in.

While sacks are an exclamation point, interceptions (Arik Garthwaite snared a team-high four) and pass deflections (Jerry Helm poked away seven) are also important.

With that in mind, we induct the Wolf defensive unit as a whole, honoring the 21 players who make an appearance on the ’96 stat sheet:

Player	Tackles	Sacks	Fumbles	INT	Deflect

Greg White	45			2	1
Mike Vaughan	25		1	1	2
Pete Petrov	43			1	1
Arik Garthwaite	26			4	1
Joey Biller	61	4	1		1
Dan Palmquist	1
Peter Charron	2
Damon Vracin	8
Jomo Bowman	8				1
Jerry Helm	36			2	7
Rich Morris	67	3			1
Bill Marti	93	3	1	1	2
Nick Sellgren	84	7			2
Dan Russell	2
Jason Sechrist	45	3	2		1
Gary Boyke	4
Justin Thiesen	36	2
Aaron Henderson	3		1
Jeremy Ratcliff	1
Matt Brown	2
Tariq Omar	1

TOTALS	593	22	6	11	20

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Ecks bid adieu to Wolf Nation

Posted in Basketball, Football, tagged CHS Wolves, football, Gabe Eck, OHHS Wildcats, transfers, Ty Eck on July 18, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Gabe Eck threw for 1,062 yards as a freshman quarterback last season. (John Fisken photos)

Gabe Eck threw for 1,062 yards as a freshman last season. (John Fisken photos)

Ty Eck (11) plays defense during Coupeville’s varsity playoff game against Bellevue Christian.

Seven weeks before opening night, Coupeville High School’s football roster has undergone a transformation.

Sophomore brothers Gabe and Ty Eck, who both started at key positions for the Wolves last season, are transferring to Oak Harbor, with plans to play for the Wildcats this fall.

Gabe Eck became Coupeville’s starting quarterback after sophomore Hunter Downes was injured early in the 2015 season and threw for 1,062 yards.

He completed 84-176 passes, connected on four touchdown passes and was picked off seven times for the Wolves, who finished 1-9 in Brett Smedley’s only season as head coach.

Gabe’s 1,117 yards of total offense (he also scrambled for 55 on the ground) was the third-most of any player in the 1A Olympic League.

Ty Eck hauled in 17 passes for 163 yards as a receiver, scored three touchdowns (second-best on the team) and returned 11 kicks for 124 yards.

His best work came on the defensive side of the ball, however, where he was the team’s third-leading tackler in ’15, recording 54 tackles.

Football will not be the only sport to feel a loss, as both Eck brothers were three-sport athletes.

The duo were JV basketball players as freshmen (Ty made his varsity debut in a playoff game) and were expected to vie for varsity starting jobs this winter.

The Wolf boys’ hoops squad lost almost its entire roster to graduation and will return only two full-time varsity players for 2016-2017 — junior Hunter Smith and senior Gabe Wynn.

A third player, senior Brian Shank, also made his varsity debut in the Bellevue Christian playoff game.

Both Eck brothers added a second varsity letter last spring, with Ty playing baseball and Gabe running track.

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Go down shooting!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged CHS Wolves, Gabe Eck, JV, let it fly, three-balls, Ty Eck on January 29, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Hunter Downes has impressed his coaches and fans with his scrappy, take-no-prisoner style of play. (John Fisken photo)

Hunter Downes has impressed coaches and fans with his scrappy, take-no-prisoner style of play. (John Fisken photo)

Let’s get this party started.

Coupeville High School JV boys’ basketball coach Dustin Van Velkinburgh is mixing things up in the final weeks of the season, working on installing a high-octane offense on the fly.

And, like most things in the early stages, it has its good moments and its wild, out-of-control moments, all of which were on display during a narrow 64-59 loss to visiting Klahowya Friday.

The loss dropped the young guns to 2-12, but the huge leaps and bounds the Wolves have taken in just a few practices were very evident against the Eagles.

When things are working the way they’re supposed to, Coupeville’s second unit rains down a steady diet of three-balls (they hit 10 Friday), mixed in with fast-break layups.

After falling behind 6-0 in the early going, the Wolves started clicking, closing the first quarter on a 13-4 run.

The surge was exactly what Van Velkinburgh is preaching, with treys from Ty Eck, Cameron Toomey-Stout and Gabe Eck, mixed in with quick inside cuts for buckets.

Ty Eck banked home back-to-back buckets, off of passes from Hunter Downes and Gabe Eck, as injured Wolf teammate Luke Merriman whooped and hollered from the crows nest where he was videotaping.

After a slowdown in the second, when shots started clanking and passes flying over people’s heads, Coupeville put together its best run in the third quarter, throwing down 21 points over eight minutes.

Brian Shank and Ty Eck each went for seven in the quarter, while Downes did the dirty work, hitting the floor time and again, to set things up.

Holding on to a narrow one-point lead heading in to the fourth, the Wolves fought down to the final seconds, but couldn’t quite prevail as Klahowya closed out the game strongly at the free-throw line.

The Eck brothers paced CHS with a combined 34 points, with Ty hitting for 18 and Gabe rattling the rim for 16.

Toomey-Stout notched 10, Shank banked home nine, Downes popped for four, Ariah Bepler tickled the twines for a soft jumper and Beauman Davis and Andre Avila both brought tons of energy to their time on the floor.

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Young Wolves make strides!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, Girls Basketball, tagged Basketball, CHS Wolves, Gabe Eck, JV, Lauren Rose on December 31, 2015| Leave a Comment »

The Mouse is in the House, as Lauren Rose soars in for a bucket. (John Fisken photos)

Brian Shank is too quick for the La Conner defense.

Improvement, every day.

It’s what JV coaches look for, as they shape developing players who will, hopefully, one day run the floor at the varsity level.

So, while both of Coupeville’s younger squads fell to visiting La Conner Wednesday, girls coach Amy King and boys guru Dustin Van Velkinburgh were both able to come away with a fair amount of positives.

For the Wolf boys, it was the fact they stayed close to a talented Braves unit despite only suiting up six players.

Freshman Gabe Eck paced those who were in attendance, dropping in 17 of his team’s 37 points.

Brian Shank added 10, Ty Eck hit for six, Beauman Davis swished a trey and Cameron Toomey-Stout slid a free throw through the twines to round out the scoring.

James Vidoni chipped in with strong work on the boards.

The Coupeville girls also gave La Conner a good run, but were unable to match up with the visitors mix of quick dribblers and sharp shooters.

While they fell 44-33, the Wolves played well in the post and got big contributions from swing players Lauren Rose, Allison Wenzel, Kyla Briscoe and Skyler Lawrence.

“Skyler played a presence in the key as always, ripping rebounds and directing her teammates,” King said. “The posts battled the whole game — Allison, Sarah (Wright), Brisa (Herrera), Lindsey (Laxton) and Nicole (Lester) all worked hard looking for the rebound or intercepting a pass.

“I was happy with the effort.”

King was also thrilled, and a bit amazed, by the foot work of guard Brittany Powers, who pulled off the play of the night on defense.

“Brittany, somehow got in a great position for her legs to steal the ball … yes, her legs,” King said with a chuckle. “She grabbed the ball and passed it ahead up the court to Lauren. Fun to watch.”

Rose, who also saw some floor time in the Wolf varsity win, was on fire.

“Mouse” dropped eight points — tying her for the team lead with Briscoe — while snagging two boards and being a demon on defense.

Ema Smith (6), Wright (4), Maddy Hilkey (3), Lawrence (2) and Ashlie Shank (2) rounded out the CHS scoring attack.

Powers pilfered a team-high three steals, while Wright (7), Lawrence (6), Hilkey (5) and Smith (4) hit the boards with intensity.

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Stars of today, stars of tomorrow!!

Posted in Happy birthday, tagged CHS Wolves, Gabe Eck, Happy birthday, Lauren Grove, Ty Eck on December 27, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Gabe Eck (top) and Ty Eck join Lauren Grove in celebrating a cake day today. (John Fisken photos)

Dec. 27 is a red-letter day for Wolf Nation.

At least five current and former Coupeville athletic stars popped into the world on this date, and that’s just the ones I know about.

Tennis/basketball two-way terror Marie Hesselgrave and soccer whiz kid Will Butela have moved on from CHS, so today we’ll restrict the focus to the trio who were still smack-dab in the middle of their prep sports careers — rising stars Gabe and Ty Eck and established record holder Lauren Grove.

The Ecks are only freshmen, yet have already had an impact from day one.

Both were immediate starters for the Wolf varsity football team in the fall, with Ty excelling as both a defensive back and receiver.

After an early-season injury to Hunter Downes, Gabe stepped into the most pressure-laden role on the field, quarterbacking a squad that had more than its share of problems blocking.

Despite running for his life a good deal of the season, the young hurler put up impressive numbers while learning under fire — stats which weren’t that far off from what senior Joel Walstad had compiled the season before.

Now the talented duo are deep into basketball season, and, after that, it’s expected they’ll punch their three-sport-athletes card with soccer.

Both brothers have talent for days, and, as they continue to get seasoned and fully discover what they can do, should become leaders on all their teams.

That’s a status Grove has already grown into, having matured from a talented young athlete to a confident, seasoned “old pro.”

Lauren is the very prototype of the three-sport athlete, having played something in all eight seasons she’s been in high school.

After two years of volleyball, she transitioned to soccer this fall and shocked a few people by becoming an immediate shut-down goaltender, despite having little experience.

Everyone knew she had speed (more on that later) but she also demonstrated smooth hands and an ability to read (and turn away) opposing shooters, and her growth as the season progressed was one of the biggest takeaways from a Wolf pitch squad which tied the school record for wins.

Now she’s a vital part of a CHS girls’ hoops squad which is cruising at 5-2 (including a tourney title at the Friday Harbor Tip-Off Classic) headed into a showdown with perennial power La Conner.

A ferocious ball-hawk, Grove gives the Wolves a zing on defense, while also beginning to show a willingness to step up and drop buckets on folks.

The perfect complement to Coupeville’s Big Three (Makana Stone, Mia Littlejohn, Kailey Kellner), it’s scrappy role players like Lauren who will decide how far this edition of the Wolves go.

And we haven’t even gotten to her real claim to fame, which is track.

An elegant, explosive runner, Grove already sits on the school’s record board, after being part of a transcendent relay team as a sophomore.

Before she made that cut, Lauren walked past me in the CHS gym hallway one day and pointed up at the school records, some of which have stood for three decades.

“That’s where my name is going to be,” she said, then softly smiled and skipped away.

Then she went out and backed up the (slight) boast in style, accepting congratulations but never crowing about how she had been right.

And that’s Lauren, a low-key, super-friendly (she’s never met a camera she couldn’t charm) young woman, fiercely loyal to her family and friends, one of the true bright, shining stars of Coupeville sports, for her spirit as much as her undeniable skills.

She is very easy to root for, because she is, at her core, just a great person first, and, if the Ecks want a role model as they begin their rise up the ladder, they couldn’t go wrong with emulating the girl who shares their birthday.

So, to all three of you, the established legend and the fast-rising stars of tomorrow, happy birthday. I look forward to all the highlights still to come.

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