Jacob Martin, seen here stuffing a runner during a scrimmage, was electric Friday, with a sack, an interception and a fumble recovery for a touchdown. (John Fisken photo)
The set-up was strong, but they just couldn’t quite stick the landing.
An opportunistic, big-play defense that had its fuse lit by an electrifying performance from Jacob Martin, kept things close, but too many bobbled opportunities in the fourth quarter Friday sent the Coupeville High School football squad to a 27-14 loss.
The defeat, coming on the road at the hands of Island rival South Whidbey, forced the Wolves to relinquish The Bucket.
After a year of bliss in Cow Town, the trophy will now live in captivity in Langley, a town that couldn’t even keep its scoreboard powered on opening night.
And we’re gonna get to the game, but seriously, you charge people $6 a pop and then have no programs for the fans?
You massacre a recorded version of the national anthem by playing it through a 25-cent sound system that faded in and out, all but begging for a mercy killing?
And where to start with the scoreboard, which sputtered through two quarters, went cold and dark for the entire third quarter, then managed to get back up to about 9% operating capability in the fourth?
But hey, whoever was operating it managed to keep the clock wildly running in the final quarter long after penalty flags should have killed things, tearing away 10-20 seconds from Coupeville at a burst while blind, timid refs stared at their feet, unable to get up the gumption to make a correction.
Joel Norris weeps.
But anyway. Ignore the fact South Whidbey was not remotely ready to host a football game — they do have a teacher’s strike going on, so I like to think there was one lunch lady pulling mad overtime trying to run concessions and the scoreboard at the same time.
So, it’s possible “Myrtle” kept on unhooking the power cord for the scoreboard every time she powered up the microwave. Fair enough.
In the midst of the madness, however, two fairly young football teams put on a decent show, with Coupeville’s defense the big star for much of the night.
Repeatedly South Whidbey drove deep into enemy territory in the first half, and every single time the Wolves refused to bend.
Martin got things rocking with a pretty, pretty interception, snaring a ball that popped up off of a Falcon shoulder pad, then Wolf teammate Hunter Smith pulled off his own pick to bring a skidding halt to another drive.
With neither offense unable to break through, Martin seized the day with a vengeance.
A play after South Whidbey had pulled off a long catch and run to shove the Wolf “D” back on its heels, Martin exploded in from the side and snatched up a fumble.
Stumblin’ and rumblin’ down the sidelines, he left the Falcons clutching at air as he brought the ball back 65 yards for the first score of the season.
After Zane Bundy tacked on the extra point, Coupeville seemed poised to head into the halftime locker room up 7-0 and rolling.
But the first mistake reared its head when a Wolf receiver was nabbed near the end zone with a mere eight ticks on the clock (yes, at that point the scoreboard was 75% functional…).
While it looked like he was out past the line, the refs awarded South Whidbey with a safety, cutting the lead to 7-2.
Still, the Wolves seemed to be in command, and stayed that way until a sensational diving TD catch in the end zone gave the Falcons the lead midway through the third quarter.
Coupeville’s offense was seriously sputtering as the scoreboard loomed like a giant blank slate in the third, but an interception by Clay Reilly and a blow-em-up sack in the backfield by Martin kept the Falcons from adding to their lead.
And then it happened, the break-through play that could have spurred an epic win. Except it didn’t.
Senior Jordan Ford, a transfer playing his first-ever game in the same Wolf uniform that many of his relatives once wore, made off with a fumble and bolted nearly the length of the field, cartwheeling into the end zone and sending the packed visitors bleachers into a frenzy.
But then the frenzy faded as quickly as it hit, as the game-changing touchdown was called back, victim to a penalty whistled on one of Ford’s blockers.
A little bit of the life went out of the Wolves after that, and yet, even though they continued to stall out on offense, the score stayed 9-7 until the final six minutes.
Then, for the first time, a tired Coupeville defense softened just a bit, and the Falcons took advantage, slashing away for three scores on the ground in a four-and-a-half-minute surge.
With the game gone, the Wolves did find some final bits of redemption in the waning moments, with CJ Smith striking twice.
Sophomore QB Hunter Downes hooked up with the senior receiver on an 80-yard scoring strike, then Bundy pulled off a successful onside kick that Smith beat the Falcons to, snaring the ball while hurtling around like a madly-bouncing pinball.
It wasn’t enough to completely save the day, but it showed a team that was willing to fight until the final gun, a positive sign as Coupeville goes forward.
The Wolves play their first four games on the road, and, if the first game was any indication, they will be a dangerous team when they get all the wrinkles worked out.
Their defense, in particular, is a hard-hitting assault team, anchored by seniors Wiley Hesselgrave and Lathom Kelley.
I didn’t see a win Friday, but I did see potential.
Can’t say the same for the folks operating South Whidbey’s stadium.
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