
Today and yesterday, the football players of ’86. Mitch Aparicio (1) is joined by clockwise from top right, David Ford, Marc Aparicio, Rusty Bailey, Jay Roberts and Brad Trumbull.
What was your dad doing 30 years ago this fall?
Probably being a bad-ass, that’s what.
Going through piles of paperwork found at the bottom of a filing cabinet deep in the darkest heart of the CHS gym complex, I stumbled across a stat sheet for the 1986 Wolf football team.
Many of the names are fixtures in the local community, fair-haired lads who grew up to sire Cow Town athletic stars of the present day.
What better time to put their youthful exploits out on the internet, where they can be received with much hootin’ and hollerin’ by their progeny?
The ’86 squad, which celebrates a 30-year anniversary this fall (if the players care) is one of four Wolf gridiron squads to make it to the state playoffs in the modern era.
While they didn’t win a league title like the ’74 or ’90 teams, the ’86ers do have the distinction of coming the closest to a state win of any of the four CHS football teams.
They fell 21-15 to Naselle Nov. 15, 1986, losing by less than a touchdown.
By contrast, ’74 lost 12-0 to Willapa Valley, ’87 was rolled 34-7 by Mossyrock and ’90 was thumped 34-14 by Rainier in their state playoff battles.
Not having come to Whidbey Island until ’89, I never saw the ’86 squad play in person, though I frequently bump into many of the team’s players in modern times.
Looking just at the stark black and white of the stat sheet, it was an impressive team, one which outscored foes 201-95 on the season.
You might hang around for a quarter (the Wolves held a slim 45-40 edge in first quarter play), but then Coupeville would put you down with a vengeance.
The second quarter was where the massacre generally went down, with the Wolves drilling opponents 61-13.
There was little hope of a comeback after halftime, as the third (41-23) and especially the fourth (54-19) were almost as brutal on teams not wearing red and black.
Or was it still red and white back then?
The ’86 squad was fairly well balanced, gaining 1,106 yards on the ground and 1,386 through the air.
They were also, apparently, a fairly rough crew. Or just not great at avoiding the watchful eye of the ref.
One of the few places where they lose the statistical battle is on penalties, where they racked up 80 miscues, giving back 728 yards, almost 250 more than their foes (63-489) did.
Call them the Raiders-lite.
The stats from 30 falls ago:
Offense:
Passing:
Brad Brown 91 completions in 197 attempts
Tom Conard 3-7
Receiving:
Steve Konek 26 receptions for 516 yards
Chad Gale 24-346
David Ford 11-132
Mitch Aparicio 11-107
Dan Nieder 8-105
Rick Alexander 8-79
Jay Roberts 1-37
Rusty Bailey 1-27
Marc Aparicio 3-25
Brown 1-7
Jeff Sobieski 1-2
Tony Ford 1-0
Rushing:
Mi. Aparicio 94 carries for 522 yards
Alexander 74-413
Brown 52-220
Alan Weddel 18-65
Gale 2-27
Aaron Hall 6-11
Bailey 3-6
Conard 3-0
David Cox 2-(-2)
Rick McCormick 1-(-5)
Defense:
Tackles:
Konek 38
Alexander 34
Mi. Aparicio 31
Nieder 27
John Beasley 26
Weddel 25
Morgan Roehl 24
D. Ford 23
Cox 17
Roberts 16
Chip Perkins 12
Ma. Aparicio 11
Bailey 10
T. Ford 9
Scott Losey 8
GT Wolfe 6
Brown 5
Jason Jones 5
Kevin King 5
Conard 4
Eric Gunter 3
Andrew Bird 2
Gale 2
Hall 2
Sobieski 2
Nick Zustiak 2
Don Gullick 1
Steve Lewis 1
McCormick 1
Brad Trumbull 1
Assists
Beasley 38
Mi. Aparicio 30
Alexander 27
Konek 25
Weddel 23
Roberts 20
Perkins 18
Nieder 17
Cox 16
Losey 14
Ma. Aparicio 14
D. Ford 13
Bailey 10
Roehl 7
Wolfe 5
T. Ford 3
Gunter 3
McCormick 3
Sobieski 3
Gale 2
Gullick 2
Jones 2
King 2
Bird 1
Brown 1
Theron Wofford 1
Zustiak 1
Interceptions:
Konek 7 (tied for CHS single-season record)
Nieder 7 (tied for CHS single-season record)
Alexander 2
Mi. Aparicio 2
Ma. Aparicio 1
Bailey 1
Special Teams:
Kickoff returns:
Weddel 8 for 140 yards
Mi. Aparicio 4-67
T. Ford 3-29
Brown 1-12
Gale 1-11
Alexander 2-10
Hall 1-8
Sobieski 1-7
Punt returns:
Brown 4-53
Mi. Aparicio 2-42
Trumbull 1-7
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