Teo Keilwitz stormed in from the two-yard line Monday for Coupeville’s lone TD in an 18-6 loss. (John Fisken photo)
Mother Nature (and the refs) pulled off a fast one Monday night.
With the ball in its hands and more than seven minutes left on the clock, the Coupeville High School JV football squad was planning how to pull out a come-from-behind win over visiting Bellevue Christian.
Then things were taken out of their hands, and the Vikings got to go home early with an 18-6 win.
The game was called because of what seems to be a misinterpretation of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s rule book.
Several lightning flashes were seen in the far distant clouds.
How far distant? Like off-the-Island far away.
Like far enough away the refs hadn’t even noticed, until they were alerted.
At which point they bailed, called the game and (in the case of at least one of them) peeled out of the parking lot in his car.
Except … that’s not what the rule book says.
The WIAA rules state (and let’s highlight the important part):
When thunder is heard, or a cloud to ground lightning bolt is seen, the thunderstorm is close enough to strike your location with lightning.
Suspend play and take shelter immediately.
Once play has been suspended, wait at least 30 minutes after the last thunder is heard or flash of lightning is witnessed prior to resuming play.
Any subsequent thunder or lightning after the beginning of the 30-minute count, reset the clock and another 30-minute count should begin.
So, stop right there.
Was thunder heard? Not in the slightest.
Was a cloud-to-ground lighting bolt seen? Not even close.
A couple of far-off (and I do mean far-off) flashes in the sky, and we’re done, as Bellevue Christian didn’t want to sit out a 30-minute (non-necessary) delay, as they were dead set on catching an early ferry.
Perhaps the same ferry being taken by the refs…
The game itself was a scoreless battle until the final two minutes of the first half, when Coupeville was stung on back-to-back plays.
Taking over at Bellevue’s 30-yard line after a fumble recovery by freshman Sean Toomey-Stout, the Wolves seemed primed to open the scoring.
Unfortunately they had a bad exchange on the first-down hand-off, and the ball bounced right into the hands of a Viking defender who returned it 70 yards for a touchdown.
CHS stiffened on defense, prevented the two-point conversion, then tied the game on the ensuing kickoff, as Toomey-Stout bolted 85 yards down the left sideline.
Except the refs threw a late flag at the tail end of the run, calling a Wolf for a block in the back (despite the fact the “offending” party was in FRONT of the guy he hit) that brought the TD back.
After falling behind 12-0 early in the third (BC ripped off a 79-yard scoring run), Coupeville rallied to cut the lead back to a single score.
They did so by pulling off two precision plays.
Facing fourth and 15 from the 25, Wolf QB Dawson Houston dropped a ball in between two defenders and receiver Jonathan Thurston came back to get it, hauling it in for a 23-yard gain.
Two plays later Teo Keilwitz slammed into the end zone over the right side, knocking down and dragging three defenders with him.
Bellevue pulled off its own fourth-down miracle on the next drive, sliding a short touchdown pass over the middle after nearly being picked off on third down.
With Keilwitz and Andrew Martin running well, and Houston starting to find a groove, Coupeville looked like it still had plenty of fight left, only to have the refs deliver a lightning-quick wedgie.
While his squad fell to 1-3, Wolf JV coach Ryan King was encouraged by a lot of what he saw.
“As a unit we played well with a team that matched up well with us,” he said. “They played their hearts out and definitely worked really well together.”
As the refs ankled for the exit like they had dinner reservations, Bellevue Christian’s team and a chunk of the Coupeville players met at midfield for a BC-led prayer.
I might not be much of a lip-reader, but I’m pretty sure the invocation ended with “and thank you for the lousy refs, Lord, much appreciated.”
