Wolves (l to r) William Davidson, Zane Oldenstadt, and Logan Downes celebrate a win. (Michelle Glass photo)
They played for #44.
They played like #44.
On a night when Wolf Nation came together to embrace Lathom Kelley’s family, the Coupeville High School football team sizzled on both sides of the ball en route to thunking visiting Sultan 30-13.
The non-conference victory over a former league rival lifts the Wolves to 2-1 on the season, with 2B Coupeville having played up against 1A schools in all three contests.
That sets CHS up for the start of league play, with games against Northwest 2B/1B League rivals La Conner and Friday Harbor the next two weeks.
Friday’s tilt with the Turks was drenched in emotion, as the Wolves honored the life and legacy of Kelley, a four-year letterman and Class of 2016 grad who was lost in a kayak accident last weekend.
Coupeville’s captains — Tim Ursu, Daylon Houston, Logan Downes, and Dominic Coffman — led their teammates in presenting the Kelley family with Lathom’s #44 jersey at halftime.
An overflow crowd, many wearing red in honor of the larger-than-life firecracker who once stormed from sideline to sideline at Mickey Clark Field, came together to offer their support.
Voiced cracked, tears were shed by even the strongest, but the overwhelming feeling was one of love, enveloping all in attendance.
It flowed down from the stands, swirled around the field — even as the prairie wind itself uncannily vanished during the halftime break — and lifted the spirits of all involved.
Coupeville honored the life and legacy of Lathom Kelley. (Angie Downes photo)
Lathom Kelley was a unique athlete, and an even more unique human being — a good-hearted rabble-rouser who made friends with everyone he met — something Coupeville Athletic Director Willie Smith captured in a heartfelt speech.
As he spoke, Smith’s microphone failed, but he continued without electronic assistance, his soft words carrying from the field to the stadium rafters.
From little kids in their first season of watching football games, to now-retired coaches and teachers who came back in support of a young man who once held court in their classrooms and on their fields, the mass of gathered people was one, hanging on every word.
While the win was huge, it was the non-football actions of his players — such as setting up the jersey tribute and asking to wear Kelley’s #44 on their helmets — which garnered the biggest nod of approval from Wolf coach Bennett Richter.
“Our guys didn’t shy away from the reality of what has happened,” he said. “They were not afraid to show their emotions.
“We had a great talk at halftime, focusing on you do what you can with the time you have, and that there are bigger things in life than a football game.”
On the field, the Wolves rolled out to a two-touchdown lead early, gave one back, then put the game away with back-to-back third quarter scores packaged around a Logan Downes interception.
“Something really clicked for us after halftime,” Richter said. “We came together, and I’m proud of them.”
Coupeville opened the game with a six-minute drive which resulted in a touchdown, only to have Scott Hilborn’s scoring reception waved off thanks to a late flag for holding.
Instead of pouting, the Wolves went right to work on defense, forcing a three-and-out and putting the ball back in the hands of their own offense.
Churning away for yardage, with Coffman and Hilborn shredding tacklers, Coupeville drove 60 yards in six plays, finally getting a touchdown approved by the refs.
The score came from Ursu, who shot around the right side, looked back for half a second, then waved bye, bye, bye as he outran a pack of Turks to the corner of the end zone.
CHS tacked on a PAT from Houston to make it 7-0 before its defense forced a second-straight three-and-out.
Two plays later, it was magic time, with Downes lofting a long laser which Houston pulled down from the heavens while in full stride.
Sultan defensive backs crashing into the turf behind him, Daniel and Alia’s middle child scampered 57 yards to the promised land, not stopping until the Wolf cheerleaders charged down the track to celebrate his touchdown.
While Richter praised his entire team for their effort and poise, he handed out some extra props to his junior quarterback for his play.
“Things really clicked for Logan tonight,” he said. “He stayed in there and took his hits and still made his throws.
“He took things to the next level, and made a huge jump, just like we were hoping to see from him.”
Up 14-0 and having recovered the ensuing kickoff when Sultan’s return man fumbled it away, Coupeville looked on the cusp of unleashing a beatdown.
It wasn’t to be, though, at least in the moment, as things momentarily cooled down.
Sultan’s defense got stingier, and the Turks connected on a 29-yard scoring strike of their own to narrow the lead.
The Wolves came up with some big defensive plays — Jonathan Valenzuela and Peyton Caveness chased down runners, while Coffman bent the opposing QB in half on a sack — but the lead hovered at 14-7 with halftime approaching.
Enter Houston and his bionic leg, as the senior lashed his first field goal of the season high into the night sky to tack on three more points on the final play of the first half.
Daylon Houston accounted for 12 of Coupeville’s 30 points Friday night. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Coming off a longer halftime break than normal, and one fraught with emotion, it was anyone’s guess how the teams would respond in the game’s final 24 minutes.
For Richter and crew, the answer was, pretty dang good.
Hilborn punched in a touchdown on a seven-yard run, Downes snagged his third pick of the season, then Coffman went medieval on the Turks.
Taking the ball up the gut, the feisty three-sport star slammed into a Sultan player on about the third step of his run, the sound of helmets and pads colliding loud enough to be heard up around Deception Pass.
The Turk went down, hard, Coffman flexed, sending two more Sultan players crashing to the turf, and it was off to the races.
Instead of a short, violent run, it turned into a 60-yard, game-busting sprint to freedom, the roar of the crowd rising with each of Coffman’s increasingly faster steps.
It was, both in its power and impact, very much like the runs Lathom Kelley once unleashed on the same field.
While Sultan did manage to scrape out a late score off of a two-yard plunge, the game was firmly locked into the win column, with Coupeville burning clock thanks to an efficient run game.
Richter was able to give quality playing time to freshmen like Aiden O’Neill and Chase Anderson and first-year Wolf players like Casey Masters in the latter stages of the game.
Josh Upchurch was a big hitter for Coupeville’s aggressive defense. (Brittany Kolbet photo)
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