Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Matthew Kelley’

Logan Downes dreams of championships while catching a breather. (Pat Kelley photo)

   Logan Downes dreams of championships while catching a breather. (Pat Kelley photo)

Three teams went into Saturday with championship dreams and one survived.

Powered by Coupeville’s Logan Downes, the Oak Harbor Pee Wees football squad thumped Anacortes 21-0, while two other Wildcat teams featuring Wolves on their roster fell just short.

The Juniors, which get a healthy dose of offense from Matthew Kelley and timely blocking from Gavin St Onge, were knocked off by Stanwood, while the Seniors (led by Ty and Gabe Eck) also were bounced in the semifinals.

The Pee Wees will get a championship game rematch Saturday, Nov. 8, with the only team to beat them, Stanwood Red.

That squad nipped the ‘Cats 20-13 in October to snap Oak Harbor’s five game winning streak.

Read Full Post »

Matthew Kelley (Pat Kelley photo)

   Matthew Kelley (right) waits for his moment to shine in the rain Saturday. (Pat Kelley photo)

The “hired guns” did their job, and they did it well.

With Coupeville not having a youth football program, local boys end up playing ball in Oak Harbor, and a pack of Wolves spread across three teams all had success on a rainy Saturday.

Logan Downes hauled in a 15-yard reception, busted out a 20-yard run and chased down a runner nearly the length of the field to save a touchdown as the Oak Harbor Pee Wees won 27-0.

The Oak Harbor Juniors, paced by Matthew Kelley and Gavin St Onge, held off Burlington-Edison 12-6.

Kelley, who also played in a soccer game the same day (his team won 4-1) had seven tackles and helped his team get an important first down when he got his defender to pick up a flag for tackling him before the catch on fourth down.

A step above, Coupeville eighth graders Gabe Eck, Ty Eck and Alex Turner helped their Oak Harbor squad defeat LaConner 22-6.

All three Wildcat teams will return to the gridiron for another playoff game Saturday, Nov. 1.

Read Full Post »

Football has taken Matthew Kelley from Coupeville to SoutH Whidbey to Anacortes to Oak Harbor. (Pat Kelley photo)

   Football has taken Matthew Kelley from Coupeville to South Whidbey to Anacortes to Oak Harbor. (Pat Kelley photo)

South Whidbey is going to remember Matthew Kelley.

After three successful seasons playing youth football with the Falcons (a combined 26-5 record and two championship games), the Coupeville resident played last year for Anacortes, helping the Seahawks to a 6-2 mark.

This year, he’s back on the Island, playing for Oak Harbor after complaints from South Whidbey parents caused a change in the rules that prevents Whidbey kids from playing off-Island.

When he returned, Kelley chose the Wildcats over the Falcons (his two choices, as Coupeville doesn’t field a youth football team).

Saturday he met back up with South Whidbey, which has won just one game in the past two non-Kelley seasons.

It wasn’t a great reunion for the Falcons.

With Kelley hauling in 140 yards worth of passes, and drilling Falcon runners while on defense, Oak Harbor romped to a 36-0 win to run its record to 8-0.

The Wildcats will carry a #1 seed into the playoffs when they host Burlington Oct. 25.

With Cameron Asinsin lobbing balls his way, Kelley snatched a 60-yard touchdown, then tacked on receptions of 55, 20 and five yards.

He was brought down just shy of two additional touchdowns by a close friend, South Whidbey’s Kobe Balora.

Both wins were shortlived for the Falcons, however, as they surrendered scores shortly thereafter.

Kelley had double digits in tackles, while recording three sacks, stripping the ball to force a fumble and getting an assist on a safety.

He is joined on the ‘Cat squad by fellow Coupeville resident Gavin St Onge, who is a two-way terror as a lineman.

Read Full Post »

Matthew Kelley sports a reminder that football is a contact sport. (Pat Kelley photo)

Matthew Kelley sports a reminder that football is a contact sport. (Pat Kelley photo)

Not even a cheap shot can derail the Kelley Express.

Bouncing back after a shot to the ribs knocked him out of the game for much of the first half Saturday, Coupeville Middle School gridiron giant Matthew Kelley returned just in time to decide his team’s game.

Flying back on to the field at Friday Harbor, Kelley, a sixth grader at CMS, racked up eight tackles and two sacks, stripping the ball from the quarterback on the second take-down.

That allowed his Oak Harbor Junior Gold squad to recover the ball and turn the tide in what became a 19-12 win.

The victory kept Oak Harbor perfect at 7-0. Having already secured the #1 seed for the playoffs, the Wildcats will close the regular season with an all-Island match-up with South Whidbey (1-6) Oct. 18.

Friday Harbor was clinging to a 12-6 lead and had the ball on its own 35-yard line when Kelley broke through the line, leveled the QB and popped the ball out.

The Wildcats took immediate advantage, recovering the ball and driving for the go-ahead touchdown. They added a final score to pad the lead with four seconds left in the game.

Kelley wasn’t the only Coupeville kid to shine last weekend.

Logan Downes, who moonlights for the Oak Harbor Pee Wees, shined in a 40-6 win over Friday Harbor.

Downes, who attends third grade at Coupeville Elementary School, took a punt back 55 yards and later ripped off a 95-yard scoring run in the third quarter that put the game on ice.

His ‘Cat squad is 6-1.

Read Full Post »

Gavin St Onge (60) (Pat Kelley photos)

  Gavin St Onge (middle in front) and teammates pay tribute to a teammate’s dad. (Pat Kelley photos)

John McDonald

   John McDonald (center) speaks to the team after they gave him a Pittsburgh Steelers blanket.

Two of Coupeville’s best are playing to honor one of Oak Harbor’s finest.

Coupeville Middle School students Matthew Kelley (6th grade) and Gavin St Onge (7th) are both starring for the Oak Harbor Junior Gold football squad, which is rolling at 6-0 on the season.

The Wildcats, who take their unbeaten record on the road to Friday Harbor this Saturday, have dedicated their season to John McDonald.

Father of the team’s biggest lineman, McDonald is in the final stages of terminal cancer.

He is able to spend weekends cheering on his son’s team, however, and Oak Harbor coach Nick Asinsin has put an emphasis on his team honoring McDonald this season.

Paying tribute to McDonald’s life-long love of the six-time Super Bowl-winning Pittsburgh Steelers, the Wildcats are wearing yellow and black wristbands in support.

While playing for Oak Harbor, Kelley and St Onge have excelled.

Kelley splits time between quarterback, receiver and outside linebacker, starting both ways. He’s juggling two sports at once, playing soccer with a select squad as well.

Proving his deadliness regardless of the sport, Kelley had an eventful week.

On the soccer pitch, he knocked in a goal in a 4-0 win, then bounced over to football and ripped off a pair of touchdown runs on the ground.

St Onge is also a two-way starter on the gridiron, one who is described by onlookers as “an animal” who anchors the offensive and defensive lines.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »