Coupeville’s Ben Smith snagged his first varsity reception Friday in a loss against Cedar Park Christian. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Put that coffee down. Coffee’s for closers.
If we follow the golden rule thrown down by Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross, the Coupeville High School football team gets no caffeine this morning.
Because, while the Wolves forced and recovered three fumbles Friday in Kirkland, and pulled off several outstanding pass plays, the one thing they couldn’t do was close against host Cedar Park Christian.
Unable to stuff the ball in the end zone, or prevent the Eagles from doing the same, Coupeville fell 42-0, handing CPC the win it needed to clinch the North Sound Conference title.
Win or lose the regular-season finale Oct. 26, Cedar Park (4-0 in league play) will hang the first league championship banner in program history.
And it only took disgraced former Bellevue coach Butch Goncharoff two years to turn his new squad from also-rans to winners.
In the other NSC games played Friday, King’s shredded Sultan 52-13, while South Whidbey held off Granite Falls 19-14.
With one week left in the regular season, King’s (3-1) and South Whidbey (3-1) have also clinched playoff berths, and their game next Friday will decide the league’s #2 and #3 playoff seeds.
The fourth, and final, conference postseason berth is still up for grabs, with Granite Falls (1-3) and Sultan (1-3) tied, a game up on Coupeville (0-4).
If the Wolves, who are 3-5 overall, uphold Senior Night honor Oct. 26 and beat Granite Falls, and Sultan loses against CPC, it would leave all three teams in a deadlock.
For a moment Friday, it looked like Coupeville might be able to hold its own with Cedar Park, even playing on unfamiliar turf and having made its longest road trip of the season.
The Wolves got the ball first, with a strong kickoff return from Shane Losey setting the table.
A couple of ziggy, zaggy runs from Sean Toomey-Stout helped CHS move the ball, and, when they momentarily stalled, they took advantage of an Eagle error.
Coupeville lofted a nice punt, the ball popped free from the Eagle receiver, and Toomey-Stout alertly jumped on the runaway pigskin, helping the Wolves pick up an accidental 30 yards and a new set of downs starting at the CPC 26-yard line.
After both teams exchanged penalties, Wolf QB Dawson Houston dropped a sparkling pass down the left sideline for 12 yards, hitting Toomey-Stout right on the hands and CHS was knocking on heaven’s door.
It wasn’t to be, though, as a botched snap cost Coupeville eight yards, and then the Eagles defense stiffened, knocking away potential pass receptions on back-to-back plays to force a turnover on downs.
At that exact moment, with CPC going under center for the first time, and with the Wolves having carved six and a half minutes off the clock, it looked like the night might be a nail-biter.
The Eagles had other ideas though. Horrifying ideas.
A team known for running suddenly debuted an electrifying pass attack, garnering 46 yards on a long pass play down the middle of the field.
Before Coupeville could recover its composure, CPC sent a runner rambling the final 17 yards needed for the game’s first touchdown.
And, just like that, in two plays, the Eagles accomplished what the Wolves couldn’t get done in an opening drive which went 17 plays.
Proving it wasn’t a fluke, while also conserving energy, Cedar Park used just three plays to score a TD on its next possession, with a long pass, a questionable roughing the passer penalty and a short run combining to cover 39 yards and put CPC up 14-0 after one quarter of play.
The Eagles put the game on ice in the second quarter, with TD passes of 31 and 10 yards, followed by a 56-yard bolt to daylight.
The fifth score stung more than most, as it came one play after Derek Leyva saved a touchdown by chasing down a CPC runner from behind and yanking him down at the one-yard line.
After all that, the play was called back due to a holding call on Cedar Park, which just gave the host team a bit more room to run on the next snap.
Houston moved Coupeville down the field, connecting on big pass plays with Leyva and Toomey-Stout, but both drives stalled out at crunch time, leaving the Wolves with little to show for their efforts.
The first of Leyva’s two catches in the second quarter was especially impressive, as the converted soccer star went airborne, waited until two CPC defenders mashed him, one from each side, then, and only then, pulling in the pass and holding on to it for dear life.
Toomey-Stout added his second fumble recovery right before the half, while Andrew Martin, Dane Lucero and Ryan Labrador anchored the defense, piling up tackles.
But Cedar Park tacked on a final touchdown on the very first play of the third quarter, taking the kickoff to the house to stretch the lead out to its final margin of 42-0.
In the late going, Houston continued to chip away at the defense, taking what little it offered him, with superb passes under pressure to Lucero and Ben Smith.
With a running clock in affect after the third-quarter kickoff return, the second half moved quickly.
Coupeville, which was playing without starters Chris Battaglia, Matt Hilborn, Gavin St Onge, Jake Pease and Xavier Murdy, did its best to put up a fight until the final whistle.
Alex Turner terrorized Cedar Park’s backup ball-carriers, stuffing several running plays, while Leyva recovered his first fumble to cap his best all-around game in his short gridiron career.
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