Ayden Warren played a strong defensive game Saturday in a Coupeville loss. (Parker Hammons photo)
“That’s a really good football team over there.”
As the players exited Mickey Clark Field Saturday, Coupeville High School football coach Bennett Richter was philosophical about what had transpired on a cold, wet, windy prairie afternoon.
Adna, a top 10 ranked team in 2B, had blown open a close game, using a 38-point explosion in the second quarter to nail down a lopsided 52-7 non-conference victory over the Wolves, making a fairly loud statement.
“I’d like to have a couple of those big boys…” Richter mused as a 300+-pound Pirate lineman, his uniform soaked in sweat, rain, and grime, strolled by.
“Adna is going to make some noise in the state playoffs.”
Now, even with the loss, which drops Coupeville to 1-6 on the season, the Wolves still have their own playoff hopes.
With only two of the seven schools in the Northwest 2B/1B League playing 11-man football, CHS and Friday Harbor are locked in a duel for the chance to advance to a cross-over playoff game, with a trip to state at stake.
Friday Harbor won the first go-round with Coupeville by a 28-14 score, and the rematch is set for next Friday’s regular-season finale in Cow Town, which doubles as Senior Night for the Wolves.
Earn a season split with a win, and Richter’s team will force a tiebreaker half-game clash, likely to be played on a neutral field in La Conner.
As they prep for rumble #2 with Friday Harbor, which sits at 3-4, the Wolves will try to have a short memory and flush the last three quarters of Saturday’s game from their collective memories.
If you look at just the first 15 minutes or so from the Adna game, it’s a really positive story.
While the visitors struck first, using a 75-yard return on the opening kickoff to set up a very short field, then punching in a touchdown on an eight-yard run, Coupeville responded in kind.
Trailing 8-0 after Adna was successful on a two-point conversion run, the Wolves drove 62 yards on six plays for their own touchdown.
CHS quarterback Chase Anderson slipped through two defenders and unleashed a 46-yard bomb through the air on third-and-nine, the ball dropping right onto the waiting fingertips of a sprinting Davin Houston, to push the Pirates back.
Then, three plays later, Anderson again slipped a tackle, before outsprinting the defense to the right corner of the end zone for a 10-yard scoring rumble, his team-leading seventh score of the season.
A successful PAT from Anderson cut the margin to 8-7, followed by Coupeville’s defense stepping up big-time early in the second quarter during a driving rainstorm.
Riley Lawless got the crowd revved up by crushing an Adna ballcarrier, and the Wolves forced two fumbles on the ensuing drive.
While Adna managed to wrestle the ball back the first time, it wasn’t quite so lucky the second time, as the slick ball shot loose and was covered by a pile of Wolves.
With the ball back in Anderson’s hands, things seemed bright for the Wolves on an otherwise dark, dank day.
Unfortunately, that was almost exactly the moment when everything fell apart for Coupeville.
Adna turned the tide by forcing a punt, then taking the kick to the house on a 55-yard sprint to the end zone, and things got much worse from there.
Coupeville’s next three drives ended with an interception and a pair of punts, with the Pirates following up each defensive stand with a quick touchdown drive of their own.
That sent a 16-7 deficit to 22-7, then 30-7, then 38-7, with time still left on the first-half clock.
The visitors went for the KO, and got it, immediately following a touchdown by dropping an onside kick, and recovering it, with less than 30 seconds until halftime.
Wolf lineman Ira Volpentesta made a nice stop on Adna’s first run play after the turnover, but the Pirates went to the air on the next play, connecting on a scoring strike to carry a 46-7 lead into the locker room.
The rain was much less brutal in the second half, but the clock also flew faster, after the visitors busted off a final 30-yard rushing touchdown to trigger the 40-point mercy rule.
With the clock whizzing down to 0:00, the Wolves continued to fight, however.
Liam Blas busted off a strong run, bouncing off of bodies and churning for yardage, while Ayden Warren came screaming through the line to plant the Adna quarterback into the turf for a late sack.
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