Wolf seniors (l to r) Jack Porter, Marcelo Gebhard, and Johnny Porter bask in the afterglow of an opening night win. (Photo courtesy Jeff Porter)
Not today, Gators.
Annie Wright will get its first-ever varsity football win at some point in the future, but it didn’t come on Cow Town soil Friday night.
Playing a private 1A school suiting up for just its second game as a varsity unit, Coupeville, a 2B high school, made short work of the visitors, romping to a 51-6 win on opening night.
The victory, coming in front of a packed crowd on a steamy early September night on the prairie, was keyed by an explosive running attack and a ferocious defense.
With every player in uniform seeing field time, Wolf coach Bennett Richter kicked off his third year at the helm in most convincing style.
When the spotlight hit, whether it was a senior or a freshman, every player in red and black stepped up.
And they did it from the very first play of the season, as Chase Anderson hauled in the opening kickoff, then sliced through the Annie Wright defense for 30 yards.
Taking the reins at quarterback after two seasons as a receiver, the Wolf junior was on point in the opening drive, peppering the Gators from every angle.
Anderson busted out a 25-yard run, connected with Jack Porter on a 26-yard pass play, then capped things by scooting into the end zone on a lil’ three-yard scoring rumble.
Tacking on the PAT, with the ball flying off his foot like a missile and disappearing far into the night air, Coupeville’s most electric gridiron warrior staked the Wolves to a quick 7-0 lead and the rout was on.
Proving they could give the offense a run for its money, the CHS defense unleashed holy heck on the visitors, immediately having an impact.
Marcelo Gebhard, who spent the night cracking people in half, blew up a run, followed by Jack Porter manhandling half the line as he crashed through on his way to a QB sack.
Facing fourth down and backed up to its own 22-yard line, Annie Wright showed guts, choosing to fire a pass instead of punting.
Unfortunately for the Gators, the ball caromed off a Wolf defender, popped upwards, and was snatched out of the air by Liam Blas.
Cradling the ball as carefully as his mom Stephanie once held the DVD for her beloved Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights back in her Videoville days, the fab frosh earned big raves from his coaches.
“Liam had some big hits and really played his role well,” Richter said. “We had a lot of young guys step up tonight, and I’m so excited to see that.”
Freshman Liam Blas had a big impact in his high school debut. (Photo courtesy Kevin Blas)
Not content to sit on a one-score lead, Coupeville rammed home two more touchdowns before the first quarter was done.
Johnny Porter punched in a 10-yard scoring run, before Marquette Cunningham, shedding would-be tacklers with each dynamic step, blasted away for a 22-yard touchdown jaunt.
The second quarter kicked off with the Coupeville student section singing along to the Backstreet Boys warbling I Want it That Way, a song which is now 25(!!) years old.
While the playback of the song stopped in mid-sentence, as Annie Wright went to launch a punt, a pack of teenagers not alive in 1999 finished the song themselves, absolutely nailing the lyrics.
You know who else absolutely nailed something, but in a far more painful way?
The Annie Wright punter, who later in the quarter, shanked the ball off of the teammate standing right in front of him.
The ball bounced backwards, with Jack Porter roaring in from the outside to land on the wayward pigskin for the game’s only defensive touchdown, and the stadium was rocking.
Add in a two-point conversion run from Anderson, then big defensive stops from Riley Lawless, Jackson Sollars, Davin Houston, and Camden Glover, and the game was a lopsided 29-0 at the half.
Annie Wright didn’t roll over, however, and showed a fair amount of pluck, especially for a fairly new program.
A sensational one-handed catch by Kient’e Caldwell brought oohs and ahs even from a rival crowd, and the Gators finally got on the board early in the third quarter.
A long pass play which caught the Wolf defenders flat-footed set up a short scoring run by freshman Jackson Wright, though CHS stuffed the conversion attempt.
That was the signal for Anderson to get fancy, as the Wolf gunslinger whipped passes to Johnny Porter and Malachi Somes before collecting his second and third touchdown runs of the night.
The first one covered five yards, with a conversion pass to Cunningham making it 37-6, while his final scoring burst covered 73 yards, as he merrily skipped down the left side of the field, two steps too fast for the defense.
That titanic tear was impressive, but there was more. Far more.
Cunningham, saving something special for the final moments, accepted a handoff deep in his own territory, then left a trail of tears behind him.
All 11 Gators had a chance to tackle the quicksilver one, but no one was capable of completing the job as he romped to paydirt.
Covering 70+ yards on Coupeville’s final offensive play, the Wolf junior brought the house down.
“This was his big breakout game, and I’m so proud of him,” Richter said. “Marquette has really built towards this for the last two years. He earned it.”
Wolf fans went home happy. (Photo courtesy Jennifer Heaton)
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