Marcelo Gebhard (54) and Co. brought big energy on opening night, fighting from opening kickoff through the final play of a nailbiter. (Jackie Saia photo)
In the moment, it’s a gut punch.
Down the road, it may turn out to be the start of something big.
A new-look Coupeville High School football team lost its season opener on the final play of the game Friday night, falling 28-25 to visiting Klahowya.
Eagles senior quarterback Jack Kealoha, who tossed three touchdown passes, used his feet to beat the Wolves to the left corner, scooting in on a game-busting two-yard scoring run as time expired.
That capped a wild finish in which both teams scored in the final moments, with Coupeville taking the lead on a 37-yard pass from Logan Downes to Chase Anderson with just 1:39 to play.
Coming on fourth-and-five, the scoring play featured a pinpoint pass through a forest of arms from the senior Wolf gunslinger, with his sophomore receiver making three would-be tacklers miss as he zigged and zagged his way to the end zone.
The Wolves used a 13-play, 87-yard drive to pull ahead, with Downes also converting another fourth down pass, this one zipping 10 yards through the air to land in Hunter Bronec’s hands.
Hunter Bronec slips through the defense. (Bailey Thule photo)
That set up 2B Coupeville for the non-conference win against a 1A foe, but it wasn’t to be.
Klahowya went 70 yards on 10 plays as the clock madly ticked, mixing runs with passes, before Kealoha hit paydirt to end the game.
While the loss hurts, it’s also a major building block for a team which lost a large group of senior leaders.
Those who graduated accounted for 43 of Coupeville’s 52 touchdowns during last season’s run to a league title and trip to the state playoffs.
Playing under sunny skies Friday, four days before the first day of school, the Wolves started multiple sophomores such as Anderson and Aiden O’Neill, as well as freshman lineman Riley Lawless.
Wolf coaches Bennett Richter (left) and Brett Casey discuss strategy. (Jackie Saia photo)
And, while the final result will go in the books as a loss, second year CHS coach Bennett Richter came away largely pleased with what he saw.
“Our young guys fought very hard,” he said. “Every time we started to fall behind, they fought their way back into the game.
“If we have this kind of fight in us in week one, I’m looking forward to what we’ll show as the season progresses.”
The game came down to a play here, a play there — a fumble here, a questionable pass interference call there.
Clean up the small errors, expand on the positives, and the Wolves can make some noise in the games ahead.
“We’ll get back to it, get the guys on track, and learn from tonight,” Richter said.
“We played a really good team, and kudos to them for making plays when they had to, but I don’t think the better team necessarily won.”
Coupeville got on the board first, taking the opening kickoff, then driving nearly the length of the field.
Johnny Porter, O’Neill, and Mikey Robinett carried the rushing load early, slicing ‘n dicing the Eagles defense.
That put Klahowya’s defenders on their heels, and Downes took advantage, with his second pass turning into a 46-yard touchdown.
Scrambling away from pursuit, he popped a pass onto O’Neill’s fingertips, then stepped back and watched as the quicksilver youngster weaved his way through nearly all 11 defenders.
Tack on a PAT from Anderson, and the Wolves had a 7-0 lead which would last into the second quarter.
Senior captain Peyton Caveness picked off a pass to prematurely end Klahowya’s first possession, but the Wolves were unable to tack on any more scores of their own, with two punts and a lost fumble keeping things close.
Peyton Caveness (8) was a force on defense. (Bailey Thule photo)
Coupeville’s defense denied the Eagles, refusing to allow the visitors to score on four plays from the five-yard line, but Klahowya eventually broke through on its third possession of the night.
A 30-yard scoring heave from Kealoha to Nathan West, followed by a conversion run from the rival QB, staked his squad to an 8-7 lead.
It wouldn’t hold, however, as the Wolves rallied late to surge back in front heading into halftime.
Coupeville forced a punt with under two minutes to play, before scoring thanks to a couple of wham-bam plays.
Downes hit Anderson for a 26-yard pass in which the ball hit a Klahowya player’s fingers, popped straight up into the sky, and was snatched away by “The Magic Man” as he tumbled backwards.
Two plays later Coupeville pulled off a double reverse, with O’Neill scampering in from 10 yards out with just eight seconds remaining before the break.
After kicking the PAT the first time, the Wolves opted to go for a two-point conversion, and came up short, a trend repeated on both of their second half touchdowns.
The third quarter was a back-and-forth affair, with Kealoha tossing another 30-yard scoring strike to push Klahowya ahead 15-13, before Downes hit the gas, covering 26 yards on a TD run to reclaim the lead at 19-15.
The Eagles notched their third touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter, to get back in front at 22-19, before both teams came up big on defense.
Klahowya forced and recovered a fumble on the sideline, before Coupeville held strong on a fourth-and-six from the 14-yard line, denying Kealoha on a sprint for the marker.
That set up the frantic finale, with only one team guaranteed to come out truly happy. On this night, it was the visitors.
The Wolves showed big promise in week one. (Bailey Thule photo)
O’Neill’s two touchdowns give him three for his high school career, tying him with Johnny Porter for the lead among active Wolf players.
Meanwhile Logan Downes recorded his 20th and 21st touchdown passes, as he chases older brother Hunter, who owns the CHS career record of 35.
Coming off the last-second loss, Coupeville hits the road the next two weeks, traveling to South Whidbey Sept. 8 for The Bucket game, before visiting Sultan Sept. 15.
The Wolves return home Sept. 22 to face La Conner in the first of four Northwest 2B/1B League games as they aim to win back-to-back conference crowns for the first time in program history.
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