They played ball together in Coupeville. Now, Jason McFadyen (left) is an Anacortes football fan, while Sean Dillon cheers for Tumwater. (Photo courtesy McFadyen)
“Change your stars and live a better life than I have.”
Living by the words of A Knight’s Tale, both the Coupeville and Anacortes football programs have soared in recent seasons.
The turnaround for the Seahawks is simply spectacular.
Go back to Oct. 25, 2019, and Anacortes was arguably at its lowest moment.
That night a fairly large 2A school took to the gridiron in Cow Town and promptly lost 18-7 to a Coupeville squad repping a 2B-sized school, and not a state powerhouse by any means.
The win clinched the first winning season for Wolf football in 14 years, a streak which had endured since 2005.
For Coupeville players, coaches, and fans, it was a huge moment and signaled the beginning of a turnaround.
Now, current Wolf head coach Bennett Richter — Coupeville’s Defensive Coordinator that night — has continued to build on what Marcus Carr accomplished, while adding more milestones.
Coupeville won a league title and went to the state playoffs in 2022, accomplishments not earned by a CHS football team in three decades.
And while the loss stung for Anacortes, the visitors went home, kept working, and piece by piece became a program which ain’t playing any 2B rivals again any time soon.
In fact, the current Seahawks, whose support group includes cheerleader Kate McFadyen, daughter of old-school Coupeville QB Jason, are one step from achieving inner nirvana.
Anacortes is undefeated, ranked #2 in the state in 2A, and plays for its first state title this Saturday at Husky Stadium against Tumwater, my true alma mater.
The T-Birds are a major obstacle — also undefeated, ranked #1 and seeking a seventh crown — but go back to 2019 and try to imagine Anacortes football being where it is now.
The Hawks, regardless of the final score in Saturday’s game, have really, truly, changed their stars.
That’s a major win in my book.
PS — Go Tumwater!
