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Posts Tagged ‘state playoffs’

Date, time set for playoff rumble

Posted in Football, tagged , , , , on November 7, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville QB Logan Downes has thrown for 17 touchdowns this season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Forget about Friday Night Lights.

The Coupeville High School football team will play its first state playoff game in 32 years in the daylight, on a different weekend day.

The Wolves (7-1) host Onalaska (5-5) in a loser-out game, with the action set to go down Saturday, Nov. 12 at Oak Harbor’s Wildcat Memorial Stadium.

Kickoff is 4:00 PM.

The date and time were likely selected to ease the travel burden on Onalaska, which is looking at a nearly 400-mile round trip.

Saturday’s tilt features a Coupeville program which last made it to the big dance in 1990 against a school which won state football titles in 1986 and 2019.

The Loggers won two playoff games last season before falling to eventual state champ Kalama in the semifinals.

Saturday’s winner heads to Eastern Washington the next week, with a quarterfinal matchup against Okanogan (10-0).

Ticket prices for the playoff opener, which are set by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, and not the schools involved:

 

Adults and high school/middle school students without ASB — $10
Senior Citizens (62+) — $7
High school/middle school students with ASB — $7
Elementary school students — $7
Children (4 and under) — FREE

 

Tickets can be purchased in person with cash or online at:

https://gofan.co/app/events/778110?schoolId=WA86277

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State playoffs, here they come!

Posted in Football, tagged , , , , , on October 28, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville High School football players Daylon Houston (left) and Aiden O’Neill, off to Friday Harbor on a business trip. (Davin Houston photo)

One year, two epic streaks spiked.

First, the Coupeville High School boys basketball team broke a 34-year dry spell, advancing to the state tournament for the first time since 1988.

And now, after a 43-14 dismantling of host Friday Harbor — it was 43-0 when CHS pulled most of its starters — the Wolf football squad is state-bound for the first time since 1990.

The win, Coupeville’s sixth-straight on the gridiron, lifts it to 7-1 on the season and caps a flawless 4-0 run through the Northwest 2B/1B League.

After previously clinching at least a tie for their first conference title since the ol’ ball coach, Ron Bagby, was still sportin’ short shorts, the Wolves won the NWL crown outright Friday night.

It’s the third league title for CHS football, with the 2022 squad joining the 1974 and 1990 teams, and this will be the fifth trip to state for the program.

The 12-team 2B state tourney kicks off Nov. 11, and the Wolves won’t know their foe or the site of their opening game until the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association seeds the teams Sunday, Nov. 6.

For a look at the still-blank state bracket, pop over to:

http://www.nw1a2bathletics.com/m2/tourn.php?act=vt&tid=3666

To punch their state ticket, the Wolves took a business trip to Friday Harbor and, quite simply, punched their hosts in the mouth.

Do the CHS football players, ages 14-18, really understand how ferocious Mike Tyson was in his prime in the ’80s and ’90s?

You know, those years where each time he stepped into the boxing ring you thought he might actually kill the poor sap trying to hide in the other corner, weeping into his gloves?

Maybe. Maybe not.

But, to a man, they imitated Iron Mike Friday, inflicting damage, both physical and emotional.

Peyton Caveness, warrior. (Brenna Silveira photo)

Dominic Coffman and Scott Hilborn, operating behind a line of big ol’ boys like William Davidson, Zane Oldenstadt, and Josh Upchurch, ran over Friday Harbor.

Then Wolf QB Logan Downes gashed the already-hurting defense, with fleet-footed receivers like Daylon Houston, Tim Ursu, and Hunter Bronec hauling in buttery-soft passes.

Coupeville scored on each of its first six possessions Friday and wasn’t subtle about it.

Coffman capped an opening 50-yard drive, plunging into the end zone on a short bull run, garnering what would be the first of four touchdowns on the night for the CHS senior.

Tack on a Daylon Houston PAT, force and recover a Friday Harbor fumble three plays later, then score again, and the tone was set.

Touchdowns #2 and #3 also came via Coffman — a 13-yard burst to freedom around the left side, followed by a 25-yard jaunt down the right sideline.

In between those scores, Friday Harbor put together its best drive of the game and got absolutely zip to show for it.

The Wolverines ran 15 plays, starting in the first quarter and ending in the second, went from their own 33-yard line to Coupeville’s 19, but had back-to-back running plays absolutely blown up at the end by CHS defenders.

Facing a fourth-and-nine, Friday Harbor went for the field goal, only to watch in horror as the ball ended up somewhere down around the ferry parking lot instead of splitting the uprights.

Coupeville tacked on a fourth touchdown right before the half, with Downes lofting a scoring strike into the waiting hands of Ursu.

Tim Ursu, unleashed. (Photo courtesy Ashleigh Casey)

Pushing the Wolf advantage to 28-0, it capped a drive in which CHS, facing a fourth-and-four, laughed at the danger and pulled off a 23-yard pass play with Bronec using a death grip to pluck the incoming ball from the heavens.

If Friday Harbor thought it might pull off a miracle second-half comeback, those hopes were dashed.

Quickly.

Hilborn outran a Wolverines receiver in a sprint downfield, then came back to the ball to pick it off, a roundhouse right to the temple for Friday Harbor.

Seconds later (OK, three plays), it was time for the Wolf weapons to detonate one more time.

Knocking Friday Harbor defenders off their feet, Hilborn shot in from 20 yards out for a touchdown, then Coupeville muffed the snap on the PAT.

Which might have been the plan all along, as Daylon Houston stopped in mid-stride, dropped his kicking leg back to Earth, snatched the ball off the sod, and flipped the jets.

Showcasing his wheels, Daniel and Alia’s middle son took off like a bat out of Hell, and beat a pack of defenders to the corner, waving bye-bye-bye as he notched his first two-point conversion of the season.

“Hey Dawson … mom says I’m faster than you.” (Alia Houston photo)

Tack on touchdown #4 for Coffman, this one on a 63-yard rumble down the left sideline, and a final Houston PAT and we had arrived at 43-0 and the end of the third quarter.

Now, give Friday Harbor some credit.

Trying to retain a bit of dignity as the league title was ripped from their hands on the night they celebrated Homecoming, the Wolverines scored twice in the waning moments against Coupeville’s younger players.

Which is fine and dandy, but Coupeville has still outscored its foes 349-101 this year, with Friday’s six-touchdown effort giving the Wolves 50 TD’s.

Riding his four-score effort, Coffman reclaims the team lead with 13 TD’s, while Ursu and Hilborn each have 12.

Downes first-half scoring pass was his 17th touchdown heave of the season, leaving him one off of Joel Walstad’s single-season CHS record of 18, set back in 2014.

As a team, the Wolves have rushed for 24 TD’s and thrown for 18 — freshman Chase Anderson connected on one while subbing for Downes earlier this season.

The school single-season team records, both set in 2014 by Josh Bayne, Walstad, and Co., are 26 TD’s on the ground and 20 through the air.

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Give ’em something to think about!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on February 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Caleb Meyer and Co. pushed top-seeded Kalama hard in their state playoff opener. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

It’s a ding in the armor, but not a fatal blow.

Friday night, the Coupeville High School boys basketball team absorbed its first loss of the season, but the dream of bringing home a trophy from the state tournament still lives.

The Wolves, making their first appearance at the big dance in 34 years, fell 59-54 to Kalama, the top-ranked 2B team, in a game played at Battle Ground.

Coupeville, which used a blistering defense to spark a late 10-0 run to almost pull out the win, falls to 16-1, while Kalama improves to 20-1.

The Chinooks only loss this season came in their season opener, when a chunk of the team was still AWOL after winning a state football title.

Both teams advance to the next level of the state tourney, set for the Spokane Arena Mar. 2-5.

With the win, Kalama advances to the quarterfinals, while Coupeville will play either Lake Roosevelt or River View Mar. 2 in a loser-out game.

The top six teams at state bring home trophies.

The first round of state, played at “regional” sites, features four loser-out games pitting teams ranked #9-#16 in the draw, resulting in 12 teams advancing to Spokane.

Seeded #8, Coupeville was assured of playing at least two games, regardless of how the Kalama game went down.

For a team repping a program which last played at state in 1988 and won its first league title in 20 years and first district title in 52 seasons this year, the Wolves showed no signs of nerves.

Caleb Meyer drilled the bottom out of the net on a pull-up three-ball to open the scoring, and Coupeville played even with Kalama for much of the first half.

With the refs calling just three fouls total in the first half — a lesson for the folks wearing black and white striped shirts in our region — both teams got to play a fast-and-physical style.

The Wolves often looked quicker, while the Chinooks are a rugged bunch which hits the glass with a cold fury.

Twice Kalama nudged ahead in the first frame, only to see Xavier Murdy knot things right back up with three-balls which flipped the net high as the ball slid through.

The second trey was set up by a zippy pass off of Hawthorne Wolfe’s fingertips, with the scoreboard flicking to 11-11 as X-Man hit paydirt.

Trailing 13-11 at the first break, Coupeville put together a 7-0 run midway through the second quarter to pull back in front at 23-21.

All seven of the points came from the Maraudin’ Murdy boys, with younger brother Alex jumping in to aid Xavier.

Xavier Murdy topped all scorers Friday with 24 points.

Unfortunately for Coupeville, its only real weak stretch followed almost immediately.

Pounding away down low, Kalama used a variety of short-range shots to close the half on a 10-0 spurt, walking to the locker room with a solid 31-23 advantage.

But the Wolves weren’t ready to go away quietly. Cause that’s not their style.

Kalama, playing with precision and catching a ride on the rugged shoulders of Jackson Esary, who banged home 23 points, tried repeatedly to pull away.

Each time, however, Coupeville denied the Chinooks.

Facing a 14-point deficit midway through the third, the Wolves stormed back to cut it down to seven, thanks to a whole lot of Murdy boys and some gut-check buckets from sophomore Logan Downes.

Then, after Kalama stretched the margin back out to 13, CHS coach Brad Sherman unleashed a full-court press to fuel Coupeville’s biggest run.

Down 57-44, the Wolves forced multiple turnovers, turning the extra chances into a magical 10-0 explosion which set the Chinooks back on their heels.

Grady Rickner got things started with a sweet lil’ jumper, before Meyer nailed a free throw and Alex Murdy converted off of an offensive rebound.

That set up Xavier Murdy to seize the spotlight, as the perpetual ball of energy capped a game-high 24-point performance with two of the biggest baskets of his prep career.

First he knocked down a shot in the paint, but not before Downes punched the ball free and Alex Murdy snatched it away from the Chinooks, feeding his brother with a pinpoint pass.

With the Coupeville fans — who made a 400+ mile round-trip — shaking the bleachers, the Wolves forced Kalama to throw the ball away on the next possession, followed by Xavier Murdy getting magical.

X-Man’s three-ball went up, hit the rim, popped straight up, kissed the heavens, then tumbled back through the net, cutting the margin to 57-54 and setting off pandemonium.

But give Kalama credit.

A fair amount of their players knows what it’s like to win a gridiron state championship, and they emerged from a very-tough district tourney after winning back-to-back games in the final seconds.

So, it’s not surprising the Chinooks held up under pressure in the final 37 seconds, netting two free throws to make it a two-possession game, while keeping Coupeville from hitting one (or two) more big shots.

The Murdy boys combined to drop 38 on Kalama, with Xavier (24) and Alex (14) both reaching personal milestones along the way.

With 201 career points, and counting, Alex — Coupeville’s main defensive dynamo — cracks the 200-point club, joining uncle Allen Black (305) and big bro Xavier (472).

X-Man, meanwhile, moves into a tie with Pat O’Grady at #51 on the CHS boys career scoring chart, which dates back 105 seasons.

Downes chipped in Friday with eight points, Meyer and Rickner both banked in four, and Wolfe, Logan Martin, and Cole White saw floor time for Coupeville.

 

State tourney bracket:

http://www.nw1a2bathletics.com/m2/tourn.php?act=vt&tid=3462

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Wolf fans, feel the financial burn

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on February 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Alex Murdy crashes to the hoop. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Dig in deeper to that wallet.

The further the Coupeville High School boys basketball team goes this postseason, the more expensive it will get for Wolf fans.

An adult ticket to the district title game was $7.00, but one to this Friday’s state tourney opener against Kalama at Battle Ground High School runs $15.00

The next week, Coupeville travels to the Spokane Arena, where it will play the remainder of the big dance.

The Wolves could play between 1-4 games between Mar. 2-5.

Tickets in Spokane are also $15 a day – or you can nab a deal if you purchase a four-day pass ($50) or three-day pass ($38).

Those multi-day passes have to be purchased by Mar. 2 and 3, respectively, and there’s no refunds if your team gets knocked out before Mar. 5.

How you can buy your tickets also varies.

For the Kalama game, you have one option — purchasing tickets online through GoFan — with no paper tickets sold at the door.

Once you’re in Spokane, GoFan is still in use, but the option to buy in person will also be available.

 

For info, pop over to:

 

Kalama game @ Battle Ground HS — Friday, Feb. 25:

https://wiaa.com/ardisplay.aspx?ID=1949

 

Spokane Arena Mar. 2-5:

https://www.wiaa.com/subcontent.aspx?SecID=332

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Come on, man…

Posted in Girls Soccer, Ranting and Raving, tagged , , , , on November 11, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Deer Park High School — nice logo, questionable in-game decisions.

How much is too much?

Two recent high school games, in different sports and different states, have showcased when teams go beyond winning big, and just win ugly.

One has drawn national attention, and the other probably should.

The first came in California, where Inglewood thrashed Morningside 106-0 on the football gridiron, with the former team leaving their UCLA-bound quarterback in the entire way as he threw for 13 touchdowns.

Up 104-0, that QB even tossed a two-point conversion pass after the last TD, cause … stats.

“It was a classless move,” was the quote offered up by Morningside’s first-year head coach, Brian Collins, whose team is 2-8.

Here in Washington state, there was an even more shocking score, as Deer Park, the #3 seed in 1A girls soccer, opened the state tourney by blitzing Royal 20-0.

The Stags reportedly also left their star player, who is on her way to play on scholarship at the University of Oregon, in the entire way, with her rattling home six goals.

The difference here is Royal, unlike Morningside, is good.

Even with the season-ending loss, the Knights were 12-8 and were one of the final 16 teams standing in 1A.

But they ran into a team in Deer Park which had no issue with recording 19-0, 15-1, 13-0, 12-0, and three separate 11-0 wins against overmatched opponents this season.

A second-hand quote on Twitter, attributed to the Royal coach, went like this:

“We needed to keep playing and we did what we could against a side that was better and clearly wanted to make a statement of some kind.

“No history here, so I don’t know, but congrats to them.”

With the lopsided win, Deer Park advances to a quarterfinal matchup with King’s, which beat La Salle 8-0 in its opener.

Two more wins, and the Stags will likely play top-seeded Klahowya for a state title.

And those Eagles make for a strong contrast with Deer Park.

While going 16-0-2, including a 5-1 win over Wahluke in its state opener, Klahowya has outscored its foes 105-4.

Deer Park, at 17-1, has rung up a 148-9 advantage.

Unlike the Stags, however, Klahowya often pulled players this season, taking an 11-9 disadvantage on the pitch, while limiting itself to a season-high of nine goals.

The Eagles have won convincingly, with their ties coming against Bellevue Christian — their state quarterfinal opponent — and 2A Fife, but have chosen not to rub it in the faces of their rivals.

Deer Park’s 19-0 regular-season win came at the expense of winless Medical Lake, so … yay for you, Stags. You really proved … something.

And that 20-0 state win?

Deer Park was up 9-0 at the half, in a sport where about 1% of teams come back from a two-goal deficit, and still felt the need to ring up 11 more scores.

That 106-0 football win, even if nearly all the PATs or two-point conversions failed, couldn’t have had more than 17 touchdowns.

While anything that starts with 100+ points being involved looks outlandish, Deer Park’s win actually involved more scoring.

Against a team which was blown out long before the ball stopped hitting the back of the net.

High school football at least has a running clock, which helps a bit.

Softball, where Coupeville beat Deer Park 14-2 at the state tourney in 2019, has a mercy rule, as well.

There is nothing similar in soccer, though most coaches, such as Klahowya’s, find a way to balance their team winning convincingly, and looking like power-mad asses.

Winning 20-0 on the soccer field, whether it’s against scrubs or a state tourney qualifier, is a bad look. Pure and simple.

Especially when Deer Park’s own Twitter claims:

Stag Athletics emphasizes the proper ideals of sportsmanship, ethical conduct, and fair play.

Uh huh.

Whether it’s fair or not to the young women who wear the Deer Park soccer uniforms, it makes an outsider such as myself root for them to lose.

Does that mean I have to … choke … hope for former Coupeville nemesis King’s to do well?

Well, that might be asking for too much.

But, if not before, I certainly hope Deer Park gets KO’d by former Coupeville nemesis Klahowya, a team which has shown you can be dominant while still maintaining some class.

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