CHS freshman Gabe Shaw snagged his first varsity reception Friday during a loss to Sultan. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Let’s be honest, Friday was not a great night for Coupeville High School football.
First off, no cameos by renegade deer, so we miss out on having a video go viral for a third time in one season.
If you dig deep enough (and we will), you can find a few bright spots, but, overall, being bashed 38-6 by visiting Sultan was frustrating, a bit demoralizing and painful in multiple ways for the Wolves.
The Homecoming loss, in which it didn’t get on the scoreboard until the final minutes, drops Coupeville to 0-2 in North Sound Conference play, 3-3 overall.
The Wolves are tied with Granite Falls (0-2), a game off of South Whidbey (1-1) and Sultan (1-1) and two back of King’s (2-0) and Cedar Park Christian (2-0), with three league games left on the schedule.
CPC bounced South Whidbey 35-20 Friday, while King’s held on to nip Granite Falls 13-12.
While the postseason schedule hasn’t been released, early word indicates four of the league’s six teams will make the playoffs, earning a chance in week #10 to play for a berth in the 16-team state tourney.
CHS travels to Langley next Friday to play their Island rivals for ownership of The Bucket.
The Wolves will be looking to run their dominance over the Falcons to three straight years, but the game will also have a huge say in how realistic Coupeville’s chances of advancing to the playoffs may be.
Hopefully it will be a week of healing for the guys in black and red, as several of them exited Friday’s game early.
Starting QB Dawson Houston and two-way terror Andrew Martin both ended up on the sidelines with injuries, while starters Chris Battaglia and Jake Pease were in street clothes from the start of the game.
Sultan was exactly what everyone expected, a rough and tumble team which played smash-mouth football, picked up a lot of yards (and a lot of penalties, including having a player ejected), and hit with abandon, both during the play and often after the whistle.
Turk QB Jensen Webster was the man with the plan, using his fleet feet to beat the Wolves to the edges when he ran (which was often), then dropping a couple of pin-point passes.
The Sultan senior scored twice on the ground on short runs, while also burning Coupeville for a pair of 30+ yard touchdown flings, including one on which the receiver slipped behind the defense and had no one within 20 yards of his body as he hauled in the scoring lob.
Tack on two more scores on the ground, and the Turks were in control from start to finish, taking a 20-0 lead in at the half, then stretching it out to 38-0 before surrendering a late Wolf score.
Sultan also spent much of the game hammering Coupeville, severely limiting its offensive output.
About the only thing the Turks couldn’t do was hit on PAT tries, as they missed all three kicks and were stuffed on two of three two-point conversion attempts.
One of Coupeville’s few real bright points came when senior Alex Turner crashed through the line and blocked an extra-point try, before sneaking away, dramatically waving his hands.
He also collected a team-high 10 tackles, doing his best to stymie the Turks.
“Alex played extremely well on defense,” said Coupeville coach Marcus Carr. “He was a strong leader for us out there.”
With Sultan keeping control of the ball for large chunks of time, the Wolves had plenty of opportunities to pile up the tackles.
Sean Toomey-Stout chased down eight ball-carriers from his spot in the secondary, while Martin racked up six tackles before exiting the game.
Offense was more of an issue for Coupeville, as it turned the ball over on downs five times.
Toss in two botched punts — one of which went for five yards and another which netted zip as the refs ruled the Wolves inadvertently downed the ball before they got the kick off — and two interceptions, and the engine was sputtering.
The Wolves finally broke through late in the fourth quarter, when they put together their only sustained drive of the night.
Shane Losey, having slid under center after Houston exited limping, connected on a couple of quick passes to Dane Lucero and Gabe Shaw, and a roughing the passer penalty on Sultan moved the Wolves a chunk of yardage closer to the end zone.
Within striking distance, Toomey-Stout, who was hit late on multiple runs by the frequently-chippy Turks, blasted in from 10 yards out for his eighth touchdown of the season.
“The Torpedo” is carrying the scoring burden for the Wolves this season, with no other CHS player having reached the end zone more than once.
Toomey-Stout also had Coupeville’s most-dynamic play of the night, and, while it didn’t gain much yardage, it was still a pretty piece of work.
Losey, scrambling away from several rampaging Turks, zipped a pass in to a narrow target, only to have the ball hit a hand and pop skyward.
As it did, Toomey-Stout launched himself over a rival, snagged the free-falling ball and pulled it in for a reception, even as he got smacked hard from defenders coming in from two sides.
For what was ultimately a four-yard reception, it still drew appreciative “ooh’s” and “ah’s,” as is only right.
If we’re really digging for bright spots, we can add Shaw, a freshman, netting his first varsity reception, Gavin St Onge blowing up a couple of Turk runners while working hard on the line, and Matt Hilborn doing a bit of everything.
The Wolf senior laced one well-hit punt for 50-some yards, crashed hard through the defense as a rusher and receiver, yanked a runaway Turk down to save a TD, and was elected Homecoming King, even though he was with his team and not present when he and Queen Sarah Wright were honored.
Oh, and CHS debuted its new permanent ticket booth/concession stand/bathrooms/fancy entrance to Mickey Clark Field, and the day-long deluge of rain stopped right before kickoff.
Some nights you find your positives where you can.
