Coupeville lineman William Davidson (70) and Zane Oldenstadt fought hard in a losing cause Friday night. (Michelle Glass photo)
Good start, good finish, painful middle.
The Coupeville High School football team scored two of the first three touchdowns Friday, then came back around to notch the night’s final two trips to the end zone.
Unfortunately for the Wolves, in between that, they gave up 41 unanswered points, as a close game at South Whidbey unraveled and turned into a 48-28 loss.
With the victory, the host Falcons (1-1) won their fifth-straight rivalry game with their next-door neighbors and hold on to The Bucket for another year.
Coupeville, a 2B school opening with three straight non-conference games against 1A rivals, drops to 0-2 heading into a trip to Sultan.
Friday’s royal rumble was a nail-biter through halftime, with the Wolves leading until late in the second quarter.
South Whidbey got on the scoreboard first, forcing a punt, then driving down the field, carving up chunks of yardage with a run-powered offense.
But Coupeville, raining down pain from the heavens with senior quarterback Logan Downes slicing and dicing the Falcon secondary, rallied to regain the lead with back-to-back scores.
The first was setup by a long kickoff return from Aiden O’Neill and a series of power rumbles through the line by Wolf running back Johnny Porter.
With South Whidbey’s defensive players on their heels, Downes tossed a 20-yard scoring strike to Hunter Bronec with three minutes to play in the first quarter, before repeating the feat right at the end of the period.
Hunter Bronec (34) hauled in his first touchdown catch of the season against South Whidbey. (Bailey Thule photo)
The second TD lob settled into the hands of Jack Porter and came on the heels of the CHS defense stuffing the Falcons on a fourth-and-two.
Tack on a pair of PATs from kicker Chase Anderson, and the Wolves exited the first quarter up 14-7 and looking like they were in control.
Then the Coupeville offense hit a wall, not scoring again until the final two minutes of the game.
South Whidbey took advantage, slowly at first, then in much quicker fashion.
The Falcons trimmed the deficit to 14-13 on a short scoring run, but missed the PAT after penalties pushed their kicker back from his desired launching point.
It turned out not to matter, though, as South Whidbey freshman Bryson Taylor picked off a pass while falling backwards on Coupeville’s next offensive play, giving his team a chance to seize control.
And the Falcons did, driving 72 yards, mixing short swing passes with power runs up the middle of the field.
An eight-yard plunge produced a touchdown, and a two-point conversion run staked South Whidbey to a 21-14 lead, an advantage it would never relinquish.
The two teams traded defensive stands as the halftime break approached, with O’Neill picking off a pass to give the Wolves a final shot at knotting the score.
Downes hit Bronec on a pair of sweet passes but was tripped up on the final play of the quarter, sprawling face-first to the turf as the ball fell short of his intended target.
Still, the game was a one-score affair at the midway point, seemingly setting up Coupeville’s second nailbiter in as many weeks.
But, instead of a repeat of its opener with Klahowya, when the game was decided on the very final play, the trek to Langley fell apart in horrifying fashion.
South Whidbey tacked on three touchdowns in the third quarter, with a missed PAT (after another Falcon penalty) just a slight ding as a 21-14 lead stretched out to 41-14.
Little, irritating things stood out as the game slipped away.
The clock operator letting 15+ seconds vanish from the scoreboard on a play where the clock should have been stopped.
The wrong ref signaling a South Whidbey touchdown, after a long delay, and after the two zebras in place to make the call both walked away without raising their arms.
But reality says those are mere irritants — like the bees divebombing visiting fans during pregame warmups — and not game-changing moments when you give up six straight touchdowns.
Instead, the primary focus should be on giving South Whidbey credit (through gritted teeth) for asserting itself on both sides of the ball to claim bragging rights.
Wolf QB Logan Downes is chasing history. (Jackie Saia photo)
To their credit, the Wolves fought until the end, with William Davidson erupting through the line to force a fumble and Coupeville scoring twice in a 90-second span at the very end of the night.
Downes flung a 21-yard TD to fellow senior Peyton Caveness, before connecting with sure-handed sophomore Malachi Somes, who scampered in from 12 yards out for his first varsity touchdown.
Coupeville’s QB has thrown for six touchdowns across the first two games, with six different Wolf receivers catching one of his scoring missiles.
Logan Downes has racked up 25 TD passes (including two as a sophomore and 17 as a junior) as he chases older brother Hunter, who holds the school career record with 35.
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