The hole was too deep. Although the Coupeville High School football team outscored Klahowya 15-0 in the second half, it couldn’t catch the Eagles, who posted 41 first-half points on the way to winning Friday, Oct. 23, in Silverdale in the Olympic League finale.
The loss left Coupeville (1-5, 1-7) in a third-place tie with Chimacum (1-5, 1-7). Three teams advance to the playoffs, and the Olympic League athletic directors are still trying to work out the details of the tie-breaker.
Meanwhile, Coupeville will honor its seniors when it hosts Concrete in a non-league game at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30.
Coupeville coach Brett Smedley said all fans are encouraged to come out and support the graduating Wolves.
When Coupeville played Klahowya earlier this season, the Eagles scored two late touchdowns to win a close game.
The Eagles, however, blitzed Coupeville with three touchdowns in each of the first two quarters Friday.
“Klahowya was ready to go and pumped up for their homecoming/Senior Night,” Smedley said. “We stopped them on their first drive and then they scored twice on offense and once on special teams, which put us down 21-0 early. We couldn’t recover from that point on.”
Highlights, Smedley said, were the pass-blocking off the offensive line and the work of the defense.
Protected by the O-line, Coupeville quarterback Gabe Eck completed 14 of 29 passes for 144 yards and two interceptions.
C.J. Smith led the receivers with six catches for 42 yards, while his brother, Hunter Smith, caught three for 39 yards. Eck’s brother, Ty Eck, finished with three catches for 27 yards.
Coupeville’s ground game, however, struggled, running for only 34 yards on 17 carries. Wiley Hesselgrave led the way with 25 yards on 14 carries; he also scored both touchdowns.
Zane Bundy kicked an extra point, and C.J. Smith threw to Jacob Martin for a two-point conversion.
“Our defense did a solid job for the most part all evening,” Smedley said.
Klahowya finished with 269 yards of total offense.
Freshman Chris Battaglia topped the defense with eight tackles and a sack.
Martin recorded four tackles, three for loses. Ryan Griggs and Julian Welling each had four tackles.
Hesselgrave blocked a kick, Ty Eck intercepted a pass and Griggs and Uriel Liquidano recovered fumbles.