It’s basically a one-item bucket list.

And the Coupeville High School football team was able to cross off that singular goal with a 35-28 win over South Whidbey Friday, Sept. 5, at Mickey Clark Field.

The winner of the annual island rivalry gets to claim “The Bucket” for the school year, and Coupeville officials will now dust off a spot in the CHS trophy case for the prize, which has been resting in Langley for the past 12 months.

The game, played in front of a crowd that packed the stands and ringed the field, was a see-saw affair, and when the final horn sounded, it was tilted in the Wolves’ favor.

Josh Bayne split the South Whidbey defense for a 35-yard scoring romp late in the fourth quarter to break a 28-28 tie. From there, the defense held and the offense converted on a fourth-and-one to run out the clock.

The past two year’s under coach Tony Maggio’s guidance, the Wolves have been a run-heavy team. The attack was more balanced Friday as Bayne led the ground game and first-year quarterback Joel Walstad peppered the Falcons through the air.

Bayne, who scored the contest’s first touchdown on a 59-yard run seconds into the game, finished with 218 yards on 17 carries and two TDs. He added five catches for 26 yards and 42 return yards on two kickoffs.

Walstad connected on 20 of 29 throws for 252 yards and three scores.

Ryan Griggs hauled in six of the passes for 72 yards and a touchdown, Wiley Hesselgrave snared four passes for 77 yards and two touchdowns, and C.J. Smith had five grabs for 58 yards.

Jacob Martin backed Bayne on the ground with 55 yards on 12 carries; Hesselgrave netted 14 yards on six carries. In all, the Wolves rushed for 289 yards.

After Bayne’s early sprint gave Coupeville the lead, the Falcons came right back to knot the score on a pass play.

The Wolves regained the lead midway through the second quarter when Walstad dropped a pass over the defense to Griggs, who made nice catch just inside the boundary, for a touchdown. The point-after kick, however, missed the mark.

The momentum quickly returned to South Whidbey when the Falcons scored a pair of touchdowns just seconds apart and led 21-13 at the break.

Coupeville responded in the third quarter with a six-yard scoring pass from Walstad to Hesselgrave. Walstad ran a bootleg for the two-point conversion and the score was tied at 21.

South Whidbey scored again, and Walstad and Hesselgrave repeated their act as well, this time from 13-yards out. Walstad kicked the PAT to even the game at 28 late in the third quarter.

Coupeville forced South Whidbey to punt, setting up Bayne’s game-winning run and a dramatic finish.

After the score, South Whidbey drove into Coupeville territory. On fourth down, the Wolves defended a pass in the end zone and took over.

Faced with a fourth-and-one at its own 30 with about 30 seconds left, Maggio gambled and went for it.

“The kids were gassed,” Maggio said. “We did not want to a go to overtime. We needed to win it right there.”

A push up front from the interior line (Aaron Wright, Dominic Dausey, Matt Shank, Isaac Vargas and Oscar Liquidano) enabled Walstad to sneak for the first down and seal the win.

Coupeville suited only 24 players for the game, and about 16 played extensively on offense and defense, Maggio said.

Most of the others contributed on special teams, including freshman Cameron Tooney-Stout (“All 5-feet, 80 pounds of him,” Maggio said.), who had a 10-yard kickoff return.

Among the missing were starters Carson Risner (center) and Lathom Kelley (fullback).

Risner’s return from a knee injury is unknown, Maggio said, but Kelley will probably be back next Friday after suffering a mild concussion in the jamboree.

Hesselgrave also missed part of the game with a partially separated shoulder, but “toughed it out,” Maggio.

Maggio also had high praise for his coordinators. Orsen Christensen, the offensive coordinator, “had his finger on the pulse of the game and called a great game.”

Defensive coordinator Brett Smedley “dialed up the right calls” during critical times, Maggio said.

Bayne and Hesselgrave led Smedley’s unit with seven tackles each. Wright finished with six, and Martin and Mitchell Losey had four each.

Not was all perfect for the Wolves; they had four turnovers, several in the red zone, but a win over South Whidbey is always nice, Maggio said.

“This rivals the win we had at South Whidbey two years ago,” he said. In that game, Coupeville pulled off an upset to clinch a playoff berth.

Coupeville, which begins the season with four consecutive home games, hosts Sequim in another non-league matchup at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12.

Sequim, which didn’t win a game last fall, drubbed Chimacum 47-21 Friday.