Its offense dominated early, and its defense took over late.

The result was a 29-21 win for the Coupeville High School football team over Port Townsend Friday, Sept. 26, at Mickey Clark Field.

Port Townsend (1-1, 2-2) was the preseason favorite to win the four-team 1A division of the Olympic League, but the Wolves’ win now makes Coupeville the early front runner.

Coupeville (2-0, 3-1) already defeated Chimacum (0-2, 0-4) and now faces the other 1A team, Klahowya (1-1, 1-3), at 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, in Silverdale in the final game of the first round. The 1A teams will play each other again to complete the conference schedule.

Coupeville sprinted to a 29-7 lead over Port Townsend then used four second-half interceptions to thwart the Redhawks’ comeback bid.

Lathom Kelley started the Coupeville scoring with a rushing touchdown midway through the first period. Joel Walstad added the PAT.

Port Townsend answered on its next possession, then the Wolves began to pull away.

First, Walstad bulled in on a quarterback sneak. Then Coupeville coach Tony Maggio got sneaky, calling for a fake punt. Kelley bolted 46 yards for a touchdown on the play.

Matt Shank continued to demoralize the Redhawks by recording a safety.

Kelley picked up his third touchdown on an eight-yard run, and the stunned Redhawks trailed 29-7.

Port Townsend managed to score just before the half, then made things interesting after the break.

Driving for a potential tying score late in the game, Port Townsend was turned back with two minutes left one final time as Josh Bayne picked off his second pass of the game to preserve the Coupeville win.

Brothers C.J. and Hunter Smith also snared interceptions for the Wolves.

Bayne (nine tackles, eight solo), Wiley Hesselgrave (seven tackles, six solo) and Walstad (fumble recovery) aided the strong Coupeville defensive effort.

Kelley and Bayne fueled the offense.

Besides scoring three touchdowns, Kelley rambled for a career-high 189 yards on 14 carries.

Bayne also went over the century mark, amassing 144 yards on 18 carries.

Six different runners helped the Wolves pile up 376 rushing yards.

Walstad hit six of nine passes for 102 yards before leaving with an injury. C.J. Smith filled in nicely, connecting on two of his three passes for 12 yards.

Ryan Griggs led the receivers with five catches for 80 yards.

Coupeville lost two fumbles in the game.

While the Wolves were generating 490 yards of offense, they were limiting the Redhawks to 246.