It wasn’t a happy Homecoming football game for Coupeville High School — Port Townsend dampened the festivities by blanking the Wolves 57-0 Friday, Oct. 7, at Mickey Clark Field.
Port Townsend continued its quest of winning its third consecutive Olympic League championship with the win.
The Redhawks (3-0, 4-2) are tied with Cascade Christian (3-0, 6-0) atop the conference standings.
For Coupeville, the loss was a case of not playing well against a good team and suffering the consequences.
The Wolves made strides in execution the previous two weeks, a close loss to Charles Wright and a one-sided win over Vashon Island, according to coach Jon Atkins.
Some sloppy play returned Friday and the Redhawks took advantage.
“We had a lot of missed tackles,” Atkins said. “We would have them for a loss a lot of times but wouldn’t wrap up.”
On offense, the Wolves “weren’t really crisp,” Atkins said. “Port Townsend did a lot of shifts up front which caused some confusion; we didn’t block very well.”
After several years of success, the Redhawks have a winning attitude, Atkins added.
“They have confidence on their side,” he said. “We had a lot of mistake on ours.
“We are trying to turn the corner. We need to believe in ourselves that we can compete with anyone.”
Atkins liked the never-quit effort of his team: “I thought we kept fighting, especially the younger guys. That was one of the bright spots.”
Regardless of the loss, Atkins sees good things ahead.
“We really can bounce back.”
Quarterback Berkley Hill led the Redhawk attack. He rushed for 267 yards on 21 carries and completed two of three passes for 33 yards. The one non-completion was an interception by Coupeville’s Clay Reilly.
Kyle Blankenship added 76 rushing yards and Detrius Kelsall 65 as PT finished with 420 yards on the ground.
Coupeville’s offensive highlight was a 30-yard run on a fake punt by Reilly. That scoring threat, however, ended with an interception in the end zone.
Jacob Martin led the Wolves on defense with eight tackles, Uriel Liquidano had five and Matt Hilborn and Cameron Toomey-Stout four each. Jacob Zettle recorded a tackle for a loss.
Coupeville, now 1-2 in Olympic League play and 2-4 overall, will attempt to get back in the win column when it plays Bellevue Christian at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, at Lake Washington High School in Kirkland.
The two teams are heading into the game from the opposite ends of the momentum meter. The Wolves are coming off the lopsided loss; the Vikings collected their first win Friday, beating Chimacum 30-23.
