Coupeville overcame a rough first quarter and a two-touchdown deficit to defeat host Port Townsend 29-19 in the football opener for both schools Friday, Sept. 2.
The win was the Wolves third straight over the Redskins and extended Port Townsend’s winless streak to 11 games.
Coupeville coach Jay Silver was pleased with the win but not with the play; he said mistakes made the game closer than it should have been.
However, the Wolves did get the win and had to erase a 13-0 Port Townsend lead along the way.
Coupeville senior Brandt Bodamer, who as the Wolves’ leading receiver last season, made his varsity debut at quarterback and promptly had his first pass picked off by Austin Graham and returned 48 yards for a
touchdown.
Graham added a three-yard run for a score later in the opening period to put the Wolves into the first-quarter hole.
To add further misery in the period, a touchdown on a punt return by Coupeville’s Mitch Pelroy was nullified by a penalty.
Then things started to go the Wolves’ way. They began a march late in the first period, and a few plays into the second Adam Garcia bullied in from the one to put Coupeville on the board. Dalton Engle ran for the extra points and trimmed the lead to 13-8.
A few minutes later, Pelroy swiped a Graham pass and raced 40 yards for the score to give the Wolves the lead. Bodamer hit Pelroy for the two-point conversion and it was 16-13.
The Coupeville defense struck again in the third quarter when Garcia intercepted another Graham pass and zipped 55 yards for the score. Kole Kellison kicked the PAT.
After the Wolves had another score (a Bodamer pass to Zac Forland for 53 yards) wiped away by a penalty in the third quarter, they settled for a field goal try at the end of the drive. The low boot skipped off an offensive lineman’s back and into the hands of Graham who returned it 87 yards to the Coupeville five.
PT scored from there and it was 23-19.
In the fourth, Bodamer took it in from the 13 to finish the scoring and secure the win.
After the initial mistake, Bodamer settled in and completed five of nine passes for 68 yards. Three of the completions were to Forland for 54 yards.
Bodamer also rushed eight times for 34 yards and a score. Danny Savalza led the running game with 100 yards on 18 carries; Garcia added 31 yards on seven runs.
Silver called Garcia the “Player of the Game” for his all-around effort; Garcia ran for a score, intercepted a pass for a score, recovered a fumble and recorded a handful of tackles.
Coupeville finished with 240 yards of offense and held the Redskins to 145.
Silver said the defense played well but that his club needs to clean up the mental mistakes.
He said, “It was frustrating because it looked like a closer game than it was. It was discipline issues. The guys were going hard, but they just need to use their heads more. It wasn’t so much physical mistakes as the mental aspect.”
Silver added, “We can’t make those mistakes and to expect to beat teams like King’s.”
Coupeville takes on King’s at home next Friday, Sept. 9, at 7 p.m. The Knights defeated Lakeside 35-6 last night behind the passing of Billy Green who completed 13 of 22 passes for 187 yards.
King’s lost a lot of talent through graduation and Silver doesn’t know much about this year’s version. He noted that the Knights are a perennial power and that “we just need to worry about us and take care of our own business.”
