The good news?

They’re in the district playoffs for the first time in eight years.

The bad news?

They now have to travel nearly 250 miles south to face the fourth ranked team in the state, Kalama.

It didn’t have to be that way, however.

Coupeville had its chance Thursday night to clinch second place in the Northwest A league and a first round home playoff game by beating La Conner.

It was the Braves, who were also vying for the second place spot, who came out the aggressor on the Wolves’ home field, stealing a 38-22 victory.

“They just came out, they were fired up and ready to play and we were just on our heels the whole night long,” CHS coach Ron Bagby said.

After Coupeville turned the ball over on downs on its first possession, La Conner marched down the field using a combination of runs and passes.

On the eighth play of their drive Brave quarterback Josh Oosterhof threw a wobbly pass down the right sideline to receiver Alex Van Hine. In a crowd of two defenders Van Hine snagged the ball at the 5 yard line and completed the play into the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown.

That theme continued for the remainder of the first half. No matter what the Wolves’ defense threw at the Braves they couldn’t stop them as they took a 24-0 lead by halftime.

A big part of La Conner’s offensive success came from running back Ryan Croonc. The senior carried the ball 11 times in the first half for 103 yards and two touchdowns. Croonc, who sat out the fourth quarter, ended the game with 136 yards.

Oosterhof was also impressive. He completed 7-of-13 passes in the first half for 111 yards and one TD.

On the other side of the ball, Coupeville’s offense struggle immensely. After turning the ball over on its first possession CHS punted five times and turned the ball over one more time on its final six possessions of the first half.

“They brought eight guys all night long and just dared us to throw and Mike (Bagby) had no time, none,” coach Bagby said. “We were back-pedaling all night long and you can’t do that.”

Three Wolfpack runners, J.J. Marti, Casey Larson and Trevor Tucker combined for just 83 yards on 15 carries in the first half. Mike Bagby was 3-for-10 passing for 14 yards and was sacked twice for a combined loss of 16 yards.

“We could just never gain any momentum,” coach Bagby said.

Down 38-0 and facing the Braves’ second team defense the Wolves were finally able to get on the scoreboard at the 7:48 mark of the fourth quarter. Mike Bagby completed a 41-yard run on a quarterback-keeper for a touchdown. Senior Bryan Sherman then added a 75-yard punt return for a TD and sophomore third string quarterback Keaton Farris had an 18-yard run for a TD in the final seconds.

Coupeville, which finished the regular season 5-2 in league and 6-4 overall, will travel to Kalama (9-1) at a yet-to-be-determined date and time next week.

“Hey, we’re still in the playoffs, the season’s not lost,” coach Bagby said. “We’ve still got a shot.”

A district win next week would place the Wolves in a first round state game, likely against La Conner.

A date and time for Coupeville’s game against Kalama will be posted in the Wednesday edition of the News-Times.