Two record-tying performances were not enough as the Coupeville High School football team lost 34-28 to Bellevue Christian at rainy Lake Washington High School in Kirkland Saturday, Oct. 15.
Hunter Downes threw four touchdown passes, tying a mark held by Corey Cross (1971) and current Coupeville offensive coordinator Brad Sherman, who did it twice (2001).
Hunter Smith had three touchdown receptions, joining Glenn Losey (1970), Brian Fakkema (2001) and Josh Bayne (2014) in the record books.
Coupeville played catch-up all game and couldn’t quite rally for the win.
Down 34-21 midway through the fourth quarter, an interception appeared to doom the Wolves. However, two plays later Coupeville regained possession when Cameron Toomey-Stout recorded his own interception.
Two incompletions and a sack, which knocked Downes out of the game for one play, set up a fourth-and-20 for the Wolves at their own 15-yard line. Smith took over at QB for one play, and his pass skipped off receiver Matt Hilborn and into the hands of Toomey-Stout, who spun his way through the Viking defense for a 67-yard gain.
A 12-yard run by Jacob Martin set up 5-yard TD pass from Downes to Smith. Clay Reilly kicked his fourth point after, and Coupeville trailed 34-28 with 3:25 remaining on the clock.
The Coupeville defense forced a three-and-out and the Wolves got the ball back at the BC 49 with 1:56 remaining. An interception on the first play ended the rally.
The Wolves had trouble running all afternoon, especially wide.
“They were blitzing the corners to set the edges,” Coupeville coach Jon Atkins said, in regard to the inability to run wide. “We made some adjustments at halftime and ran more in the middle.”
Martin, taking those inside runs, finished with 64 yards on 14 carries. Five other Wolves carried the ball and combined for a minus-19 yards on 16 rushes.
Unable to move consistently on the ground, the Wolves turned to Downes, who completed 10 of 27 passes for 238 yards. Toomey-Stout hauled in five passes for 165 yards; Smith caught six for 149.
“We thought we could throw on them,” Atkins said.
Bellevue Christian’s Daniel Ficca rushed 31 times for 119 yards and two touchdowns. Mick Larson connected on 14 of 23 passes for 193 yards, nine going to Joe Helton for 149 yards and two TDs.
Bellevue Christian scored on its first possession, then Downes threaded the needle to hit Smith on a 30-yard scoring toss late in the first quarter.
BC scored early in the second quarter, to go up 14-7. Coupeville countered on a 74-yard Downes-to-Smith bomb shortly after.
The Vikings (2-2 2-5) scored with three minutes left in the second quarter to take a 21-14 lead at halftime.
Bellevue Christian opened the second half with a 73-yard drive to go up 27-14.
Downes and Toomey-Stout linked up for a 40-yard score with 9:43 left in the game, then the Vikings responded by scoring with 6:42 left to make it 34-21.
“This was one of the games we thought we should have won,” Akins said. “We just didn’t execute.”
Coupeville (1-3, 2-5) goes to Klahowya (2-1, 4-2) for a 5 p.m. game Friday, Oct. 21.
================
Cameron Toomey-Stout races for a big gain in Saturday’s game. Photo by John Fisken.
