Quarterback Brad Sherman passed for 176 yards and four touchdowns as the Coupeville Wolves thrashed the Life Christian Crusaders 46-17 Friday night.
The long trip to Tacoma’s Lakewood Stadium didn’t take anything out of the Wolves, who were ready for a win after losing their opener the week before to Cascade Christian.
“We showed a lot of improvement,” said assistant coach Tom Roehl after the win over Life Christian. “It was a boost of confidence.”
The improvement started with the three down linemen, none of whom came into this season with much varsity experience. “The front three put a lot of pressure on their quarterback,” Roehl said, crediting Mike Daly, MIke Cummins and Craig Youdarian with good play.
Wolf defenders put up some impressive individual numbers. Youdarian was credited with 9 tackles, 1 forced throw and 3 sacks, Danny Graham had 7 tackles, 3 sacks and two forces, and Joe Rohas added 4 tackles and sacked the Crusader quarterback for a safety. Middle linebacker John Palacio helped the defense dominate with 7 tackles, 1 interception, 1 knocked down pass and 1 sack.
Offensive leadership came from the quarterback position. Sherman opened the game by finding his favorite target, Brian Fakkema, for a 12-yard scoring pass, culminating a drive kept alive by an 18-yard run by Dan McDonald.
After giving up a safety, Coupeville came back with another quick scored, this one a 15-yard pass from Sherman to Fakkema. On the next drive, Sherman found another target open and hit Scott Fisher in the endzone for a 16-yard score, making it 26-11 at the half.
Coupeville continued to dominate in the second half thanks to the play of the offensive and defensive lines. McDonald scored on a 12-yard run, then Sherman found Fakkema again for a 30-yard touchdown pass. The final touchdown for Coupeville came on a 3-yard run by halfback Sean O’Neill.
The Crusaders’ only score in the second half came on a long breakaway run after Coupeville was far ahead.
McDonald led the Coupeville rushers with 162 yards and two touchdowns. J.D. Myers added 41 yards on the ground, Scott fisher 34, Sherman 14 and O’Neal 16 yards and 1 touchdown.
This Friday the Wolves travel to Edmonds to take on the always-formidable King’s Knights. Coupeville has never beaten King’s, losing a heartbreaker to the private school last year. The Knights beat South Whidbey last Friday.
Roehl said the Wolves will have to keep improving to have a chance against King’s, but so far he likes what he’s seen in this young season. The goal, he said, is to be “fully loaded” for the league season, which begins Oct. 7 at Concrete.
