Unable to overcome a cascade of miscues, the Coupeville High School football team lost 35-7 to South Whidbey on homecoming Friday, Oct. 18, at Mickey Clark Field.
The Wolves turned the ball over six times in the loss, which snapped a string of three consecutive wins.
Coupeville, now 4-3, hosts Anacortes at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25. The Seahawks, like the Wolves, are playing an independent schedule as they attempt to revive their program. Primarily competing against junior varsity teams in the Northwest Conference, Anacortes has won four of six games this fall.
Coupeville’s defense kept the Wolves in the game for a while against South Whidbey (5-2), but the Falcons eventually took advantage of the good field position and extra opportunities.
Coupeville fumbled twice early in the game and both times was able to keep South Whidbey out of the end zone, including thwarting a first-and-goal situation.
A third turnover, this time an interception of a halfback pass, resulted in Falcon points. Billy Rankin followed the Coupeville mistake with a 26-yard touchdown run.
Rankin then stung the Wolves again, returning a punt 40 yards, setting up a three-yard TD run by Aiden Coleman. That, with Kole Nelson’s PAT kicks, gave South Whidbey a 14-0 halftime lead.
Even with the offensive struggles, the Wolves were still in the game at the beginning of the second half. Not for long.
Another interception of a halfback pass put the Falcons back in business. Nelson then hit Brady Hezel for a 35-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-11 play.
On the first play after the ensuing kickoff, Coupeville fumbled the ball back to South Whidbey. Two plays later, Bodie Hezel punched in a TD, and the Falcons doubled their lead in only 24 seconds of game time.
On South Whidbey’s next possession, the weary Wolves’ defense produced another stop inside the 5-yard line.
That defense didn’t get an opportunity to wipe out the next offensive mistake.
South Whidbey’s Brady Hezel picked off a Coupeville pass and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown.
Coupeville avoided a shutout when Sean Toomey-Stout returned the following kickoff for a touchdown. Daylon Houston kicked the extra point.
“Our defense played really well,” Coupeville coach Marcus Carr said. “We shot ourselves in the foot with turnovers and penalties. Against a good team like South Whidbey, you can’t make those kinds of mistakes.”
“We were able to move the ball against them, we just couldn’t find the end zone,” he added. “Andrew Martin ran the ball effectively.
“They were big and physical, but we matched them for most of the game. Even though we lost, our boys played hard and never backed down.”
