It was a “the glass is half full” game for Coupeville football coach Brett Smedley.

The Wolves dropped their season opener 27-14 at South Whidbey Friday, Sept. 4, in Smedley’s debut as a head coach.

The Coupeville defense forced six turnovers but its offense struggled, tallying only 177 yards and coughing up two fumbles and two interceptions.

“Our entire defense played amazingly well all game,” Smedley said. “They did a great job of defending a short field throughout the evening.”

He added that the “offense is still coming together” and that the Wolves “have all the pieces across the board to be electrifying.”

“We need to work on our offensive execution,” Smedley said. ”Offense usually takes a little longer to start clicking than the defense. We will be fun to watch when we get it going.”

Friday’s game started with the Wolves turning back several Falcon scoring opportunities with the help of interceptions by Jacob Martin and Hunter Smith.

Then the defenses, fittingly, started the scoring.

First, Martin scooped up a Falcon fumble and returned it 60 yards to put the Wolves on the board. Zane Bundy kicked the point after, and the Wolves led 7-0 in the middle of the second quarter.

Then it was the South Whidbey’s turn as the Falcons trapped Coupeville for a safety with less than 10 seconds left in the half.

In the third quarter, the Falcon offense finally overcame the scrappy Coupeville “D” by tossing a touchdown pass to take the lead 9-7.

Minutes later the Coupeville defense struck again. Jordan Ford grabbed a fumble and raced in for the score, but a penalty wiped out the touchdown.

Smedley said the play “could have been a huge momentum swing.”

Then, after repeated thwarting the Falcon offense for three and a half quarters, the Coupeville defense finally ran out of gas. South Whidbey scored three times in the final six minutes to secure the game.

Coupeville didn’t go away quietly, scoring on an 80-yard pass play from Hunter Downes to C.J. Smith. That was followed by an on-side kick recovered by Smith. But it was too little, too late for the Wolves, and South Whidbey won back “The Bucket,” awarded to the winners in the annual Whidbey rivalry game.

Lathom Kelley and Martin led the way for the Coupeville defense. Kelley recorded 13 tackles. Wiley Hesselgrave had six, and Mitch Carroll and Julian Welling netted five each. In all, 14 Wolves collected tackles.

Martin finished with two fumble recoveries, a sack and an interception.

Clay Reilly and Hunter Smith had interceptions, and Ford added his fumble recovery.

The offensive statistics weren’t as bright.

Downes completed nine of 27 passes for 139 yards.

Kelley ran 14 times for all but one of Coupeville’s 38 rushing yards.

C.J. Smith caught three passes 94 yards, and brother Hunter Smith grabbed two for 18 yards.

Hesselgrave snared four passes for 27 yards and added 73 yards on kick-off returns.

Although his team lost, Smedley was upbeat: “I thought the kids played great. We always talk about leaving everything on the field, and as long as they do that, there isn’t anything else we can ask. The team’s effort and attitude really stood out..”

Coupeville plays its second of four straight road games when it goes to Sequim at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11.

Sequim defeated Chimacum 43-6 in its opener.