Injuries, bad luck plague Wolfpack

Injuries and an occasional bad bounce might be a part of football, but Coupeville coach Ron Bagby couldn’t believe what he saw Friday night.

The Wolves not only lost two starting running backs to first-half injuries, but forced 10 fumbles without recovering one in a 26-0 loss at fourth-ranked Kalama.

“It was just freak stuff,” Bagby said.

The tough loss ended the Wolve’s first district playoff appearance in seven years, but Bagby was still proud of his team’s effort considering all the mishaps.

“We had lots of excuses to roll over, but we didn’t,” he said.

Coupeville, the third seed from the Northwest A league, battled toe-to-toe with the Southwest Washington champions from start to finish.

Kalama’s high-scoring offense didn’t put any points on the board until the end of the first quarter when quarterback Jason Merritt connected with Aaron Linder for a 25-yard touchdown pass.

The Chinooks added one more score in the final seconds of the second quarter when Merritt connected with Dustin Thomas for a 18-yard TD. After missing the two-point conversion, Kalama carried a minimal 13-0 lead into the locker room.

The Wolves’ offense, however, struggled after early injuries to senior running back J.J. Marti (broken thumb) and junior Casey Larson (dislocated shoulder). Marti was hurt midway through the first quarter and Larson went down in the second. The Wolves were also without junior running back Trevor Tucker, who hurt his knee in the final regular season game against La Conner.

Sophomore Clay Hughes filled in nicely in the backfield, but the Wolves were never able to get in sync on offense.

“Our young guys really came in and stepped up and did a great job,” Bagby said.

As a team Coupeville rushed 26 times for 92 yards.

CHS senior quarterback Mike Bagby completed 7-for-11 passes for 36 yards in his final game.

Kalama scored once more in the third quarter and right before the end of the game to put its final points on the board.

Coupeville ended its season with a 6-5 overall record. Kalama (10-1) moved on to the first round of the state tournament and will face White Pass this weekend.

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