When a football team commits five turnovers, three of them inside the opponents’ red zone, that team usually comes out on the short end of the score.

However, when the defense rises to the occasion, forces two turnovers of its own and gives up just seven points, coaches and fans can breathe a little easier.

That’s exactly what happened Friday night as Coupeville upped its season record to 2-0 with an 18-7 victory over Concrete.

“I thought our defense did a really nice job,” coach Ron Bagby said. “We ran the ball well and moved the ball down the field, we just turned it over too many times.”

Concrete drew first blood on its opening drive at the 10:04 mark of the first quarter when Lions’ quarterback Chris Smith hooked up with Jacob Scherer on a 40-yard scoring strike.

Jesse Dellinger tacked on the extra point and the Lions were up 7-0.

At that point things were looking bleak for the Wolves after

Concrete (1-1) made the initial score look relatively easy.

Pulling together, Coupeville re-

sponded with a 10-play, 56-yardscoring drive beginning late in the quarter and carrying over to the second period of play.

With 11:35 showing on the clock in the second quarter Casey Larson pounded the ball in the end zone from 3 yards out, but the extra point failed and the Wolves continued to trail 7-6.

“We played hard, but we could of played better. We had some bad breaks with turnovers, but our defense stepped up and stopped them when we made mistakes,” Larson said.

After another sustained drive the Wolves had a chance to take the lead before halftime, but fumbled the ball away at Concrete’s 12-yard line and the score remained 7-6 at the break.

“We didn’t get the big plays tonight and I was kind of disappointed in that,” Bagby said. “I thought we’d have more big plays than we did. We had the ball a lot and were making 10-to-12 yards a carry. Their safeties were making all the tackles and I thought we might break one.”

Coupeville scored two touchdowns within a span of 1:30 in the third quarter to take the lead.

Larson broke off a 52-yard scoring dash on the Wolves’ second possession and when the Lions fumbled the ensuing kickoff, Trevor Tucker recovered at Concrete’s 24-yard line.

A three-play drive capped by a 1-yard Larson run made the score 18-7 with 6:14 remaining.

“We didn’t play that good and we’ll have to do better against other teams in our league, but we’re 2-0 now,” Tucker said.

The Wolves had the opportunity to put the game completely out of reach, but fumbled the ball away twice at the Lions’ goal line.

The Wolves’ second costly fumble came with 3:09 left in the game when James Smith appeared to have scored on an 18-yard scramble, but officials ruled he’d lost possession of the football before crossing the goal line.

“I thought I got the pylon, but maybe my knee touched the ground first,” the junior quarterback said with a smile.

Coupeville rolled up 394 rushing yards led by Clay Hughes with 185 yards on 27 carries. Larson had 165 yards on 22 attempts.

The Wolves are on the road Friday against Archbishop Murphy, (2-0), the fifth-ranked 2A team in the state.