Friday night the Coupeville Wolves played their final non-league game against the Charles Wright Academy Terriers from Tacoma.
The Charles Wright players received the opening kick-off and marched up the field, scoring with a 39-yard run by running back Dan Carter with just three minutes off of the clock.
The Wolves then marched right back up the field with key runs by Danny
McDonald and a key reception by Scott Fisher. Coupeville capped the drive with Brad Sherman passing to Danny McDonald for a 7-yard TD, following it up with a Sherman pass to Joe Rohas for a 2-point conversion six minutes into the first quarter.
The Terriers’ next drive ended when when the hike on a punt attempt sailed over the punter’s head and Wolf Brian Fakkema raced in to tackle him on the seven yard line. A seven-yard run by Danny McDonald quickly put six more points on the board. The point after kick missed.
Charles Wright’s next drive was stopped by the tough Coupeville defense with a key 11-yard loss issued by Danny Graham and McDonald. The Wolves then put seven more points on the scoreboard with a 28-yard McDonald run and a Mark Whittaker point after kick.
Three minutes into the second quarter the Terriers’ 6-foot 6-inch, 275 pound fullback Jon Medley broke free for a 56-yard touchdown romp with the point after good, making the score 21 Wolves, 14 Terriers.
McDonald answered with a 40-yard kick-off return and then scoring on a 17-yard run. The PAT kick by Scott Fisher breezed through the uprights, bringing the score to 28-14.
The half was almost over and the Terriers had their back to the goal line with a minute left on the clock when running back Tyler Legary busted loose with a 96-yard TD sprint and the PAT was good. The half ended Wolves 28, Terriers 21.
Assistant coach Tom Roehl said, “ At half time it looked like the winner of the game was going to be the team that scored last.”
Coach Ron Bagby told his players at halftime, “Give them a little but don’t let them get the big plays in.” The Wolves did their job well, keeping the Terriers under control except for a 35-yard run by their fullback Jon Medley in the third quarter that was their last scoring of the game.
The Wolves’ offensive line made lots of holes for McDonald to run through and he scored on a 16-yard run in the third quarter and a 34-yard run in the fourth quarter.
“Our line did an outstanding job making holes for Danny to run through. The key to winning is getting better every week, and we are,” Bagby said.
McDonald had a great game, running for six touchdowns and a total of 277 yards.
This Friday at Coupeville’s home field the run for the playoffs will start as the Wolves host league rival Concrete in a game that kicks off at 7:30 p.m.
“We have to win,” said Roehl, assistant coach, alluding to the short Northwest 1A league season. “We can’t afford to lose.”
The league consists of Coupeville, Concrete, Archbishop Murphy in Everett, Orcas Island and Friday Harbor. Only two of the five teams will advance to post-season play, so every league game is crucial.
Coupeville enters league play with a 2-2 preseason record. Roehl said the big question mark when the season began was the young line. “We were inexperienced up front but now we’ve got four games in,” he said.
Concrete is traditionally one of the league’s better teams, but comes into Friday’s contest nursing their wounds after taking a 20-7 drubbing at Darrington last week. Darrington plays Class B as an independent.
