It was an interesting final week for Oak Harbor and Coupeville athletics.

After struggling through miserable seasons fraught with injuries and close games that could have gone a different way if fortune and fate had been smiling, the Wildcats and the Wolves soccer teams finally notched victories.

Oak Harbor went into the final week of the season with an 0-14-1 record, with only a tie against Monroe, while Coupeville was winless at 0-16. But the situation could have been much different.

The Wildcats lost 2-1 to Cascade in double overtime in the opening game of the season and were nipped 3-2 by Everett.

Coupeville was defeated by Chimacum 3-2 in the second game of the season when a goal was scored in the final minute of play, and also dropped a 1-0 squeaker to Sultan.

What would have happened if the teams had pulled those games out and came away with wins?

What kind of momentum would those victories have given the girls?

We can only speculate.

To both teams’ credit, they never gave up, always maintained enthusiasm despite getting their heads handed to them every week and most important of all — they never quit hustling.

In the end, they were rewarded.

Oak Harbor defeated Marysville-Pilchuck 3-1 in its last game and despite a winless record, Coupeville played Concrete in the District 1A crossover tournament.

In that game, the Wolves unloaded a season worth of frustration and buried the Lions 7-0.

They lost the second game of the tournament to Meridian, but so what.

The wins give coaches and players something to build on for next year.

In volleyball, Oak Harbor has to try and figure out how to beat Marysville-Pilchuck’s jinx. For the second season in a row, the Tomahawks have kept the Wildcats out of the district.

Coupeville learned what having an inexperienced team and playing in a new league was all about, but they’ll be back in 2007.

Last Friday, Oak Harbor went to Everett to square off against Cascade for the WesCo North football championship and came away with a 14-12 victory.

The Wildcats finished the regular season with an 8-1 record but guess what? They still aren’t among the top 10 teams in the state Class 4A rankings.

Are you ready for this?

Moses Lake, with a 6-3 record, is ranked number eight!

What’s up with that?

Truthfully, rankings don’t always mean all that much — even though they look nice on paper.

In this fan’s opinion, you can talk the talk all you want and the Wildcats will see y’all on the field to see if you can walk the walk.