Big scoring plays by Nooksack Valley led to a big loss for the Coupeville High School football team as the Wolves fell 55-15 Friday, Sept. 21, at Mickey Clark Field.

The Pioneers (3-1) scored six touchdowns from 25-plus yards out to hand the Wolves their fourth straight defeat.

The first five scores came on long pass plays, but not all were long throws. Coupeville coach Tony Maggio said most were short passes with long runs.

He said, “We have got to do a better job of tackling in the secondary. We have to get it fixed or it will be a long year.”

The Wolves had opportunities early but couldn’t cash in.

After Nooksack Valley scored its first touchdown on a 26-yard pass and missed its extra point, Coupeville responded with a nice drive that ended with a short TD run by Gunnar Langvold. Josh Bayne’s successful PAT put the Wolves up 7-6.

The Pioneers then scored on a 57-yard pass. On the following kick off, Coupeville had a long return but fumbled at the end of the run and the Pioneers recovered. They turned the Coupeville mistake into another score, a pass play from 35 yards.

The Wolves came right back and drove to the Pioneer 2-yard line but dropped a pass in the end zone. That piece of bad luck gave the momentum to the Pioneers, and the Whatcom County team rolled to a 35-7 halftime lead.

Jake Tumblin scored on a 25-yard run late in the game for the Wolves’ other touchdown. Bayne passed for the two-point conversion.

Coupeville played shorthanded again; this time six starters missed the game because of illness, injury or disciplinary reasons, according to Maggio.

Maggio said, “I can’t shake not getting my team together…We have yet to have a full roster.”

Nooksack collected almost 600 yards of offense, with 323 coming through the air by hitting 13 of 15 passes. Nearly 200 of the passing yards came on five touchdowns plays.

Maggio did not have Coupeville’s statistics when reporting but said the Wolves rushed for over 200 yards.

Coupeville plays Orcas Island at home at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28.