A rainy evening, a wind-blown punt and a third quarter touchdown brought an end to Coupeville’s 2006 football season.

Playing conditions were miserable at Mickey Clark Field Thursday with gusty winds and occasional driving rain squalls as Coupeville took on Friday Harbor in a district playoff game. The winner advanced in the Class 1A playoffs, while the loser would have to wait until next year to tee the ball up.

Coming off three straight losses in the final games of the regular season, Coupeville, 4-5, was anticipating a return to early-season success and getting back on the winning track against the 7-1 Wolverines, but it was not to be.

Friday Harbor came back from a 7-6 deficit on a 15-yard touchdown run by Tyler Hart with 3:15 left in the third quarter to defeat Coupeville 12-7.

“It was just one of those games where one play made all the difference,” coach Ron Bagby said.

After a scoreless first quarter, Friday Harbor forced the Wolves to punt from their own 30-yard line on a fourth-and-15 situation at the 10:35 mark of the second quarter.

Casey Larson got off a good punt, but the gusty wind blew the ball from left to right and directly into the arms of Hart who returned it 66 yards up the sideline in front of the Friday Harbor bench for a touchdown.

“We weren’t going to kick the ball to him and worked on it all week, but the wind blew Casey’s punt across the field right to him,” Bagby said.

The extra-point kick into the gusty breeze sailed wide, and the Wolverines held a 6-0 lead.

With 7:48 remaining before halftime, Coupeville mounted a seven-play, 54-yard drive capped by a 7-yard Clay Hughes run to tie the score.

A key play in the drive was Larson’s 38-yard run to give the Wolves a first-and-goal at Friday Harbor’s 5-yard line.

Alex Evans booted the extra point to give the Wolves a 7-6 lead.

The Wolves had other scoring opportunities in the second quarter, but were penalized three times for holding.

“We pushed it down in there a couple of times and couldn’t score,” Bagby said.

After the break, the two teams traded punts and field position in the third quarter until Friday Harbor took the lead on a 15-yard Hart run on an option pitch from quarterback Cole Franklin.

Earlier in the game the Wolves had thwarted this play and caused a pair of fumbles, but this time the Wolverines managed to pull it off for six points.

Franklin’s run attempt for the 2-point conversion was stopped short to keep the score 12-7.

Late in the third quarter Coupeville senior defensive end Jordan Emerson dropped Franklin, creating a fumble that was recovered by Brian Folkstad, and the Wolves were in business at the Wolverine 33-yard line.

The Wolves drove the ball to Friday Harbor’s 14-yard line before turning it over on downs at the 9:09 mark of the fourth quarter.

Coupeville had one final chance when Trevor Tucker broke off a 31-yard run good for a first down at Friday Harbor’s 45-yard line, but the Wolves were unable to capitalize and turned the ball over on downs with less than five minutes remaining in the game.

Mitchell McCormick got a big first down for the Wolverines, breaking off a 24-yard run on a fourth-and-nine play with 2:08 remaining in the game and with Coupeville out of time outs, Friday Harbor was able to run the clock out.

“There was no lack of effort,” Bagby said. “The kids played really hard and I’m proud of them. I feel really sorry for the seniors losing their last game.”

After the game there were a lot of wet faces among the dirt-smudged Coupeville players, and it wasn’t all from the rain.

Emerson summed up the majority of the players’ emotions. “I’m kind of speechless right now,” he said.

Larson led Coupeville with 84 yards on 11 carries. Hughes rushed for 74 yards on 30 attempts.

Hart paced Friday Harbor with 69 yards on 16 carries.

Coupeville finishes the season with a 4-6 overall record.