Falling just short in its effort for a stunning comeback, the Coupeville High School football team fell 20-14 to King’s Friday, Sept. 28, at Mickey Clark Field.

The contest was the league opener for both schools in the new North Sound Conference.

The Wolves (0-1, 3-2) will take another shot at collecting their first league win when they host Sultan (0-1, 1-4) at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5. The Turks lost 21-20 in overtime to South Whidbey in their conference opener last Friday.

King’s 20, Coupeville 14.

The Knights’ Josiah Seirs scored single touchdowns in each of the first three quarters to give King’s a 20-0 lead.

The mood of the contest changed on the first play of the fourth quarter when Coupeville’s Sean Toomey-Stout raced 95 yards with a kickoff return to get the Wolves on the board. Derek Leyva booted the extra point.

The Coupeville defense then forced a three-and-out, and the Wolves marched in for another score. Dawson Houston hit Gavin Knoblich on a 10-yard scoring toss and the Wolves were back in the game.

Coupeville again forced King’s to punt and had a chance to take the lead with five minutes left.

This time, however, the Wolves couldn’t muster any magic.

The Knights regained possession and ran for two first downs, including converting a fourth-and-four, to run out the clock.

“Right now we are a second-half team,” Coupeville coach Marcus Carr said. “I am proud of the team’s effort.

“The coaching staff and players are working hard, and we are headed in the right direction. We still are expecting to contend for a league title even though we lost our first league game.”