Wolves crack Concrete

One more win and Coupeville is in the playoffs

“With his back foot just inches from the goal line, Coupeville running back Ian Barron received a kickoff with his team down by 14 points in the second quarter against Concrete on Friday evening. The Wolves, looking at a possible costly loss that would put them out of playoff contention, were staring across at a Concrete team (2-2, 4-4) that they had not beaten in seven years. But Barron’s ensuing school-record, 100-yard kick return for a touchdown sparked a momentum shift for Coupeville that carried over to the second half where ball control by the Wolves offense suffocated Concrete and led Coupeville (3-1, 5-3) to its biggest victory of the season, 26-22. We needed a jump start because at that point it was 14-0, said head coach Ron Bagby. We really dominated from that point forward. It wasn’t only that we beat Concrete, it was the way in which we beat them.They are usually pretty good and we play them pretty close every year, but they just always seem to prevail, said quarterback Noah Roehl. This year we just came out, home crowd, lights on, even with the wind we just ran it right straight at them and they couldn’t stop it.To say that Coupeville’s offense was dominating in the second half would be a huge understatement. The Coupeville ground game kept the ball for so long that Concrete’s offense only had possession for nine plays in the second half. Concrete’s offense was so anemic in the second half that they only managed to gain 19 total yards. With the score 22-12, the first Coupeville possession of the second half was the most destructive for Concrete, even though the Lions were ahead, according to Bagby.We took about 10 minutes off of the clock, said Bagby. We drove 80 yards, and from that point on they had nothing left and we had every bit of momentum.That drive was huge, said Roehl. We almost took up the entire quarter. You could see them, they were starting to ride each other, you know, ‘You have to tackle your guy.’ Bagby said that he was impressed the most with how his offensive line and blocking backs performed.They did a great job against bigger kids, said Bagby. They couldn’t stop us because we controlled the line of scrimmage.The blocking was big for Barron, as he finished the game with 350 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns. In the first quarter it looked as if the Wolves would be blown out, literally. Punting was not an option thanks to a whipping wind. Two consecutive drives resulted in the failure to convert on fourth down, giving Concrete excellent field position to score their first two touchdowns.We were going against the wind and they could have easily buried us, said Bagby. You couldn’t run against it. You couldn’t throw against it. It was just tough.If the Wolves win Friday against La Conner (3-1, 7-1) they will be co-champs with Orcas Island, but would head into the playoffs as the No. 2 seed because of head-to-head competition. La Conner, which is ranked seventh in the state, will be champions by themselves with a win over the Wolves. All the marbles are on this so you better not be over confident, said Bagby. I want to go to the play-offs, said Roehl. I have never been there and I have never been on a team that has. None of our teams have been there since 1990. I don’t want to be so close and lose. “