COUPEVILLE — Not many teams in the state are as happy this weekend as Chimacum.
The Cowboys ended an 18-game losing streak with a 14-9 road win over Coupeville on Friday.
“Long time coming,” Chimacum coach Mike Dowling said.
“It felt unbelievable for all the stuff this team’s gone through. It feels really good for the kids.
“You would have thought we won the Super Bowl with the reaction after the game.”
Trailing 9-6, the Cowboys drove 80 yards in less than three minutes for the winning score.
Matthew Torres caught two passes on fourth down during the drive, as well as the game-winner with 1.2 seconds left.
Logan Shaw ran in the 2-point conversion to make it 14-9.
In a reversal from close losses to Coupeville and Klahowya earlier this month in which they lost late leads, the Cowboys came from behind to win Friday.
Coupeville led 9-0 heading into the fourth quarter with Chimacum on the move.
Noticing a weakness in the Wolves’ defense, Dowling decided to keep calling runs up the middle for Shaw, and the drive culminated in a 12-yard run by the sophomore. The PAT was blocked.
Shaw was the feature back Friday because the Cowboys were without their two starting running backs.
“Logan ran like a beast,” Dowling said.
“There were plays where he was stopped, kept moving his legs and got 5 yards.”
Chimacum also was without its starting center. Lane Dotson moved to center and three freshmen — Jordan Mason, Jadyn Roberts and Jonah Diehl — rotated snaps alongside Dotson, Trevon Noel and Devyn Winkley.
Not only did that patchwork line open holes up the middle for Shaw, “our QB did not get sacked,” Dowling said.
Dowling also made it a point to praise the defense and defensive coordinator Tony Haddenham.
Chimacum’s defense has been beleaguered for much of the season, but has allowed a total of 23 points in the past two games to Klahowya and Coupeville.
“Our defense was unbelievable,” Dowling said.
“Without our defense, our offense wouldn’t have had a chance to score.
“Since I’ve been here, those are the two best games back-to-back that we’ve played defensively.”
Friday’s win was Chimacum’s first since Oct. 28, 2013. That means it is the seventh win of the seniors’ careers, second for the juniors and first for the sophomores and freshmen.
“With all the crap behind us, this team has never given up,” Dowling said.
“This [win] is crazy good for the community, the school.”
Up next for the Cowboys (1-4, 1-6) is rival and already Olympic League 1A champion Port Townsend (5-0, 7-0) on Friday.
“We get Town this week, which most teams aren’t happy to get town, but our guys are happy, they’re excited,” Dowling said.
Chimacum is tied with Coupeville for the league’s final postseason berth.
Port Townsend 43, Klahowya 6
PORT TOWNSEND — In a season that hasn’t had much adversity, the Redhawks had to work through some pretty heavy stuff to beat the Eagles and clinch their second consecutive Olympic League 1A title.
Klahwoya (3-2, 4-2), which clinched a postseason berth despite the loss, took a 6-0 lead and held Port Townsend scoreless until the latter part of the second quarter.
Behind the running of Wesley Wheeler, the Redhawks scored a pair of touchdowns before halftime to take a 14-6 lead.
In the third quarter, while on defense, Wheeler went down with a knee injury.
“Wesley got hurt. That was horrible,” Port Townsend coach Nick Snyder said.
Snyder said that Wheeler will miss the rest of the season for the seventh-ranked Redhawks.
To fill Wheeler’s void, starting quarterback David Sua was moved to fullback and Berkley Hill took over at quarterback.
On his first run, Sua rumbled 55 yards four a touchdown, breaking any tackle along the way that tried to impede him.
“He ran over to the ambulance, they were just loading Wesley into the ambulance, and he said, ‘This one’s for you,’” Snyder said.
Sua picked where he left off last season, when he was the league’s offensive MVP while playing fullback.
“He was a man amongst boys in that second half,” Snyder said.
“When the game was on the line, it was all him, and he just rose up.”
Port Townsend racked up 29 points in the second half and held the Eagles scoreless.
“The defense just started getting better and better and better,” Snyder said.
“The third quarter we just starred really clicking.
“The kids really started playing hard. For Wes.”
Port Townsend (5-0, 7-0) finishes up league play against rival Chimacum (1-4, 1-6) this Friday.
Hoquiam 56, Forks 7
HOQUIAM — The Spartans got routed by the fifth-ranked Grizzlies.
But along the way, they learned something: they can play with one of the top teams in Class 1A.
Keishaun Ramsey picked off some passes, Jack Dahlgren blocked a punt and Reece Moody scored on a touchdown pass from Cole Baysinger and Forks entered halftime trailing 21-7.
“We were playing pretty well early on,” Spartans coach Craig Shetterly said.
“It was kind of an instantaneous thing, ‘Hey, we can play with these guys.’
“That kind of sparked life into the team.”
Hoquiam then showed why they are atop the hellacious Evergreen League and ranked so high by The Associated Press.
“They made halftime adjustments, we made halftimes adjustments,” Shetterly said.
“They’re a good team. I don’t want to take anything away from them at all. They’re very good at what they do.
“And they put it together in second half.”
Moody, one of the Spartans’ few seniors this season, caught six passes for 120 yards.
Baysinger completed 15 of 29 passes for 253 yards, but did toss five interceptions.
Ramsey had three interceptions for Forks. He had a fourth pick that was called back due to offsetting penalties.
Dahlgren had three sacks and blocked a punt.
Next up for Forks (0-5, 1-6) is a road game against winless Aberdeen (0-5, 0-7) this Saturday.
“I took a look at them and they do some things well and they have bright spots on the team,” Shetterly said.
