The Bucket is back.
The South Whidbey High School football team scored four touchdowns in the final three minutes of the first half on the way to a 48-20 thrashing of Coupeville Friday, Oct. 12, in Langley.
The romp returned The Bucket – the traveling trophy awarded to the winner of the island rivalry – to South Whidbey. The Wolves had won the previous two games.
As the final seconds vanished from the clock, South Whidbey quarterback Kody Newman raced across the field, snatched The Bucket from the Coupeville bench, and – with his teammates following him like a mob after a bandit – sprinted in front of the approving Falcon fateful with the prize held high.
“It is fun to win in the rivalry game,” South Whidbey coach Mark Hodson said. “It’s a big win for South Whidbey.”
After a near disaster in the first quarter, everything went the Falcons’ way.
On South Whidbey’s first possession, an errant snap in the shotgun formation flew over Newman’s head. Several players from both teams got their hands on the ball as it tumbled backward.
The Falcons finally recovered the fumble at their own half-yard line.
South Whidbey was forced to punt from the end zone, but then fortune turned the Falcons’ way. The Coupeville return man muffed the punt and the Falcons recovered. From there, South Whidbey marched 70 yards for the game’s first points. Aiden Coleman scored from the 1, Kole Nelson kicked the extra point and South Whidbey led 7-0 at the 5:55 mark of the first quarter.
On its next possession, South Whidbey made it 14-0 when Clay O’Brien zipped 56 yards with 3:28 left in the quarter.
Coupeville scored on the first play of the second period. The PAT kick was blocked, setting the score at 14-6.
South Whidbey would then erupt for 34 second-quarter points, 28 coming in the final three minutes and 21 in the final 94 seconds.
Newman connected with Coleman for a 34-yard touchdown pass at the 8:37 mark.
On a fourth-and-two at the 6-yard line, Newman scampered in for a touchdown. The kick failed, and it was 27-6 with 3:04 remaining in the half.
Newman scored again on another fourth-and-two play, this time from the 10 with 1:34 left.
Coleman scooped up a Coupeville fumble and returned it 35 yards to make it 41-6 with 1:00 on the clock.
Dexter Jokinen followed that defensive touchdown with another, a 35-yard pick six with only 1 second left before the break.
South Whidbey led 48-6 at halftime, putting the mercy rule into effect for the second half, which was played with a running clock.
Coupeville scored twice in the fourth quarter to set the final score.
O’Brien finished 130 yards rushing on 11 carries. Coleman added 85 on nine rushes.
Newman completed five passes for 115 yards.
The key to the victory came from up front and on defense, according to Hodson.
“I thought our offensive line played its best game of the season,” he said, “and we didn’t have to get out of our base defense, which is great.”
Hodson said his team “learned a lot from the loss last weekend.” The Falcons fell to league-leading Cedar Park Christian 35-20.
“We talked about turning that loss into a learning experience,” he added.
The win over Coupeville raised the Falcons’ North Sound Conference record to 2-1, good for a second-place tie with King’s. South Whidbey is 5-2 overall.
Next up is a trip to Granite Falls (1-2, 1-6) at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 19, followed by a home clash with King’s Oct. 26.
The Tigers collected their first win of the season Friday, whipping Sultan 34-6.
For the moment, however, South Whidbey can savor the win over Coupeville.
Billy Rankin (21) takes a handoff from Kody Newman. (Photo by Jim Waller/South Whidbey Record)
Kody Newman races in for a touchdown in Friday’s Homecoming game win. (Photo by Jim Waller/South Whidbey Record)
