SEQUIM — Chimacum did exactly what assistant coach Tony Haddenham promised in a 20-8 half-game tiebreaker win over Coupeville at Sequim High School.
The two teams had to play Tuesday’s tiebreaker after splitting a couple of Olympic League contests.
With the win, the Cowboys (2-7) earn the league’s third seed at the Class 1A West Central District playoffs.
Chimacum will face defending state champion Cascade Christian (7-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Sunset Chevrolet Stadium in Sumner.
Haddenham said last weekend that the Cowboys were going to run the ball, control the clock and get after Wolves freshman quarterback Gabe Eck.
Chimacum reached all three goals, though it did take some time to warm up on a crisp evening.
The Cowboys spread the ball around offensively, with six different players combining to run the ball 30 times for 140 yards.
Eoin Hartnett led the team with five carries for 39 yards, Matthew Torres added 37 yards on five carries and Logan Shaw rushed nine times for 34 yards.
“Our running backs followed their blocks,” senior lineman/running back Trevon Noel said.
“Our line worked hard, but I think the running backs worked harder.”
Noel grounded out 28 yards on six carries.
“Offensively, we are starting to put it together,” Chimacum head coach Mike Dowling said.
“It’s the second system in two years, so that took some time. And now we have guys healthy, we have some speed back, the linemen are starting to get it and we are starting to find our path.
“We were so limited early in the season; when we played Sequim [in the season opener] we were down eight starters.”
The Cowboys ran 38 plays to Coupeville’s 31, and kept the ball out of the hands of the Wolves’ hurry-up offense.
Most importantly, Chimacum’s defense had five sacks and limited Coupeville to minus-4 yards rushing.
“I know it sounds crazy, but I’d take our front four against anybody in the league,” Dowling said.
“[Assistant] coach [Josh] Chapman has put in a lot of time with those guys, and they have given us the ability to win.”
Chimacum looked to be in business from the opening kick, moving down field on a 12-play drive, but a penalty and a sack forced a 31-yard field goal attempt that fell short.
The teams traded possessions for the rest of the first quarter until the Cowboys got the ball back on their own 25-yard line late in the period.
Chimacum put together another 12-play drive that was keyed by two third-down conversions.
Noel pounded out 5 yards on a third-and-2 from the Chimacum 33.
Later, quarterback James Porter found Chris Bainbridge on a wheel route up the left sideline for a 17-yard gain on third-and-6 from the Coupeville 32.
Bainbridge bobbled the ball at first, but stayed with it and brought it in to set the Cowboys up inside the red zone.
Four plays later, Torres reached the ball across the goal line from 4 yards out to put Chimacum up 7-0 with 8:58 to play in the second quarter.
A short kickoff gave the Wolves the ball near midfield on their next possession.
Eck completed his first pass, a 26-yarder to Jordan Ford, on fourth-and-7, and Coupeville moved closer on a Chimacum pass interference penalty.
But the Cowboys sacked Eck twice, pushing Coupeville to the Chimacum 19-yard line, and then forced Eck to throw the ball out of bounds on fourth-and-18.
“Those are my boys up front and they are hungry,” Chapman said.
After the Cowboys fumbled inside the Wolves’ red zone on their next drive, the defense stiffened.
Lane Dotson single-handedly hauled down Eck for a 7-yard loss, and two plays later, the team again sacked Eck for a turnover-on-downs at the Coupeville 2-yard line.
“We didn’t let our heads down after the fumble,” Noel said.
“We sustained the game. “We kept our heads up and kept playing hard.”
Logan Shaw rushed in for a score on the next play for a 14-0 Chimacum lead with 3:27 to play.
Quinn Dowling picked off an Eck pass on the next Wolves drive, and later scored on a two-yard plunge for a 20-0 lead.
With the Cowboys sideline in celebration mode, Eck scored Coupeville’s only touchdown on a QB sneak with four seconds to play.
Chimacum’s playoff game Saturday comes three weeks after it snapped an 18-game losing streak that spanned almost two calendar years.
“It feels good, man,” Noel said of the team’s turnaround this season.
“There’s only one other four-year senior on the team, Eoin Hartnett, and we’ve all worked hard, and it feels really good to be making it back where we are supposed to be, making the playoffs.”
Chimacum 20, Coupeville 8
Chimacum 0 20 — 20
Coupeville 0 8 — 8
Second Quarter
Chim—Torres 4 run (Purser kick)
Chim—Shaw 2 run (Purser kick)
Chim—Dowling 2 run (Kick blocked)
Coup—Eck 1 run (Smith run)
Individual Stats
Rushing—Chim: Hartnett 5-39, Torres 5-37, Shaw 9-34, Noel 6-28, Bainbridge 2-3, Dowling 1-2, Porter 2 (-3). Coup: Martin 6-21, Eck 9-(-25).
Passing—Chim: Porter 6-8-0, 124. Coup: Eck 5-16-1, 121.
Receiving—Chim: Torres 2-62, Bainbridge 4-62. Coup: Ford 5-121.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
