This is for you, coach

COUPEVILLE — White 21 Sweep.

To an outsider it seems like a nonsensical combination of a color, a number and a verb. But for the emotionally charged Archbishop Murphy High School football team, it was a perfect way to honor their fallen head coach.

In its first game since renowned coach Terry Ennis died of cancer, Archbishop Murphy paid tribute to Ennis by running his favorite play, White 21 Sweep, on its first offensive play of the game Friday against Coupeville at Clark Stadium.

The play wasn’t worthy of a dramatic big-screen climax; halfback Russel Stiegler ran around the right end and gained 5 yards. But it was a fitting tribute to Ennis, who passed away early Wednesday at age 63, and it was the start of a dominant though sometimes sloppy performance.

Murphy scored three touchdowns in the first quarter and in the 88th varsity game in program history — the first without Ennis as their head coach — the Wildcats overwhelmed previously undefeated Coupeville 60-22. Fullback Henry Woods (14 carries, 115 yards, one touchdown) and quarterback Patrick Kelly (two passing TDs) ignited a fast start for Murphy (3-0 overall) in the Cascade Conference opener for both teams.

Murphy scored TDs on its first five possessions, generated some crunching hits and stunned the home team and its fans.

“Early, geez, they came out and hit us hard,” Coupeville coach Ron Bagby said. “You know what, that’s a great football team.”

Murphy seemed to use its surging emotion to explode to an early advantage. The Wildcats led 34-0 by halftime before struggling later with penalties.

“I thought the kids really responded well. It got a little bit away from us (later),” Murphy interim head coach Rick Stubrud said.

Asked how he thought Ennis would have graded the game, Stubrud, Ennis’ brother-in-law, said, “I don’t think he’d be real happy. … I think we lost our focus.”

Murphy was whistled for 14 penalties, including five 15-yard personal fouls. That wouldn’t have sat well with Ennis, who founded the program in 2000 and guided the Wildcats to a record of 75-12.

Murphy has plenty to work on, Stubrud said, but it had more than enough talent to complete an impressive triumph over Coupeville (2-1 overall). Murphy rushed 50 times for 493 yards.

Murphy scored on its first possession, covering 85 yards in nine plays. Woods capped it with a 5-yard run. He carried six times for 58 yards on the drive.

That began a huge first half for Murphy, which gained 323 yards in the first two quarters and limited Coupeville to 20 yards.

Surprisingly, Murphy did major damage through the air. Kelly was 4-for-4 passing for 123 yards and two TD passes in the first half. He connected twice on long scoring plays with J.D. Melton.

Kelly finished 5-for-5 for 133 yards and Melton had three catches for 80 yards.

Before the game Coupeville honored Ennis by giving Murphy players a small tree that will be planted at Murphy’s campus in Everett. Immediately after that the Coupeville (0-1, 2-1) public-address announcer asked everyone to share a moment of silence in memory of Ennis.

Murphy players wore patches and helmet decals with initials TE. Their former coach clearly inspired them.

“It meant a lot to us as a team to come together and play this game,” said Woods.

Murphy dreamed that White 21 Sweep, its special opening play, would go for a TD. It didn’t, but the moment was still important.

“We really wanted to break it (for a score),” said Woods, “(But) it wasn’t that much of a letdown.”

Clay Hughes had a stellar game for Coupeville. He started the second half with an 82-yard kickoff return for Coupeville’s first points. He also had a 55-yard scoring run in which he blew past Murphy defenders and made a nice cut toward the right sideline.

Contact Herald Writer Mike Cane at mcane@heraldnet.com. For more high school sports news, check out the prep sports blog Double Team at heraldnet.com/doubleteam.

At Clark Stadium

Archbishop Murphy2113197—60

Coupeville00166—22

Archbishop Murphy-Woods 5 run (Houts kick)

Archbishop Murphy-Melton 27 pass from Kelly (Houts kick)

Archbishop Murphy-Melton 43 pass from Kelly (Houts kick)

Archbishop Murphy-Martinez 30 run (Houts kick)

Archbishop Murphy-Stiegler 12 run (Houts kick failed)

Coupeville-Hughes 82 kickoff return (Bagby pass from Smith)

Archbishop Murphy-Stiegler 25 run (Houts kick failed)

Archbishop Murphy-Houts 1 run (Houts kick)

Coupeville-Hughes 55 run (Smith run)