EVERETT — Running back Tony Houts rushed for 183 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead Archbishop Murphy to a 41-9 victory over Coupeville Sept. 15 in the Cascade Conference opener for both teams.
Houts, a 5-foot-10 senior, has scored five touchdowns in the last eight quarters for the Wildcats, who improved their overall record to 3-0. Archbishop Murphy continues league play at 7 p.m. tonight (Friday, Sept. 22) at Cedarcrest. The Red Wolves are coming off a 14-13 loss to Granite Falls last week.
In their last two outings, the Wildcats scored 82 points and have racked up nearly 900 total yards — 843 of which have come from the ground. As for Houts, who scored on runs of 1, 5, and 2 yards, he increased his rushing average to 7.7 yards per carry and more than 110.0 yards per game.
“Our offensive line deserves all the credit,” Houts said. “They have been doing a remarkable job opening up holes for us. All we have to do is just run. We are really having fun, but we still have a long way to go. We can still improve.”
Despite the lopsided score, the Wildcats got a taste of adversity early in the game as they found themselves trailing for the first time this season. Coupeville marched 55 yards on its opening drive and grabbed a 3-0 lead on an Alex Evans 26-yard field goal.
“They are an incredibly talented football team,” Coupeville coach Ron Bagby said. “I was very pleased with the way we were able to drive on them early in the game. We really felt like we could play with them.”
The Wildcats answered by scoring 41 unanswered points, which included touchdowns on six consecutive possessions. Archbishop Murphy rushed for more than 400 yards for the second consecutive game. Houts racked up 51 yards on the Wildcats’ initial drive in the first quarter. Senior running back Dejan Sughrim capped off the 5-play, 80-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown run.
Sughrim, who entered the game as the Wildcats’ leading rusher with 252 yards in two games, ran for 100 yards on just nine carries and scored two touchdowns, increasing his season total to four.
“They have so much talent that it is nearly impossible to stop,” Bagby said. “You have to play flawless football to have a chance against them. We made some mistakes and they capitalized on them.”
The feisty Coupeville squad did, however, make an admirable effort to keep pace with the Wildcats in the first quarter. Trailing 6-3, the Wolves responded on their second possession by driving 30 yards into Wildcat territory.
But with 1:53 remaining in the first quarter, Houts intercepted Coupeville junior quarterback James Smith and returned it 37 yards, setting up the Wildcats at the Coupeville 23-yard line. Four plays later, Houts crashed into the end zone from the 1-yard line, giving Archbishop Murphy a 13-3 lead.
Houts scored his second touchdown on the Wildcats’ next possession, a 5-yard touchdown run to finish off a 53-yard drive, which increased Archbishop Murphy’s lead to 20-3. On their final possession of the first half, the Wildcats went 94 yards on 11 plays, using up 2 minutes and 49 seconds for their fourth straight touchdown. Sughrim ended the half by scoring his second touchdown on a 14-yard run.
Archbishop Murphy sophomore running back Russell Stiegler went 57 yards on the Wildcats’ second possession in the second half to give them a 41-3 lead.
Defensively, the Wildcats held Coupeville to just 86 rushing yards on 38 carries and surrendered 224 total yards.
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