COQUILLE — Blake Holmes has had a huge amount of success during his high school athletic career — virtually all of it on the wrestling mats.

So this fall has been a pleasant surprise for Holmes, one of the captains of Coquille’s soccer team. The Red Devils have made a 180-degree turn in just one season, and host Philomath in the Class 4A playoffs on Saturday — Coquille’s first-ever soccer playoff match.

“It’s definitely a turn in the program,” Holmes said. “It’s really exciting going from last year not winning a game to being in the playoffs.”

Coquille had won just three games, including one by forfeit, in the past few seasons, but finished third in the league this fall.

The Red Devils have turned their fortunes around with the addition of several new players — some not particularly experienced at soccer — and one successful coach.

Randy Lucas, who has coached the Red Devils for three seasons, was thrilled when the city’s new police chief, Mark Dannels, offered to help with the program.

Lucas does not have a great soccer background, though he’s a big fan of the sport. Dannels, on the other hand, has coached more than a decade in Arizona, including seven years at a 3,300-student high school. He started as a youth coach in a club program that now includes 1,200 boys and girls from first grade through high school.

“Mark’s taught the team the little things that I didn’t know,” said Lucas, who describes himself as a motivator and Dannels as knowledgeable in the technical aspects of the sport.

With the arrival of Dannels came the addition of his son, junior Ryan Dannels, who quickly became one of the most explosive scorers on the South Coast.

The Red Devils also added a pair of exchange students who specialize in other sports — Mauro Sakuma of Brazil who is a standout volleyball player and Jan Eitinger of Germany who loves basketball.

Armando “Tito” Rangel, one of the team’s players from Myrtle Point, and Coquille senior Daniel Muntifering joined the program for the first time, while the squad also added freshmen Andreas Esparza, Nate Slater and Cole Waddington.

They combined with the team’s veterans — Holmes and fellow seniors German Ferrer, Martin Gonzalez, Alex Ford and Luke Hashberger, junior goalkeeper Jeff Veysey, also from Myrtle Point, and sophomore Colby Gederos.

Holmes said the turnaround has been dramatic and enjoyable.

“When we started the season, our goal was to win three or four games,” he said.

That quickly changed as Coquille started beating some of the league’s established teams. Holmes noticed a change in the team’s attitude and its style of play.

“We’re playing as a team,” he said. “Last year, it was a couple of people doing everything.”

The influence of Mark Dannels helped the squad in that area, Holmes said.

“He emphasizes teamwork and communication,” Holmes said. “His philosophy is the team scores goals, not individual players.”

Lucas said coaching with Dannels has been a joy.

“He’s fantastic,” Lucas said. “I love working with Mark. It’s teaching me a lot more.

“Mark knows what to look for in a technical game. I look at it as a mental game — making sure everybody’s ready.”

Dannels said he and Lucas have worked well as a coaching team.

It’s been a dramatic change for Dannels, going from basically a year-round program between the high school and club seasons to a high school where there was no guarantee before the season that Coquille would have enough players to field a squad.

In Sierra Vista, Ariz., located near Tucson, the high school program averaged 75 players in tryouts. Last year, Dannels coached an under-18 boys club team that won the Arizona Cup, a statewide club tournament, and a girls team that finished second in the same event.

“We’ve had real sucessful teams,” he said.

Now he’s come into a program that requires building, something he is committed to.

“Soccer’s not the town sport (here),” he said. “The challenge is to build the sport.”

He plans to work with Mark and Sharon Usselman, who coach Coquille’s girls team, to add some sort of indoor program in the winter, and has talked with soccer coaches in the Bay Area about working with their club program.

“My goal is to have a club team to take to the state tournament in April,” he said.

Dannels said his biggest contribution to the team this fall has been his experience.

Over the years, he has worked hard to become a better coach, even taking part in referee school to learn more about the rules of the sport.

“Every year I coach, I’ve learned something more,” he said.

This year, he’s passed on a lot of his knowledge.

He has been pleasantly surprised by the Red Devils’ success.

“They’ve only won two games in the last three years,” he said. “That tells you that the team has worked hard to get to where they’re at.

“They’ve done amazing this year. The reason they’ve done so well is they’ve worked together.”

In addition to the better teamwork, the Red Devils got a big boost of confidence from their success.

“The kids feel they can win now,” Lucas said.

He expects that to carry over to 2009.

“Next year, they’ll walk into a program that made the playoffs,” he said. “It’s going to be expected of them.”

Notes: Saturday’s playoff game with Philomath starts at 4 p.m. on the high school football field. Admission, set by the Oregon School Activities Association, is $6 for adults and $4 for students.