Braves renew playoff rivalry with Morton-White Pass
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November 11, 2015
La Conner Braves Cameron Hansen runs the ball through an airborne tackle attempt by Orcas during Friday’s 39-14 Braves victory at home. – Photo by Amylynn Richards
They’ve been here before. Quite often, in fact.
La Conner and Morton-White Pass are no strangers to the State football playoffs, nor to one another.
The Braves and Timberwolves have met three times in the past four post-seasons, with Morton-White Pass eliminating La Conner from title contention in 2011, 2012, and 2013.
They tee it up again in State 2B grid action this Saturday, Nov. 14, at 4 p.m. in Sedro-Woolley.
La Conner, of course, will be looking to reverse prior trends and oust from the State tourney a Morton-White Pass team that has atypically struggled at times in 2015.
Ironically, there was a chance either club — or both — would miss this latest playoff date.
Morton-White Pass, 6-4, had to upset favored Raymond 51-27 last weekend to advance.
La Conner, meanwhile, avenged its lone setback of the regular season with a 39-14 mauling of NW2B foe Orcas in a must-win game at Whittaker Field on Friday.
The Braves responded to a pressure situation against Orcas by opening with one of their best halves of the campaign, bolting to a commanding 26-0 lead at the break.
Versatile Cameron Hansen ran for a first half touchdown, Budda Luna reeled in a 15-yard scoring strike from Max Miller, and team rushing leader Seth Schuh blasted in twice to stake the Braves to an early four-score margin.
Unlike their previous meeting — a 39-34 Viking win — there would be no second half heroics from Orcas this time around.
The visitors averted a shutout when quarterback Miles Harlow reached paydirt on a six-yard burst. Orcas finished in double digits on a three-yard TD run from Vinny Kramer.
Those scores were offset in the second half by a two-yard Schuh touchdown plunge and a 22-yarder from Luna.
La Conner head coach Johnny Lee said a key factor for the Braves was putting pressure on Harlow in the pocket.
Nick Reese, Jacek Knudson, and Kaden Murdock — the latter of whom entered the game averaging seven tackles per contest — were able to harass the Viking signal caller throughout.
The Braves secondary did the rest, not allowing Orcas receivers to break free.
La Conner will face a totally different attack in Morton-White Pass.
The Timberwolves employ a ground-and-pound offense that highlights record-breaking running back Braiden Elledge.
Elledge has netted 1,833 yards on 210 carries this year, an average of nearly nine yards per attempt. He has broken the 100-yard mark — frequently doubling it — in all but two games.
As a team, Morton-White Pass averages 225 yards per outing on the ground.
Quarterback Kaleb Rashoff, who passes sparingly, nonetheless is effective when he goes to the air. Rashoff has completed 35 passes for 777 yards and nine TDs.
La Conner counters with its trademark balanced approach.
The Braves run for 180 yards and pass for another 100 each time out. Schuh has averaged 102 yards rushing per game, while signal callers Miller and James Hulbert have been effective distributing the ball to multiple receivers.
The Morton-White Pass stop unit is led by a stellar corps of linebackers featuring Elledge, Carson Lewis, and Rocco Bertucci. Elledge and Lewis average eight tackles per game, with Bertucci and defensive lineman Ryan Louderback adding another six apiece.
The La Conner defense is equally stout, as Orcas can attest. The Vikings were held to less than 50 yards total offense in Friday’s pivotal first half.
By defeating Orcas in what was essentially a playoff atmosphere — the NW2B was allotted just one post-season entry this year — La Conner improved to 8-1 overall and finished its conference slate at 5-1.
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