Friday Harbor feasts on Braves miscues for win

After serving up a steady diet of triumphs, the La Conner High football team finally tasted defeat with a tough NW2B loss at Friday Harbor last weekend.

Still, the 39-21 road defeat wasn’t an entirely bitter pill for Braves head coach Johnny Lee to swallow.

“Overall,” he said afterward, “I thought our effort was outstanding. But we kind of wore down in the second half and had some costly third down mistakes that made the difference.”

Lee and his staff knew their club was in for a hard trial against a physical, battle-tested Friday Harbor team.

It didn’t help that the Braves were minus key offensive weapon Cameron Hansen, injured a week earlier in La Conner’s non-conference victory over Bellevue Christian.

Nor was it a good sign when the Braves, already trailing 6-0, fumbled on their second snap of the game while backed up deep in their own territory.

That led to a 12-0 Wolverines’ lead, with fans having barely settled into their seats.

“We fell behind early,” Lee lamented. “We were behind by two scores before we could bat an eye.”

La Conner, however, didn’t lose its focus.

The Braves rallied for three scores in the second period to go in front 21-18 at the break.

The comeback started with a couple defensive adjustments that allowed La Conner to thwart a Wolverines’ counter play that had done damage early.

The Braves’ stop unit was led by safety Budda Luna, whose 35-yard return of a Friday Harbor fumble for a touchdown put La Conner on top going into the locker room.

The hosts, however, had enough time during intermission to make some adjustments of their own.

“They just had too many big plays in the second half,” noted Lee, whose club was outscored 21-0 after halftime.

One crucial play was a holding call on La Conner when the Braves punted out of their end zone early in the third quarter. That resulted in a safety.

“Then we had a blown coverage on a wheel route for a touchdown on third-and-long that put them back up two scores,” Lee said.

The Wolverines added an insurance score on another long-gainer in the game’s waning moments.

The Braves tried keeping Friday Harbor’s offense off the field by mixing their run game with some play-action passes.

La Conner quarterback Trey Johnson managed the short passing attack well, completing 14 of 28 attempts for 119 yards. Six of his tosses went to Matt Finley, who accounted for nearly 100 total receiving and rushing yards, helping fill the void with Hansen sidelined.

“I felt Matt had a breakout game,” Lee said, “which we needed from him with Cameron being out.”

Johnson added six rushes for 29 yards, including a two-yard TD waltz that got the Braves on the board.

Jack Dixon did yeoman work in the trenches as La Conner flirted with 250 yards of offense against Friday Harbor’s bigger defensive front.

But it wasn’t quite enough.

“We had a hard time sustaining drives and matching Friday Harbor’s physicality,” Lee explained.

Still, he pointed out, all wasn’t lost for La Conner. The Braves dominated play in the second frame and despite the setback remain tied atop league standings with a 2-1 mark.

“Momentum,” said Lee, alluding to his team’s second quarter push, “played a huge part in this game, which made it fun to be a part of.”

He also takes comfort knowing the La Conner-Friday Harbor rematch will be a home date for the Braves.

“We have to dig deep and fight these last few weeks to accomplish some of the goals the team set at the start of the season,” he said. “I think a few tweaks here and there will prove vital for us the next time we face Friday Harbor.”

Even so, Lee stressed, the Braves are taking matters one game at a time — starting this Friday, when La Conner entertains visiting Orcas in a 5 p.m. NW2B test.