Gulls knock La Conner from grid playoff perch

Raymond High wasn’t Gull-ible enough to buy into talk this was a rebuilding year for the La Conner Braves.

The Gulls instead spent all week prepping hard for Saturday’s first round State playoff matchup in Aberdeen with the NW2B Braves.

Good thing they did.

La Conner, behind senior quarterback Trey Johnson, unveiled a polished and balanced attack that produced four first half touchdowns and another score after the break while piling up nearly 450 yards in total offense.

And, as events unfolded, it took a wing and a prayer — in the form of a gritty second half comeback — for the Gulls to escape with a 35-32 win.

With the heart-breaking loss, La Conner closed out an 8-3 campaign that saw the Braves reach post-season for a fourth straight year under head coach Johnny Lee.

“This senior class had a very successful four years of football,” Lee stressed afterward. “We’ll miss them and the relationships we’ve created along the way. It’s been an amazing year, and I’m really proud of the guys for all their efforts.”

It was a year that was almost extended a bit longer.

This after the underdog Braves bolted to a 12-7 lead via early touchdown scampers by Cameron Hansen and Seth Schuh.

La Conner tacked on another couple scores before intermission when Johnson hooked up with Harrison Orkney on a 36-yard TD toss and Budda Luna blasted in from five yards out.

The Braves went into the locker room leading 25-13.

“Going into halftime,” said Lee, we felt like we had the game under control.”

The third period was equally promising.

Luna, continuing his stellar play of late, reeled in a 68-yard scoring strike from Johnson.

Thanks to a Taylor Swanson conversion kick, La Conner clung to a 32-27 edge entering the final stanza.

But the lead wouldn’t hold up.

The Braves had trouble stopping Raymond’s ground game, especially in the crucial second half.

“I felt the game came down to about five critical plays in the second half,” Lee said, “and we just fell short on all five of those plays. They did a good job mixing up where they were attacking our defense, and we couldn’t stop them in the second half.”

That turned the contest into a shootout, one La Conner nearly pulled out.

Johnson repeatedly completed key passes, while Luna proved a dual threat as a runner and receiver.

“I thought Budda was unbelievable for us,” said Lee, noting that the sophomore speedster broke the 200-yard mark in total offense.

More often than not, it was Johnson either handing off or passing the ball to Luna.

“Trey,” Lee said, “really did a good job.”

Schuh, meanwhile, turned in another workmanlike effort. He averaged over five yards per carry, including an 11-yard first period TD jaunt.

He also led the La Conner stop unit, finishing in double digit solo tackles.

Still, it wasn’t quite enough.

After reaching paydirt five times through three quarters, the Braves came up empty in the decisive final session.

“It was an exciting end to the season,” acknowledged Lee, “but we just couldn’t make enough plays to hold off a very good Raymond team that was determined to run the ball.

“This,” Lee added, “is a tough loss to swallow now because of all the emotions involved. But I think the team will look back on this season and realize how impressive their progress and accomplishments truly were.”