Braves blast Concrete to remain unbeaten

Neither time nor tide waits for no one.

Further proof came during a 60-0 La Conner High grid rout of Concrete on Friday when a Luna eclipse forced a rare running clock from the second period on.

La Conner star Budda Luna ran for two touchdowns and passed for another pair of scores as the Braves posted a surprisingly easy triumph over their longtime NW2B rivals.

Luna and the Braves bolted to a commanding 38-point lead before the break, causing game officials to waive time stoppages in order to keep the final score somewhat within reason.

The end result was La Conner had the ball for just 35 snaps, yet still managed to net over 300 yards in total offense.

“It was just a combination of things,” Braves’ head coach Peter Voorhees, who saw his club improve to 4-0 on the campaign, said afterward. “We had great field position for a couple drives and forced them into some three-and-outs.”

The Lions mustered just five yards of offense on the night and were held without a first down.

As has been the case thus far this season, La Conner won the battle upfront.

And decidedly so.

“We were able to overpower them,” said Voorhees. “It was a matter of our players totally stepping up. We asked them to do their jobs, and they did.”

In an efficient, workmanlike fashion, at that.

It all happened so fast.

La Conner had barely gone in front 8-0 early in the first quarter when Jeffrey Johnson reeled in a 26-yard TD strike from Luna, giving the Braves a 14-0 edge.

Then it was Kaden Murdock’s turn. He blasted in from three yards out. Johnson’s conversion run made it 22-0.

Kolbe Rasler was next to get in on the La Conner scoring act. He grabbed a tipped pass in the end zone. The ensuing two-point conversion extended the Braves’ advantage to 30-0.

When Luna scampered 36 yards for a touchdown, then added the deuce, La Conner found itself ahead 38-0.

And the second quarter had yet to begin.

When it did, things didn’t improve much for the host Lions.

Rasler capped a short La Conner scoring march with a 13-yard burst. That coupled with an Arjuna Adams PAT run, gave the Braves a 46-0 halftime cushion.

Trey Casey’s 21-yard touchdown run in the third period and a 35-yard Luna fourth quarter jaunt and two-point dash mercifully closed out the scoring.

“Our kids are playing at such an unbelievably high level right now,” Voorhees said of the Braves, who have outscored their foes by a combined 224-20 thus far this season.

There was no drop-off when Voorhees and his staff inserted reserves and younger players into the game.

“Our goal,” Voorhees insisted, “is still to get better each and every time out.”

Voorhees modestly noted that a couple La Conner touchdowns didn’t come off quite as planned.

“We got some breaks along the way,” he allowed.

One came on the deflected pass that fell toward Rasler. Another was when Luna, in spectacular fashion, turned a broken play into a long TD romp.

“The key point,” said Voorhees, “is that we played really well on both sides of the ball.”

Adams was one of 11 La Conner defenders to record tackles. He led the victors with five unassisted stops. Harley Hulbert, Cooper Zavala, and Rasler also finished with multiple tackles.

Johnson, Casey, Williams, Page, Luna, and Reese landed on the hit parade as well.

La Conner next takes a break from the usual grind to entertain Orcas in a Friday, Sept. 30 eight-man clash set for 5:30 p.m. at Whittaker Field.

Due to a thin roster this fall, Orcas is playing an eight-man schedule and forfeiting its NW2B dates.