Full deck: Braves avoid crazy eights with team scrimmage

The fast and furious La Conner Braves finally met a stop unit able to make them step on the brakes.

At least temporarily.

It was unbeaten La Conner’s own defense, so no hard feel-ings.

Just hard hitting.

La Conner, which has outscored foes in four lopsided early season grid triumphs, held a Blue-White scrimmage Friday when a previously scheduled eight-man exhibition with NW2B rival Orcas fell through.

Judging from the intensity at Whittaker Field, there was no letdown.

Quite the opposite, actually.

“The kids were pretty excited about it,” Braves’ head coach Peter Voorhees said afterward. “We played short eight-minute quarters, but they definitely got their work in.”

Then, it was time for some homework.

A Saturday morning film study reaped further benefits, said Voorhees, whose team resumes league home action this Friday, Oct. 7 at 6:30 p.m. opposite Friday Harbor.

“We got a lot of good feedback,” he said. “When our players watched the film, they saw what they need to work on to get better. It’s a matter of trying to improve each time out. That can seem like an abstract concept at times, but our guys get it.

“The big thing,” he added, “is they have an appreciation for the sport and what it takes to be successful.”

Voorhees and his staff gave the entire roster — offense, defense, and special teams — the opportunity to be successful with how they designed the scrimmage, a full 11-on-11 tilt in contrast to the eight-man framework that would have been in place for shorthanded Orcas.

“We really tried to balance things,” he explained. “We tried to make the sides as even as possible. There were a couple times where we had guys playing out of position, but not too much.

“We put freshmen next to seniors,” he added. “In football, chemistry is so important. There has to be great trust in the guy next to you to do his job so you can do your job. It’s absolutely important to develop that trust.”

Thus far, no one on La Conner’s schedule has emerged as a trust-buster.

The Braves monopolized scoring in a 75-0 rout of Darrington last month.

Ditto a more recent 60-0 romp at Concrete.

When Corbin Silk wheeled into the end zone from 10 yards out, deftly handling a lateral from Budda Luna, the floodgates in Concrete were opened early and often.

La Conner scored 38 points in the first period alone.

The final score could have been far worse, had a running clock not been employed much of the game.

This week’s opponent, Friday Harbor, fell to La Conner 56-14 in their first meeting, on the island.

The Wolverines are coming off a 26-19 loss to Concrete a week ago.

Voorhees is confident his players won’t be looking past Friday Harbor to a big Oct. 4 non-league test at Napavine.

“These guys,” he said, “are real good about taking care of the task at hand.”

And Job One at the moment is completing a season sweep of Friday Harbor.

Napavine will appear at the top of the La Conner to-do list soon enough.