Braves fall to Coupeville 6-0 in OT in grid opener

The La Conner and Coupeville high school football teams worked overtime Saturday night, but it was the host Wolves who cashed in with a hard fought 6-0 NW2B triumph in the season debut for both programs.

Coupeville running back Ben Smith, who had been bottled up much of the contest by a stout La Conner defensive unit, scored the game’s lone touchdown with a one-yard blast to cap the Wolves’ sole possession of the extra session.

The Braves, who had avoided key mistakes in regulation running out of their new Wing-T formation, fumbled on La Conner’s only snap in overtime.

That turned the ball over to Coupeville, which ran Smith on four straight plays for the win. He gained four yards on his first carry in OT, then reeled off a pair of 10-yard pickups to set up the game clincher.

“We will do better,” new La Conner head coach Jeff Scoma said afterward.

But it will be hard for the Braves defense to improve on the standard set at Coupeville.

Zeb Joe, Boyce Charles, Mason Murdock, Thomas Jewell, Luke Marble, Cole Hagen and Alden Schnabel recorded big stops for a La Conner defense that bent but didn’t break and forced crucial turnovers through four quarters.

As the score indicates, La Conner had few explosive plays on offense. But the Braves did manage to control the clock much of the night, thus keeping the ball away from Smith for extended minutes.

La Conner’s best opportunity came in the fourth quarter when Hagen intercepted a pass and brought the ball into Wolves territory. But a La Conner penalty pushed the Braves back to the Coupeville 45-yard line and the threat stalled there.

Marble, meanwhile, stymied a Coupeville drive at the start of the fourth period with an interception and return to the La Conner 19. That possession fizzled, however, despite nice gains by Schnabel and Marble and the Braves were forced to punt.

Coupeville had the ball on the La Conner side of the 50 as time wound down in regulation. With two seconds to play, the Wolves lined up for a 55-yard field goal attempt. Scoma responded with a time out and Coupeville switched strategy, opting for a pass attempt that failed.

Momentum changed with the coin flip for overtime. Coupeville won the toss and deferred possession to La Conner. When the Braves fumbled and Coupeville recovered, the Wolves were set up nicely. They could have won merely with a short field goal.

But Smith, who saved his best for last, had other ideas with four productive carries from the 25.

La Conner (0-1) was scheduled to host Friday Harbor April 16, but that game has been cancelled with Wolverine athletics on hold following a recent outbreak of COVID-19 in the San Juan Island School District.

The Braves are next slated at Concrete April 23 in a 7 p.m. kickoff.

In a related Braves sports note:

• The La Conner boys’ soccer team blanked Cedar Park Christian 2-0 in Lynnwood on Wednesday behind a pair of goals from Thomas Kitchen. Cameron Burks assisted on one of Kitchen’s scores. Christian Fix fed Kitchen for the other. The Braves entertain Grace Academy tomorrow (Thursday) at 4 p.m.