Braves blast Concrete in key football road test

The La Conner High football team hit the ground running at Concrete Friday night.

Operating out of their new Wing-T set, the Braves topped 300 yards rushing and saw four different players score touchdowns as La Conner posted a convincing 48-14 NW2B triumph in the Lions’ Den.

Hal Ikebe paced the Braves with three TDs. Cole Hagen found paydirt twice and Kali Adams and Alden Schnabel each recorded a touchdown for La Conner, which improved to 2-1 on the campaign.

“It was a total team win,” first-year Braves head coach Jeff Scoma told the Weekly News afterward.

Scoma praised the yeoman work upfront of offensive linemen Mason Murdock, Jahrel Cayou, Zeb Joe, Boyce Charles and Scott Cayou.

“They opened up some big holes for us,” he said.

La Conner’s ground game allowed the Braves to repeatedly move the chains, control the clock and keep Concrete’s offense off the field.

Defensively, La Conner held Concrete scoreless in the second half. The physical Braves also sidelined a half dozen Lions, including quarterback Owen Aamot who went down with an ankle injury after having completed nine of 18 passes, one for a touchdown.

La Conner assistant coach Charlie Edwards echoed Scoma in terms of identifying the keys to the game.

“It was a great team effort,” said Edwards. “We took a few punches early and came back stronger in the second half.”

The two teams were tied 14-14 at the break with Concrete appearing to have gained momentum with a pair of touchdowns after being down two scores early.

That clearly was not the case. La Conner, as Edwards said, saved their best for last.

As a team, La Conner ran for six TDs and netted 370 yards rushing on 35 attempts, an average better than 10 yards per carry. Individually, both Ikebe and Hagen topped the 100-yard mark.

Braves signal caller Bradey Wyles also got in on the act. He hooked up with Schnabel on a 25-yard scoring toss.

Wyles likewise made his presence felt on the defensive side with a pass interception.

La Conner was coming off a two-game split with Coupeville. The Braves lost 6-0 in their season opener before blanking the Wolves 21-0 in the rematch at Whittaker Field a week later. That was La Conner’s first over Coupeville in five years.

It was a similar script for the Braves at Concrete.

“We hadn’t beaten them in five years,” Scoma said of the Lions. “Same as Coupeville.”

That wasn’t lost on La Conner fans.

“When you live in a small town,” La Conner alum Tom Zimmerman said in a social media post on Saturday, “supporting youth sports is something you do. You take the good with the bad. Going to Concrete is usually on the bad side. They’ve had our number for years.

“Last night,” he said, “was not to be and I was there to root them on. I’m sure their quarterback will be seeing the Murdock and Charles boys in his sleep.”

The Braves go for their third straight victory of the modified 2021 spring season at Lummi tomorrow (Thursday) in a 6 p.m. kickoff. La Conner closes out its schedule May 7 (6 p.m.) at Darrington.