La Conner football team wins league title

In a short season, the La Conner High football team went a long way.

All the way, in fact, to the top of league standings.

Not too bad for a group some thought would be continuing a rebuild under new head coach Jeff Scoma.

Instead, the Braves raised the roof and clinched the NW2B championship Friday night with their fourth straight win, a convincing 41-0 shutout victory as La Conner showed its mastery of the Wing-T attack Scoma brought with him from Bellevue.

With the triumph, the Braves finished the ’21 spring campaign with a 4-1 mark.

Five La Conner players rushed for touchdowns at Darrington, including senior lineman Boyce Charles. Ivory Damien intercepted two passes for a stop unit that forced six turnovers as the Braves closed out the campaign in impressive fashion.

Kali Adams ran for two TDs while Bradey Wyles, Hal Ikebe and Isaiah Adams each found the end zone once for the victors.

Scoma praised his players for how quickly they turned the program around and made sure the La Conner seniors received a proper send-off.

Make that, handoff, as each—as Charles did – was rewarded with at least one carry against the Loggers.

“Every senior got to run the ball tonight,” Scoma told the Weekly News after the game. “I’m really proud of this team. We outscored our opponents 137-26, won the conference championship and won more games in one five-game season than the last three seasons combined.”

Braves assistant coach Charlie Edwards said 14 different players received carries at Darrington.

Edwards, a longtime local youth coach, joined Scoma in praising the seniors, paying tribute to Braves fans and expressing gratitude to the La Conner community for its support during the season.

“Coaching these boys at the high school level has been so much fun,” Edwards said. “I’m glad the seniors were able to experience a winning season.”

The La Conner seniors had been part of teams that went 3-24 overall, Scoma said.

La Conner’s lone loss this spring was a 6-0 loss in overtime at Coupeville in the season opener for both teams. The Braves avenged that defeat a week later, blanking Coupeville 21-0 at Whittaker Field, the only home game on La Conner’s schedule after Friday Harbor opted out of their game due to COVID-19 outbreaks in the San Juan Islands.

The Braves showed weekly improvement, recording key wins at Concrete and Lummi prior to routing Darrington.

La Conner’s 21-6 scoring differential versus Coupeville coupled with a Wolves loss in Forks to Neah Bay – who filled the Coupeville schedule spot vacated by Friday Harbor – opened the door for La Conner to win the league championship outright.

Scoma, his staff and Braves players are hoping it is the first of more to come.