Wolverines, weather combine to blow out Braves

They say it is an ill wind that blows no good.

If that’s the case, conditions at Whittaker Field Friday were plenty bad as heavy rain, fierce winds and a partial power outage made for an uncomfortable night of high school football.

And that was just in the stands.

Down on the field, a young La Conner High football team suffered a 61-0 blowout loss to perennial NW2B title contender Friday Harbor.

The Wolverines (1-2), who opted out of last spring’s modified grid season due to a COVID-19 surge in the San Juan Islands, stormed past a La Conner squad in rebuilding mode following heavy graduation losses in June.

“I know we’re young,” first-year Braves head coach Charlie Edwards, a La Conner alum, lamented afterward, “but I have seen what we’re capable of on certain plays. We just need to build consistency.

“We had some bright spots on a few plays that worked,” he added. “We just need to turn that into a few drives that work and learn to be more physical.

“But it’s really hard to teach physicality in practice,” Edwards noted, “when you only have 18 players.”

A thin roster, said Edwards, makes it next to impossible to scrimmage 11-on-11 in practice.

“But I need to find a way,” he said.

With its superior size and depth, Friday Harbor was able to impose its will in the trenches, an area Edwards and his staff will address going into La Conner’s NW2B road test at Coupeville 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24.

“We will work hard on the line,” Edwards said, “on both sides of the ball.”

La Conner split a two-game home-and-away series with Coupeville last spring. The Braves lost 6-0 at Coupeville before rebounding a week later to blank the Wolves 21-0 at Whittaker Field, the first of four straight wins leading to a conference championship.

Coupeville, Friday Harbor and La Conner are the only NW2B schools competing in football this fall.

“With only three teams in our league,” said Edwards, “each meeting is important.”