Braves beat Tacoma handily in finale

The La Conner High School football team saved its best for last, closing out the campaign with a convincing 26-13 non-league victory over Annie Wright Academy of Tacoma on Senior Night at Whittaker Field last Friday.

Versatile junior C.J. Edwards paced the La Conner attack – doing damage as a runner, passer and receiver – while the Braves stop unit forced Gator freshman quarterback Charlie Finch to flee the pocket much of the night, often resulting in tackles for loss.

Edwards rushed for two scores, reeled in two touchdown passes from Ivory Damien and threw a two-point conversion pass to Tommy Murdock.

“It’s sad to see the season end,” La Conner coach Charlie Edwards told the Weekly News afterward, “but I’m happy for the seniors and the team,that they went out with a win.”

La Conner won the game much as it had in an earlier triumph over Mabton – by controlling the line of scrimmage with a ground-and-pound attack featuring Edwards and Kenai Zimmerman.

Zimmerman set the tone running between the tackles, often adding yards after contact and Edwards recorded long gains with nifty cutbacks and by getting to the edge.

Damien, meanwhile, kept the Gators off-balance with designed scrambles and roll-out passes to Edwards, Logan Burks and Brent Bobb.

Coach Edwards and his staff praised the defense for keeping a big-play Annie Wright offense in check.

“It was a solid defensive game from the entire team,” Edwards said, citing Chas James, Marlon Edwards, Isaiah Miller, Damien and Murdock for their ability to fight off blocks and make plays.

The visitors, however, kept within striking distance thanks to Finch’s ability to throw long and power running by sophomore Eli Weir.

“They had good athletes,” Braves’ assistant coach Aaron Reinstra said. “We were in good position on the couple of long passes they completed but they were still able to come down with the ball.”

Wil James, another La Conner assistant, agreed.

“During pregame warmups,” said James, “they didn’t drop a pass. They probably would’ve thrown more except they had trouble protecting their quarterback against our pass rush.”

Assistant John Agen said a key factor was the run game that put together time-consuming marches and kept the Gator offense off the field for extended periods.

“It was great to get that kind of sustained drive,” Agen, who quarterbacked the 1973 La Conner team that went undefeated in regular season play and reached the state playoffs, said of the early series that was capped by Edwards’ first TD blast.

The mood for home team fans was festive throughout the evening.

In addition to senior recognition ceremonies prior to kickoff, there was a heartfelt halftime tribute honoring retiring La Conner cheerleading coach Theresa James that lauded her tireless devotion to local youth.

The Braves finished with a 2-6 record, splitting their final four games.