Pomeroy gives Braves a rude welcome to 8-man football

La Conner High School was already behind the eight-ball when the Braves headed to the Yakima Valley Friday to open its first full eight-man football schedule.

That’s because the Pomeroy Pirates, La Conner’s Sept. 6 foe, was coming off a 9-2 campaign in 2023 during which the southeast Washington eight-man grid power posted beatdown wins of 90-0 over Tekoa-Rosalia and 76-0 against Dayton.

The Pirates resumed their swashbuckling offensive style in the ’24 debut for both clubs, recording a 64-24 victory on a neutral site chosen to split travel time for the two teams.

Pomeroy’s team speed was a factor in the game, played on the same regular-sized field as 11-man programs use.

“It was more of an open field for them than us,” La Conner head coach Charlie Edwards noted afterward.

Even so, La Conner, which finished 2-6 a year ago, returned from the 500-mile round trip with some highlight reel material.

Braves quarterback C.J. Edwards completed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Brent Bobb and connected on two-point conversion tosses to Charlie Jackson, Landon Stevens and Marlon Edwards.

Freshmen Xavier Keo and Yandel Gonzales-Rojas each reeled off long TD runs for the Braves, with Keo busting his scoring jaunt for 65 yards and Gonzales-Rojas finding paydirt from 61 yards out.

“Everyone had a positive moment,” coach Edwards said.

In addition to facing a quality foe well-versed in the eight-man game, La Conner had other obstacles as well.

“Playing in 95-degree weather on a turf field after a four-hour drive, our boys did well for our first live action of the season,” the coach said.

The Braves enjoyed solid fan support when they met Pomeroy “halfway” in Yakima.

“We had fans who made the long drive,” Edwards gushed. “You’ve got to love La Conner fans.”

Pomeroy, located 35 miles west of Lewiston, Idaho, traveled two-and-a-half hours to meet the Braves.

Pomeroy set the tone early with 38 unanswered points in the first quarter and a 50-16 lead at halftime.

Jeff Slusser paced the victors with 192 yards rushing on seven carries and was four-of-seven passing for 89 yards and three scores.

Kyzer Herres added 74 rushing yards and one touchdown and Rory McKeirnan contributed a 7-yard TD jaunt for the winners.

Pirates head coach Kyle Kimble in remarks to the media afterward praised C.J. Edwards and Braves running backs for their elusiveness.

“We struggled a little tackling today,” Kimble said.

The Braves will regroup to face Vashon Island in their home opener at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13, at Whittaker Field. Vashon finished 1-8 last year.

“We know some things we need to work on to get ready for Vashon Island,” coach Edwards told the Weekly News.