Braves post mixed results on Olympic Peninsula trip

La Conner teams came away from an all-day trip to the Olympic Peninsula with a tie and two close, hard-fought defeats in non-conference sports action on Saturday.

Freshman Kiana Jenkins scored La Conner’s lone soccer goal to salvage a 1-1 draw at 1A Forks in a back-and-forth matinee battle with the Spartans.

With the tie, the Braves’ season mark moved to 3-2-1 going into Tuesday’s non-league home match with 1A Sultan.

La Conner was 0-1 in NW2B/1B play entering the week after falling 4-1 in a conference test at Friday Harbor on Oct. 1. Coach Maddie Huscher’s charges entertain Mount Vernon Christian at 4 p.m. Friday at Whittaker Field.

The Braves football team came up just short in a wild eight-man afternoon grid shootout with Crescent High School in Joyce, about 15 miles west of Port Angeles.

The host Loggers improved to 3-2 by posting a 56-50 comeback win over La Conner, whose young lineup had overcome a double-digit deficit at the break to briefly seize the lead in the fourth quarter.

“After that second half, I think our players believe in themselves,” Braves head coach Charlie Edwards told the Weekly News. “We coaches really wanted that win so bad for these boys.”

La Conner quarterback C.J. Edwards had a hand in most of the Braves’ scoring plays. He ran for four touchdowns, threw two scoring tosses, rushed for three two-point conversions and completed another deuce to Jimbo Bobb.

Edwards reeled off touchdown runs of 35 and 85 yards and dashed in twice from five yards out. Receivers Duron Clark and Jaydin Clark each reeled in an Edwards TD pass.

The Braves (1-3), who are playing an independent schedule this fall, return to Whittaker Field at 2 p.m. Oct. 12 for a pairing with Waterville/Mansfield, a 48-6 victor over Bridgeport last weekend.

The La Conner volleyball team was edged 3-1 at Forks on Saturday in a non-league match that featured extended fourth and fifth sets. Forks (5-3) prevailed 25-19, 23-25, 26-24, 26-24.

La Conner (7-5) was led by Maeve McCormick (9) and Abi Poulton (7) who combined for 16 kills. McCormick also delivered six service aces. Addison Keller (5), Aaliyah Gonzalez (4), Addison Wigal (2), Reese Bird (1) and Nora McCormick (1) also served aces.

Nora McCormick and Bird finished with 13 and 12 assists, respectively.

The Braves faced Mount Vernon Christian in a late Tuesday contest at Landy James Gym and visit Darrington at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. La Conner welcomes 1B Neah Bay at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in a key afternoon non-league home match.