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The La Conner High football team was looking to take top-ranked Napavine by storm.

But the weather got there first.

La Conner’s fast and furious attack, which hadn’t scored less than 53 points in a game all season, had trouble getting untracked on a muddy field deluged by heavy rainfall that struck Western Washington last week.

A stingy Tiger stop unit, which has helped propel Napavine atop State 2B polls, was a key factor as well.

The result was an upset bid by No. 5 La Conner that literally slipped away.

The Braves suffered a 24-14 non-league road setback, knocking La Conner from the ranks of the unbeaten.

Napavine signal caller Wyatt Stanley poured it on nearly as much as remnants from the powerful Pacific typhoon.

Stanley completed 17 of 32 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown. He also ran 12 times for 61 yards and a pair of scores.

The Braves, who attempted just nine passes in the wet conditions, relied primarily on running back Budda Luna.

It was nearly enough to saddle Napavine with its first loss of the campaign.

Luna netted 108 yards on 19 carries, reaching paydirt twice.

After his second score, La Conner trailed just 16-14 and appeared well positioned to take the lead in the waning moments.

“We had the ball with a couple minutes to go, but we fumbled,” Braves head coach Peter Voorhees lamented. “But I can’t fault the kids. They played with a lot of heart. It was just an absolute mud bowl out there. The field was in pretty rough shape. It got so sloppy that you couldn’t read the numbers on the uniforms.”

Voorhees, though, was making no excuses.

“Napavine is a tremendous team,” he stressed. “The weather restricted what both teams could do. In our case, it made us pretty one-dimensional. They weren’t able to do a lot of what they like to do, either, but it really impacted our passing game. We had trouble getting much going on first down, which left us having to go the long field quite a bit.”

Napavine mentor Josh Fay could relate.

“I felt bad for them, and I felt bad for us a little bit,” Fay told the media afterward. “The field conditions were just not conducive to their offense, or our offense. Both teams had to do things they wouldn’t normally do.”

Voorhees and Fay said it’s quite possible the two teams could face one another again, in the semifinal round of the State playoffs.

“They’ve got a good football team,” Fay said of the Braves. “They’re well-coached and it was fun to be able to play someone from that far outside our area.”

La Conner drove three hours to face the Tigers.

Again, no complaints from Voorhees.

On the contrary, his concern going forward is potentially too much idle time for the Braves, who will likely win twice by forfeit over the next three weeks.

Orcas forfeited an earlier pairing with La Conner, and will do so again. Darrington, a 75-0 loser to the Braves last month, will apparently forfeit a scheduled Oct. 21 home date with La Conner, Voorhees said Saturday.

“We’re looking at maybe having just one game the next three weeks,” Voorhees said.

That would be an Oct. 28 matchup with Concrete at Whittaker Field. La Conner blanked the Lions 60-0 when the two Skagit County rivals met in September.

Which means La Conner can’t help but look ahead to a potential post-season re-match with the Tigers, who put their unblemished slate on the line again this Friday against 6-1 Rainier.

“We’d be excited to have the chance to play Napavine again,” Voorhees confirmed. “And I’d really like our chances the next time around.”