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After sustaining heavy graduation losses from its NW2B football title team, La Conner High School will likely sport a youthful lineup this fall.

It only made sense, then, that the school district would tap someone with past success developing young talent to succeed championship coach Jeff Scoma at the Braves helm when the season kicks off in a few weeks.

Charlie Edwards, a longtime local youth sports coach and member of the Braves staff this past spring, has been promoted to fill the head coaching vacancy created when Scoma left La Conner in June to lead the grid program at 3A Stanwood.

A La Conner alum, Edwards is quite familiar with the roster he inherits from Scoma.

“It’s an amazing opportunity,” Edwards told the Weekly News on Sunday, “to coach boys that I have coached since they were all in peewee football.”

Edwards is now in the process of rounding out his coaching staff ahead of a much-anticipated return to fall football.

The Braves and other NW2B teams were limited last school year to a conference-only spring football schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. La Conner won four of five starts under Scoma to secure the league crown, with Edwards responsible in large measure for helping rally a ball-hawking Braves stop unit.

Forcing turnovers was a key factor as La Conner won four straight games by double digits after a season opening 6-0 overtime setback at Coupeville.

“I try to predict our takeaways every game,” Edwards said during the midst of La Conner’s winning streak. “Usually, the boys exceed my expectations.”

Scoma was among those who have reached out to offer congratulations to Edwards for having been elevated to the head coaching position. Nearly 200 people have done so on social media alone.

Edwards, however, is hoping to deflect attention from himself, preferring instead that the focus be on his players and the program in general.

“I really don’t want it to be about me,” said Edwards. “I can say I’m completely humbled by the community love and support both before and after getting the offer to be the high school head coach.”

Edwards will likely retain much of the system Scoma developed during his single season in La Conner. He repeatedly praised Scoma during the team’s league championship run, most notably for implementing new blocking schemes prior to the Braves’ two-score victory over Coupeville in a second week rematch at Whittaker Field.

Edwards has been a tireless ambassador for La Conner youth sports for many years. In that role, he befriended the late Nesby Glasgow, who had been a star player for the University of Washington and Seattle Seahawks, arranging for the ex-Husky and former NFL standout to address La Conner players and coaches here on numerous occasions.

Edwards vows to continue that level of commitment at the high school level.

“I’m hoping to be a long-term coach,” he said, “who brings stability and wins to the program.”