A solid ground game supported by a potent passing attack led by quarterback Ivory Damien wasn't enough for La Conner to defeat archrival Coupeville in the Braves' Homecoming football game at Jack Whittaker Field Friday night.

Seeking its first NW2B triumph of the campaign, the team fell 43-12 to the Wolves despite a strong start that saw the Braves reel off a methodical nine-play touchdown drive on their first possession.

C.J. Edwards capped the 46-yard march, which came after holding Coupeville on downs to start the game, with a short TD blast. Edwards and Kenai Zimmerman shared the workload on a perfectly scripted series that milked nearly six minutes off the clock.

Damien would later hook up with wideout Logan Burks on a touchdown strike in the red zone off roll-out action.

Crowned the high school's Homecoming King at halftime, Damien threw well all night – though it wasn't entirely reflected on the stat sheet. He had a TD pass wiped out by penalty and another potential scoring toss dropped.

Unfortunately for the Braves (0-4 in league, 1-6 overall), Coupeville signal caller Logan Downes was also on top of his game after having sat out the previous game due to illness.

Downes made a healthy return, throwing two touchdowns to Chase Anderson and three others before halftime for a commanding 36-6 lead.

He did so despite being sacked by Chas James, Tommy Murdock and Steven Willcutt.

Bronec put an exclamation point on the visitors scoring by a fumble recovery return in the second half.

Downes' five TD passes matched his own single-game Coupeville school record. He has now thrown for 18 touchdowns on the season and 38 during his career.

La Conner ventures outside league play Friday with a home matchup against Wright Academy of Tacoma.

Boys soccer

Earlier Friday, the respective boys' soccer teams met in Coupeville.

The Wolves emerged with a 2-0 victory despite several diving saves by La Conner goalkeeper Tyler Cicotte.

Coupeville scored on an Ezra Boilek penalty kick – his team-best eight goal of the campaign – and gained an insurance goal from Nick Guay.

Wolves' keeper Hurlee Bronec preserved the shutout with a slew of stops.

"We had our chances," La Conner coach Galen McKnight said afterward, "but we just couldn't score."

For the Braves (1-6 in league action), it was the latest in a series of close, low-scoring setbacks. La Conner hopes to reverse that trend tomorrow (Thursday) with a road test at Cedar Park Christian.