With Orcas trailing the underdog La Conner Braves at halftime 7-6, senior Michael Langworthy brought the critical game into focus for a young Viking squad, saying, “These are the kind of football games I love. This is football. Let’s go boys.”
The Orcas football squad hosted La Conner for a final league match Thursday, Nov. 4. With dreams of a second consecutive league title in their grasp, but having replaced nine starting seniors from a 2009 team that went undefeated in league, the Vikings had their hands full with a tough La Conner lineup.
Sporting an impressive 8-1 record entering the game, the Vikings still needed a win to lock up a NW/SeaTac League championship. A number one seed in the state playoffs also hung in the balance as both the Vikings and Braves faced elimination with a loss.
La Conner drove its first possession downfield, scoring just seven minutes into the game. An eight-yard touchdown pass from Connor Anderson to Garrett Wilbur provided a 7-0 lead that would hold up until just before halftime. The Vikings finally responded with a three-yard touchdown run by Junior QB Robbie Padbury with just 50 seconds left in the half. The extra point was missed and the Vikings felt fortunate to go into halftime down by just one point, 7-6.
“La Conner has a solid group of seniors that were not going to go down without a fight,” said head coach Scott Harris. “At halftime we told the boys that with just two quarters of football possibly left in the season we wanted them to leave it all out on the field.”
Despite the halftime talk the Vikings started slow in the third quarter. A fumble set the Braves up on the Orcas 25-yard line early. The Vikings defense stiffened and the Braves had to settle for a 28-yard field goal and a 10-6 lead. That is when the Orcas muscle took over. Led by a group of passionate seniors, the Vikings took control of both lines of scrimmage, resulting in a three-yard touchdown run by Michael Langworthy three seconds into the fourth quarter. The two-point conversion failed, but the Vikings had all the points they would need, as the Braves never mounted another threat.
“Defensive adjustments were critical to our second half success,” said coach Mark Padbury.
“Critical interceptions by Michael Langworthy and Robbie Padbury were also keys to the second half turnaround,” added Harris. “Langworthy’s pick resulted in the winning drive. The game came down to defense on both sides. Justin Leidecker and Michael Langworthy had 16 and 15 tackles respectively. Jacob Hansen chipped in with 14 stops. We were behind late in the third quarter when we really rode Michael. He got us tough yards during a crucial period. Their coaching staff had the kids ready for a tough defensive battle and we were fortunate to come out with the win.”
After the game, La Conner coach John Lee said, “The Orcas guys have obviously spent a lot of time in the weight room. It really paid off for them. It was clear that they wore us down. I’m really proud of our guys for giving their best possible effort. Orcas was just a better team today.”
The Vikings will begin state playoffs with a game against Southwest Washington powerhouse Morton-White Pass on Saturday, Nov. 13, played at Oak Harbor High School at 1 p.m.
