No. 8 Anacortes throttles No. 6 Sedro-Woolley to solidify itself in 2A Northwest Conference

SEDRO-WOOLLEY, Wash. - Anacortes High School football is back.

The Seahawks left no doubt Friday night that they're a contender not just in the 2A Northwest Conference, but in the state with a 42-20 win over Sedro-Woolley.

It was Anacortes' first win over Sedro-Woolley since 2007.

"They've got a big, strong line and they're well coached," Anacortes coach Justin Portz said of Sedro-Woolley. "We just thought we've got to stop the run and see what else they do and force them out of what they wanted to do."

Anacortes used big play after big play to force the Cubs out of their game plan.

The Cubs and Seahawks played a little bit of back-and-forth ball until Anacortes found its stride on both sides of the ball. 

Sophomore Brady Beaner put the Seahawks out in front first with a 65-yard catch and run from junior Rex Larson.

The two-point conversion failed and the Cubs took the lead at 7-6 on a Carsten Reynolds 4-yard quarterback keeper.

Anacortes retook the lead on another long touchdown pass when Larson connected with senior Hayden John for a 50-yard score.

The Seahawks didn't spend much time in the red zone in the first half thanks to the offense putting together multiple scoring plays of 50-plus yards.

"It's just having special players and coaches that coach great schemes and things like that," Portz said. "We have playmakers and it makes my job easy. Just put the ball in their hands and let them be athletes."

The Seahawks took the lead for good on a 70-yard touchdown run from Beaner in the second quarter.

Beaner's twin brother, Brock, scored two Seahawks' touchdowns and Brady scored another en route to Anacortes' win.

Given where the Anacortes program was in 2019 not fielding a team and playing an independent schedule the following two seasons, this win shows the Seahawks they can hang with the best.

"Coming into this week we thought we could, but we weren't sure and now, I think we have some confidence," Portz said.

At the end of the third quarter, the Anacortes student section had started a, "We want Lynden" chant that stuck around through the end of the game.

"I don't know necessarily that we need to be yelling out we want Lynden – we know what Lynden is all about," Portz said. "It's exciting to at least be in a position where we feel like we can play with a team like Lynden. Four years ago it would have been a joke."

Anacortes' date with Lynden is set for Oct. 28 in Anacortes and could very well be for the league championship.