STANWOOD – When two teams are almost mirror images of each other, something needs to stand out in order to pick up the win. Well, a few things did in this one.
They were dominance at the line of scrimmage, and the overall defensive play by the Golden Eagles, as Ferndale shut down Stanwood 28-7 at Bob Larson Stadium to bring home the WesCo 3A North Championship on Friday night.
It was all Golden Eagles early on, as they scored touchdowns on all three of their first-quarter possessions.
The first drive went 63 yards on seven plays, and ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by senior Isaiah Carlson on one of the toughest two-yard runs you will ever see.
On Stanwood’s initial possession Ferndale senior defensive end Jake Mason forced a fumble while the ball was being handed off, and it was recovered by sophomore middle linebacker Talan Bungard at the Spartan 22-yard line. Three plays later, Carlson scored on a 21-yard touchdown run.
Stanwood was then forced to punt on its next possession, and tremendous pressure put on by Bungard forced the punt to travel just five yards, and the Golden Eagles took over at the Spartan 27-yard line. Two plays later, sophomore running back Zach Nielsen followed senior pulling center Landen Hatchett, and but into the end zone for a 6-yard score.
Just like that, Ferndale was up 20-0 at the end of the first quarter. The previously unbeaten Spartans played pretty even with the Golden Eagles for the final three quarters, but the damage had already been done.
The Golden Eagles gained 329 yards for the game, all on the ground. Nielsen led with 153 yards on 18 carries, and Carlson gained 123 yards on 23 carries.
The Ferndale defense held the explosive Stanwood rushing offense to just 105 yards on 34 carries, and was led by Mason who finished with 9.5 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one quarterback sack, one blocked field goal, one forced fumble, one pass batted down and one dislocated finger.
Other standouts on defense included junior defensive tackle Camden Raymond who had 7.5 tackles and two tackles for loss, Carlson who was in on seven tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss and a pass broken up, and defensive backs Bishop Ootsey and Conner Walcker who each had an interception.
Stanwood scored it’s only touchdown in the second quarter on a short pass to Carson Beckt, who then took it 52 yards.
Ootsey finished off the scoring for the Golden Eagles with a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter. He then connected with Carlson on a jump pass for the two-point conversion.
The win for Ferndale (6-2) sets up the Wesco 3A Conference Championship game at Monroe (8-0) this Friday at 7:00.
Ferndale 28 Stanwood 7 FER 20 0 0 8 - 28 STA 0 7 0 0 - 7 FER - Carlson 2 run (Finkbonner kick) FER - Carlson 21 run (kick failed) FER - Nielsen 6 run (Finkbonner kick) STA - Beckt 52 pass from Mascotti (Mascarenas kick) FER - Ootsey 1 run (Carlson pass from Ootsey)
FER STA 52-329 Rush Att-Yards 34-105 0-2-1 Comp-Att-Int 2-8-2 0 Passing Yards 63
Individual Leaders RUSHING - FER: Nielsen 18-153, Carlson 23-123, Walcker 5-36, Ootsey 5-12, Moore 1-5. STA: N/A. PASSING - FER: Ootsey 0-2-1-0. STA: N/A. RECEIVING - FER: None. STA: N/A.
