FERNDALE – The Spartans scored a touchdown with 17 seconds left in the game to break the tie as they ended up defeating Ferndale 14-7 on Friday night.
The Golden Eagles looked sharp early, and scored a touchdown on a double-handoff that covered 40 yards on the ground by senior wingback Eli Kennerley, and Ferndale led 7-0 just minutes into the contest.
After forcing a punt, the Golden Eagles took possession once again, but fumbled the ball away. The Ferndale defense kept forcing punts, but the Golden Eagle offense kept turning the ball over, with a second fumble and an interception in the red zone late in the first half.
The Spartans took advantage of the third turnover, and connected on a 49-yard pass to get past midfield, which ended up as their longest play of the game.
Stanwood then drove all the way to the Golden Eagle 7-yard line, but then lost 15 yards when senior defensive end Talan Bungard sacked the quarterback.
The fortunes swung back towards the Spartans on the very next play when a 22-yard pass into the end zone found a receiver, and the score was tied 7-7 at halftime.
Most of the second half was played between the 30-yard lines with multiple punts going back and forth, and when senior cornerback Israel Kennerley dove in front of the Stanwood receiver to intercept the ball right in front of the Ferndale sideline, it gave the Golden Eagles new hope with 2:10 left in the game.
A first down run by Bungard followed, but the Ferndale drive stalled and the Golden Eagles were forced to punt back to Stanwood.
Bungard finished with a team-high 99 yards on 15 carries.
The Spartans now had the ball at their own 48-yard line with 56 seconds left in the game.
The Stanwood quarterback was able to pick up multiple first downs on scramble runs, but after a holding penalty and an incomplete pass, the Spartans were looking at a 2nd-and-20 on the Ferndale 40-yard line with 27 seconds left in the game. That was when the Stanwood quarterback looked to scramble once again, and by doing so he forced some Golden Eagle defenders to step up, which allowed the Spartan signal caller to loft the pass over the defense and into his receiver’s hands for the eventual game-winning touchdown.
Ferndale senior linebacker Jacob Gandy led his team with 13 tackles, three tackles for loss and a pass deflected. He also rushed for 64 yards on 14 carries, due to senior running back Zach Nielsen unable to play due to injury.
The Golden Eagles (2-3) will attempt to get back in the win column on Friday at Snohomish (0-5) when they take on the Panthers at 7:00.
Stanwood 14 Ferndale 7 STN 0 7 0 7 - 14 FER 7 0 0 0 - 7 FER - E. Kennerley 40 run (Thomas kick) STN - 22 yard touchdown pass (kick good) STN - 40 yard touchdown pass (kick good) STN FER 44-189 Rush Att-Yards 39-220 6-17-1 Comp-Att-Int 2-7-1 129 Passing Yards 12 Individual Leaders RUSHING - STN: N/A. FER: Bungard 15-99, Gandy 14-64, E. Kennerley 5-48, Boleak 4-11, Stanek 1-(-2). PASSING - STN: N/A. FER: Boleak 2-7-1-12. RECEIVING - STN: N/A. FER: Gandy 1-6, I. Kennerley 1-6.
