BLAINE – When I asked Ferndale sophomore Zach Nielsen back in August what his favorite part about playing football was, his response was simple. He smiled and said, “Scoring touchdowns.”
After scoring numerous touchdowns in his youth football days, he was able to score his first and second varsity touchdowns on Saturday night which helped the Golden Eagles cruise to a 47-6 conference win over Oak Harbor.
His touchdowns came just one minute and 20 seconds apart from each other, in game time, as part of a huge 34-point second quarter output by Ferndale.
His first on a strong 7-yard run, and his second on a 49-yard interception return.
Senior running back Isaiah Carlson scored the first two touchdowns of the game, both on short runs. He also scored on the first play of the third quarter, a 51-yarder. After that play him and the rest of the starters enjoyed the rest of the game from the sidelines. He finished with a game-high 121 yards on just 11 carries.
Nielsen wasn’t the only sophomore to score his first varsity touchdowns, as fullback Talan Bungard took his first handoff of the game 43 yards up the middle for a touchdown. He also covered 57 yards on a score after catching a pass from junior quarterback Bishop Ootsey near the end of the first half.
Senior standouts Jake Mason and Landen Hatchett were extremely disruptive as defensive ends throughout the first half. Mason finished with seven tackles, two quarterback sacks and two tackles for loss, and Hatchett added 1.5 tackles for loss and he swatted a pass at the line of scrimmage.
The Golden Eagles (1-1) will travel to Seattle’s Lumen Field on Saturday to take on Glacier Peak (2-0) at 2:20.
Ferndale 47 Oak Harbor 6 OH 0 0 6 0 - 6 FER 7 34 6 0 - 47 FER - Carlson 4 run (Finkbonner kick) FER - Carlson 1 run (Finkbonner kick) FER - Nielsen 7 run (Finkbonner kick) FER - Nielsen 49 interception return (Finkbonner kick) FER - Bungard 43 run (Finkbonner kick) FER - Bungard 57 pass from Ootsey (kick failed) FER - Carlson 51 run (kick blocked) OH - Finley 1 run (run failed) OH FER 19-36 Rush Att-Yards 44-278 11-30-1 Comp-Att-Int 2-3-0 109 Passing Yards 124 Individual Leaders RUSHING - OH: N/A. FER: Carlson 11-121, Bungard 2-45, Atwood 7-38, Finkbonner 6-26, Nowak 6-24, Walcker 1-15, Nielsen 3-8, Gandy 4-8, Melendez 2-6, Dobbins 1-0, Ootsey 1-(-13). PASSING - OH: N/A. FER: Walcker 1-2-0-67, Ootsey 1-1-0-57. RECEIVING - OH: N/A. FER: Toney 1-67, Bungard 1-57.
