Sports - High Schools

POSTED: Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008

PREP FOOTBALL: Golden Eagles edge Cubs in Class 3A opener

BRADY HENDERSON

FOR THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

SEDRO-WOOLLEY - After six blowout victories to start the season, Ferndale proved it can grind out a win as well.

The Golden Eagles rebounded after a sloppy first half to beat host Sedro-Woolley 27-7 in their first Northwest Conference Class 3A game of the season on Friday, Oct. 17.

Jordan Finkbonner's 21-yard touchdown run on the opening drive gave the Golden Eagles (7-0, 5-0, 1-0) a 7-0 lead, but three penalties and two fumbles would later stall the Ferndale offense. Ferndale's 7-0 halftime lead marked the team's lowest first-half output of the season.

"I don't think there was any panic in our guys," Ferndale coach Jamie Plenkovich said. "That's good for us. We need to face those situations."

After sacking Casey Locker twice and keeping the elusive quarterback contained for two quarters, the rush of Sedro-Woolley (3-4, 2-3, 0-1) waned.

Jordan Crim's interception on the opening drive of the third quarter gave the Golden Eagles the ball at their own 33. After a holding penalty, Locker turned a would-be sack into a 73-yard touchdown run.

"All week long we preached that we don't want to give up the big play, and we let Locker out of the gate a few times," Sedro-Woolley coach Bryan Alexander said.

Crim added a 5-yard touchdown run on Ferndale's next possession.

Locker finished with 138 yards on the ground and added 34 through the air, completing 4 of 8 passes and playing the entire game. His interception of Sedro-Woolley quarterback Derek Garcia in the fourth quarter set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Spencer Hannah, giving Ferndale all the offense it needed.

"It felt good to be (in the game) in the fourth quarter," Locker said. "I was pretty tired. You can't really simulate that in practice."

Garcia put the Cubs on the board with 1 minute, 31 seconds left in the game with his 10th rushing touchdown of the season. He finished with 74 yards on the ground and was 10 of 23 passing for 99 yards and two interceptions.

Despite the loss, Alexander took solace in holding Ferndale to less than 30 points for the first time all season.

"We knew we could hang with them," Alexander said. "We fought pretty hard the whole game. We made a couple mistakes at pretty crucial times and that hurt us."

SCHEDULE UPDATE

The Golden Eagles will be able to keep both their remaining regular-season home games in Whatcom County.

Earlier this week, the school was forced to temporarily close Ferndale's Memorial Stadium after an inspection found significant rot in a glue-laminated beam that provides lateral support to the covered stands at the stadium.

With the closure, the Golden Eagles now will host Stanwood on Friday, Oct. 24, at Blaine High School in a 7 p.m. game.

Ferndale's Oct. 30 game against Mount Vernon will be played at Civic Stadium at a time to be determined - most likely either 5 or 7 p.m., athletic director Vic Randall said in a phone interview.

Tickets for both games will be available for purchase at the Ferndale ASB office on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Randall said engineers have further inspected the rot damage at the stadium and are compiling a report detailing the cost to repair the beam.