Sports - Sports News

POSTED: Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009

PREP FOOTBALL: Ferndale sticks to rushing game in win over Stanwood

STANWOOD - With 33 mph wind gusts, Stanwood's defense knew Ferndale would stick to the ground.

However, that knowledge still didn't prevent Ferndale from accumulating 293 rushing yards on 52 carries in Ferndale's 24-0 victory in Stanwood on Friday, Oct. 23.

"We'll take it in these tough conditions," head coach Jamie Plenkovich said. "You had to account for the wind factor and run the ball. Fortunately we were able to sustain drives."

Brandon Maarhuis helped sustain his share of drives with 101 yards on 11 carries. He also ended a promising drive for Stanwood by forcing a fumble as the Spartans threatened to score in the waning seconds of the first half.

He speared the ball out of the Stanwood running back's hands five yards in the backfield on a blitz, giving Ferndale the ball with 14 seconds to play.

"It felt good to come out and play hard and tackle because we practiced without pads all week," said Maarhuis, who helped lead a defense that forced five fumbles and recovered three.

Maarhuis's forced fumble passed the torch to kicker Jake Dunn to try to end the half with a field goal.

With the wind howling at his back, Dunn booted a 48-yarder that would have been good from 55 yards out. The field goal put Ferndale up by 17 going into the locker room. It was the longest Plenkovich has seen from a Golden Eagle since becoming head coach six years ago.

"The wind helped me go 100 percent on kicks," Dunn said. "You had to battle it going the other way though."

The wind was strong enough to bend punts backward in midair, create a carpet of leaves on the field and knock over a member of the color guard during the national anthem.

But, despite the blustery conditions Ferndale was able to dominate on both sides of the ball. Before the second half ended, the Golden Eagles were able to rack up eight first downs and 14 points while leaving Stanwood with a goose egg.

The two touchdowns came on short runs by running backs Matt Reynolds and Tanner Dawson in the first and second quarters, respectively.

Maarhuis capped off the scoring in the third quarter with a 5-yard run, which was set up by his own 62-yard rush earlier in the drive.

The shutout win gives Ferndale its fourth consecutive victory and plenty of momentum heading into next week's regular season finale against Mount Vernon. The finale also happens to be Ferndale's second of two state playoff seeding games.

"We're on a roll and we have a big game next week in Mount Vernon," Plenkovich said. "They're a very good team with a lot of offensive weapons."

Ferndale 7 10 0 7- 24

Stanwood 0 0 0 0- 0

First Quarter

Fern - Matt Reynolds 2 run (Jake Dunn kick)

Second Quarter

Fern - Tanner Dawson 3 run (Dunn kick)

Fern - Dunn 48 kick

Fourth Quarter

Fern - Brandon Maarhuis 5 fun (Dunn kick)

Fern. Stan.

First downs 12 7

Rushing Att-Yards 52-293 31-201

Comp-Att-Int 2-7-1 0-6-0

Passing yards 26 0

Penalties-yards 2-10 3-44

Fumbles-lost 3-2 5-3

Individual leaders

RUSHING - Ferndale: Willy Scott 11-57, Matt Reynolds 10-42, Jacob Frost 11-64, Tanner Dawson 9-29, Brandon Maarhuis 11-101. Stanwood: Brad Gee 7-23, Michael McCune 6-83, Clint Hepper 1-(-1), Ryan Schroyer 4-11, Evan Olson 2-(-9), Ben Ulrich 8-77, Josh James 3-17

PASSING - Ferndale: Jacob Frost 2-7-1-26. Stanwood: McCune 0-3-0-0, Josh James 0-3-0-0

RECEIVING - Ferndale: Jeff Frost 2-26