Led by punishing defense, Ferndale ends Lynden’s state-leading two-year win streak at 24
Ferndale hits so hard and with such obvious enthusiasm that the Golden Eagles seem to have a solid shot at a repeat state playoff berth.
Lynden’s state-leading win streak is over at 24, but the Lions gave every indication they may have the talent to experience a case of football “déjà vu all over again,” as the classic redundancy goes.
Both teams have a lot to build on in the wake of Ferndale’s season-opening 17-14 non-league win before an enthralled overflow crowd at Rollie DeKoster Field Friday night.
Two years ago, on the same turf, Ferndale’s 35-25 win did not discourage the Lions from developing well enough to earn the first of two consecutive Class 2A championships.
“That’s how it went,” Lynden coach Blake Van Dalen said. “I’m just glad we came out of this game healthy. Ferndale out-performed us and they hit harder. They deserved to win tonight.”
Ferndale coach Jamie Plenkovich agreed.
“We played a heck of a game,” the veteran coach said. “Our defense was outstanding and we didn’t have a turnover.”
Lynden had no turnovers either in a classy version of the classic rivalry. Just five penalties were called in all.
What Ferndale also had was an ultra-intense showing by 215-pound junior running back Talan Bungard, who battered and bruised his way to a game-high 140 yards rushing on 30 carries along with three catches for 25 yards.
“We just live to beat Lynden,” said Bungard, who scored on a perfectly thrown 7-yard pass from returning senior quarterback Bishop Ootsey in the first quarter, capping a nine-play, 61-yard drive. Bungard also scored on a 3-yard run, ending an 11-play, 62-yard thrust for a 14-7 lead late in the third quarter. “I loved carrying the ball 30 times.”
‘This means everything to us,” said all-league offensive lineman Camden Raymond, a 280-pound senior leader who in one year went from being the least experienced blocker on the front wall to being the most experienced.
“Isn’t that weird? That’s crazy,” Raymond said with a grin seemingly as wide as some of the holes he opened for Bungard. The other starting linemen are seniors Kellan Lafave and William Poast, juniors Wyatt Strait and tight end Lincoln Thomas, and sophomore Kulshan LaValley.
Ferndale’s bruising defense ultimately made the difference, since the Golden Eagles limited the Lions to only 13 rushes for 37 yards.
Junior quarterback Brant Heppner — learning to work with a new crew of starting receivers and their backups at Lynden — threw two scoring passes. He passed 28 yards to fleet freshman Daniel Bowler with 55 seconds left in the first half for a 7-7 tie with his first high school score, and 17 yards to senior tight end Isaiah Oudman for his second career score.
On Lynden’s final series, the 6-foot-6 Heppner looked like his 2022 self, completing five of six passes on a 75-yard drive, including an 18-yarder to Bowler, a 12-yarder to Oudman, a 19-yarder to Cooper Moore, a 9-yarder to Bowler and the 17-yard scoring strike to Oudman with 1:14 to play.
Fittingly, Bungard snatched Lynden’s onside kick to clinch the victory.
Freshman kicker/punter Malachi Koenen — who is learning his art as the son of former NFL booter Michael Koenen — made both extra points for Lynden and averaged 40.5 yards on four punts.
Returning kicker Phoenyx Finkbonner — now also a running back capable of gaining 34 yards on eight carries against Lynden — gave Ferndale a 17-7 lead with a 31-yard field goal with 2:39 to play after booting both extra points. That made up for a miss from 26 yards on the Eagles’ previous series.
Ootsey, looking every bit the veteran leader he is, ran and passed for 115 yards. He rushed eight times for 51 yards and completed six of nine passes for 64 yards, including an outstanding hookup for 37 yards to standout receiver Conner Walcker
For Lynden, Bowler caught three passes for 55 yards and Moore grabbed four for 53 as Heppner wound up 10 for 25 for 158 yards with no interceptions.
Senior linebacker Charlie Ayres, in his first start, turned in several of Lynden’s most effective tackles.
In all, Ferndale amassed 302 yards on 60 plays and Lynden finished with 195 on 38 plays.
OTHER FRIDAY GAMES
NOOKSACK VALLEY 35, MOUNTAIN VIEW 21: The Pioneers lived up to their billing as a state playoff contender with several outstanding efforts at McKenzie Field in Vancouver.
Fourth-year quarterback Joey Brown wrapped up the win with a 67-yard fourth-quarter touchdown run and finished with 183 yards on 14 carries, also including a 17-yarder for Nooksack’s fourth score, also in the final period. Brown also completed 8 of 13 passes for 74 yards and is now over 2,000 yards for his career both running and passing, as statistics compiled by historian Tyler Anderson show.
The Pioneers took a 21-14 halftime lead with touchdown bursts of 2, 2 and 1 yards by junior Colton Lentz, who finished with 14 carries for 91 yards.
Returning kicking standout Jorgen Vigre went five for five on conversions. Sky Whittern ran 11 times for 63 yards and fellow returnees Jackson Bennett, Cory Olney, Wayne Silves and Evan Bravo combined for 115 yards as the explosive Pioneers totaled more than 400 yards on only 47 plays. Bravo also had a key interception.
Nooksack overcame 14-for-25 passing for 286 by Mountain View quarterback Cash Cook.
“The kids played hard and battled the heat real well. There were a lot of positives to take away, especially for a first game,” Nooksack coach Craig Bartl said. “But we have a lot to work on and we have to eliminate some mental mistakes.”
SEHOME 35, MOUNT BAKER 12
Brian Young’s team responded well to their new coach as the former Squalicum defensive coordinator gained his first varsity high school win.
Sophomore quarterback Nolan Wright threw two touchdown passes apiece to Andre Watson and Brad Duckworth and freshman Nick Smith ran for 118 yards. Grady Evans kicked all five extra points.
Mount Baker, a 2022 state Class 1A finalist, scored in the second half on a 4-yard run by Dylan Moa, who gained 105 yards on 17 carries, and scored on a pass of 47 yards from sophomore Setoga Tigilau to Tanyen Staton.
“Watson came into the game seventh in Sehome history with 55 catches and Duckworth came in 10th with 49. They each moved up a spot,” Young said. “Nolan Wright was absorbing a brand new offense. I watched a guy who in the first half took some cues from me and in the fourth quarter who was taking command of the offense.”
Young also praised new defensive coordinator Addison Perrin: “Addison did a great job. We stopped Baker twice inside the 10 in the first half and that was really big … Baker came in having beaten Sehome eight of the previous 10 years” (all state playoff qualifying seasons for coach Ron Lepper’s Mounties).
Lepper said the entire Mount Baker community got a thrill when former star T.J. Bass, an undrafted free agent out of the University of Oregon, made the Dallas Cowboys’ 53-man roster earlier in the week.
SQUALICUM 41, NEW WESTMINSTER (B.C.) 12: Storm coach Nick Lucey noted that junior Marcus Nixon made an encouraging debut at quarterback after making all-league at running back last year.
Nixon made Neuhye Egging his first target for a touchdown pass of 50 yards. Nixon then scored on runs of 51, 18 and 17 yards for the team’s final three touchdowns.
Egging scored the first touchdown on a 71-yard punt return and Malakai Smith soon followed with a 31-yard touchdown run to help create a 34-0 halftime advantage.
Nixon ran five times for 106 yards and completed 4 of 9 passes for 91 yards with no interceptions. Smith ran 10 times for 67 yards. Avery Weener kicked two of two conversions and Avery Haggen went three for three.
Lucey said Brady Scammell and Laki Fagaautau provided defensive highlights with interceptions and Deandre Dunmore was a standout at linebacker. The Storm held New Westminster to 26 yards rushing and 91 passing and amassed 329 total yards.
“I really liked our attitude and physicality,” Lucey said “We have plenty to work on but this was a great jumping off point. Our kids showed flashes of the type of team we can be.”
In other games involving Northwest Conference 2A teams, Sedro-Woolley beat Mount Vernon 34-7; Anacortes defeated Oak Harbor 21-7; Archbishop Murphy beat Lake Washington 17-14; Lakewood fell to Stanwood 37-16; and Burlington-Edison succumbed to Tumwater 42-8.
MERIDIAN 22, GRANITE FALLS 13: Returning quarterback Jaeger Fyfe, a junior, completed 12 of 24 passes for three touchdowns and no interceptions and added 52 yards running. Another veteran standout, senior Josh Elmer, caught four passes for 97 yards and two touchdowns and ran 13 times for 93 yards to fill out a typically outstanding effort.
Meridian took a 22-0 halftime lead with the help of a new starter, junior James Hedahl, who made the score 15-0 with a touchdown catch and the first of Landon Downey’s two conversion kicks. Downey also ran for a two-point conversion.
“We had a pretty good team defensive effort,” said Trojans coach Patrick Ames. “We had no turnovers and we needed no punts. Fyfe was never sacked.”
Ames noted that his young team, with only six seniors, will learn from the second half, when they reached the 3, 2 and 1 yard line on drives but did not score on any of the three.
LAKESIDE (NINE MILE FALLS) 14, LYNDEN CHRISTIAN 8: In a battle of state playoff contenders, LC’s only score was a 39-yard pass from Jeremiah Wright to Kaiden Stuit, producing an 8-8 halftime lead thanks to a two-point conversion pass from Treven Blair to Eli Maberry.
Lakeside made four interceptions and kicked field goals of 22 and 28 yards in the second half against the Lynx, who are building with all new starters on the line.
“We’ll learn a lot from this,” said LC coach Greg Terpstra. “Lakeside was really fast up front. One of the interceptions was on a Hail Mary pass, but give credit to Lakeside.”
PORT ANGELES 44, BLAINE 21: The Borderites pleased new head coach Andy Olson by staying spirited despite a 30-7 halftime deficit.
Senior receiver/safety Riley Ihde caught 6 passes for 111 yards and touchdowns of 3 and 26 yards. He also scored Blaine’s third touchdown on a 1-yard run and made 10 tackles, plus completed two of four passes for 24 yards. Matthew Hayes kicked all three conversions.
Junior linebacker Blake Koreski made eight tackles, forced a fumble at the goal line, and made a red-zone interception.
Junior quarterback Colin Davis, the new starter, completed 14 of 28 passes for 189 yards and four interceptions.
“What pleased me the most was how our kids stuck together,” Olson said. “We made a ton of mistakes but the kids kept rallying and stayed positive. They were very supportive of one another.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
CHIEF SEALTH 32, BELLINGHAM 27: The Bayhawks, a 2A independent, took on a late-week substitute for Cleveland and gave 3A Metro Conference contender Chief Sealth a strong battle before a large and supportive Bellingham gathering at Civic Stadium.
After falling behind by as much as 18-7 in the first half, the Bayhawks rallied with two touchdowns in the second half to take a 21-18 lead. Sophomore safety Owen Hanstead made a brilliant sideline interception at the Chief Sealth 31 to set up Tyler Frost’s 6-yard touchdown and Josh Leonard threw a 2-point conversion pass to Gabriel Van Hofwegen. Leonard, in his Bayhawk debut after transferring from Squalicum, soon threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Van Hofwegen following a 21-yard burst by Frost, who finished with 16 carries for 114 yards. He had a 52-yard touchdown run nullified by a penalty in the fourth quarter.
But the Seahawks rallied for two more touchdowns and a 32-21 advantage. The Bayhawks scored with 2:33 left on an outstanding twisting 21-yard run by Leonard on his only carry of the game, but Chief Sealth ran out the clock with victory formation snaps.
Bellingham’s first touchdown came on the recovery by Ruarc O’Malley of a blocked punt in the opening quarter. Naode Ruson returned an interception 60 yards and a two-point conversion to put the Seahawks up 15-7.
The statistics were as close as the score. Seahawks quarterback Isaac Martinez completed 14 of 24 passes for 202 yards and three interceptions — two by Bellingham junior Nathan Laas — and finished with 378 yards. Leonard completed 17 of 34 passes for 194 yards, including passes of 37 and 42 yards to Bly Henderson. Holden Bates contributed 73 yards combined rushing and receiving to help the Bayhawks finish with 353 yards.
“We have a ton to build on,” coach Adam Leonard said. “The potential on the team is huge. We got a tough break today on the third play when we lost our leading receiver with an injury.”
TAHOLAH AT LUMMI, CANCELLED: “Taholah didn’t have enough players so they had to cancel,” Lummi coach Watiko Leighton said. “So we’ll play our opener Saturday at 4 p.m. against Tulalip at the Tulalip Tribe Sportsplex.”
WEEK TWO
Thursday, Sept. 7
Blaine vs. Sehome at Civic Stadium, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 8
Ferndale at Oak Harbor, 7 p.m.
W.F. West at Lynden, 7 p.m.
Bellingham vs. Meadowdale at Civic Stadium, 5 p.m.
Squalicum vs. Seaquam Secondary (B.C.) at Civic Stadium, 7 p.m.
Connell at Nooksack, 7 p.m.
Lynden Christian at Archbishop Murphy, 7 p.m.
Mount Baker vs. Wenatchee at the Apple Bowl, 4 p.m.
Meridian vs. Chelan at Sergeant Field, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 9
Lummi vs. Tulalip at Tulalip Tribe Sportsplex, 4 p.m.
This story was originally published September 4, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
