Ferndale and Lynden teams renew classic gridiron rivalry under strange circumstances
Third-year quarterback Haiden Rasmussen has enjoyed his share of meaningful moments, but he was content with having the best seat in the house, so to speak, and could not have been more thrilled to see Ferndale’s 28-19 win over Lynden.
He also had one of the only good views Friday night. In surely the weirdest game ever in the classic Northwest Conference rivalry, ticket sales were zero and fans were not allowed as part of the state’s pandemic restriction of 200 people in a stadium, even though another 200 could have been socially distanced in the stands.
So many players and coaches are involved in two of Northwest Washington’s most storied programs that they made up the vast majority of people fortunate enough allowed to be there. Lynden had loud support from two bus drivers but Ferndale didn’t have even that much.
“That’s definitely the best I’ve ever seen our backs and line play together,” said Rasmussen, who handled the ball with expert aplomb and could finally celebrate — with mostly younger teammates — the Golden Eagles’ first win over the Lions since 2017.
Lynden coach Blake VanDalen demonstrated his usual sportsmanship immediately after the game as both he and Ferndale coach Jamie Plenkovich had their teams quickly shake hands.
“Ferndale played great,” was VanDalen’s first comment. “And we have to get better.”
Both teams refused to let the strange situation take away the gravity of the moment. As always between these rivals, this was serious football and then some. Only the skill position regulars on both teams handled the ball from scrimmage.
Ferndale is blessed with one of the best young backfields in Northwest Washington. Junior Ryan Pelton (81 yards), sophomore speed burner Isaiah Carlson (122) and shifty junior Thomas Broselle (73) combined to rush for 277 yards on 42 carries — an average of nearly seven yards per play.
The trio combined for 10 runs of at least 10 yards as the Golden Eagles (2-0) scored on drives of 75, 80, 60 and 56 yards to earn a 28-13 advantage halfway through the fourth quarter.
“I thought we took it to them,” Plenkovich said, admiring the muscle and technique of linemen Jacob Mason, Jordan Mason, Landen Hatchett, Kenneth Rucker and Trey Kyle. “It says a lot for our kids that we played pretty much an error-free game.”
And against top-notch completion, to boot. The Lions (1-1), with several talented players back from last year’s Class 2A semifinalist, scored on drives of 72, 80 and 91 yards. The latter was a never-quit 15-play thrust in the game’s final six minutes, though the outcome was not in doubt.
Lynden’s only ball-carriers, quarterback Baylor Ayres and running back Caleb Wheeler, netted 65 and 51 yards, with Wheeler scoring twice. Ayres completed 13 of 25 passes for 144 yards, including six to Isaiah Stanley for 72 yards and five to Cade Slayton for 47.
Wheeler ended Lynden’s opening series with a 9-yard score. He plowed over from the 8 on Lynden’s opening series of the second half, cutting Ferndale’s lead to 14-13. With the Golden Eagles up 28-13, Stanley’s 20-yard touchdown reception from Ayres ended the game.
It was Lynden’s 16-play, 69-yard drive that ended on the 7-yard line at the first-half horn that made a huge difference, VanDalen acknowledged.
“That’s on me,” he said, criticizing one or two of his calls without giving away too much information. “And it was tough to lose Kaleo Jandoc — our best receiver and best defensive back — on the first play with a dislocated shoulder.”
Pelton, a power-running running junior returnee, scored Ferndale’s first touchdown on a 1-yard plunge on the game’s opening sequence. He set up his score with an 11-yard dash and finished with 81 yards on 16 carries.
Senior returnee James Werth kicked the first of four extra points.
Broselle, a shifty junior with an entertaining and effective running style, scored Ferndale’s second touchdown on a 10-yard reverse for a 14-6 lead on the Golden Eagles’ third series. The next time they had possession, in the third quarter, standout sophomore prospect Carlson burst over from the 4-yard line following a pass-interference penalty against Lynden on fourth-and-8.
Carlson finished with a game-high 122 yards rushing on 16 carries and Broselle had 73 yards on 10 tries.
Pelton burst over from the 1 midway through the final quarter for the 28-13 bulge.
SATURDAY’S GAME
MERIDIAN 17, NOOKSACK VALLEY 10: Patrick Ames was proud of how his team rallied from a 10-10 tie in his head coaching debut with a game-winning drive of 75 yards on 16 plays, lasting more than nine minutes. Senior running back Trey Naidu scored on a 3-yard run with 4:12 remaining.
The Pioneers (0-2) were on the Meridian 13-yard line with 13 seconds to play when senior Wesley Kurz preserved the victory with an interception.
“This was a great game. The level of effort by both teams was just outstanding,” said Ames, who took over for his father Bob Ames, who coached the Trojans for 46 seasons. He is now an assistant coach.
Junior quarterback Tucker Harrison completed 14 of 25 passes for 171 with one interception in his first start. Harrison helped give the Trojans (1-0) a 10-3 lead with a trick play, firing to wide receiver Kurz on the sideline to set up Kurz’s 33-yard scoring pass to Andrew Kuljis for a 10-3 lead late in the third quarter.
“That was a back-pocket play, something you use when you really need it,” Patrick Ames said.
Nooksack junior Jordan Silva responded immediately with a 55-yard touchdown burst up the middle when he picked his holes perfectly. Sophomore Sawyer Johnson produced a 10-all tie with the conversion kick.
Meridian held a 2-0 halftime lead with a first-quarter safety but Nooksack’s Scout Whittern hit the left pole with a 33-yard field goal for a 3-2 edge midway through the third quarter.
“I’m proud of our team,” said first-year Pioneers coach Craig Bartl. “We definitely showed improvement (over last week’s 26-0 loss to Mount Baker).”
Meridian amassed 107 yards rushing, led by Naidu’s 64 yards on 21 carries, including 27 yards on the winning drive. Harrison kept the drive alive with third-down passes of 15 yards to Bryce Johnson and 18 yards to Kuljis, whose catch set up the Trojans on the Nooksack 12. Johnson finished with game highs of five catches for 63 yards and also had an interception.
Meridian maintained extreme ball control with 311 yards on 57 plays while limiting Nooksack to 80 net yards on 30 plays, with only Silva’s 55-yard touchdown run exceeding 12 yards. Freshman quarterback Joey Brown completed 6 of 13 passes for 52 yards.
FRIDAY’S OTHER GAMES
Whatcom County’s NWC teams improved their two-week domination of Skagit and Island County teams to 6-1 (not all games had full statistics, pending coaches’ film reviews).
SQUALICUM 38, MOUNT VERNON 24: Senior quarterback Mason Binning threw touchdown passes of 14 yards to Kai Posey and 67 to Reed Richardson, giving Binning five scoring passes in two games for the Storm (2-0). Binning completed 11 of 20 passes for 185 yards, improving his total to 441 yards for two games.
Ben Schlenbaker scored touchdowns of 30, 3 and 32 yards as the Storm outscored the Bulldogs 22-7 in the second half, giving the junior standout five scores overall. He had 199 yards in 30 carries, with 174 yards in the second half, and now has 331 overall.
With both long snappers injured, the Storm went 4 for 5 on 2-point conversions. Posey caught a pair of 2-pointers from Binning, while Schlenbaker caught one conversion pass and ran for one 2-pointer.
“Our leadership really carried us through some adversity,” Storm coach Nick Lucey said. “We fell behind right away in the first quarter and we had several injured players. The guys who started came through real well.”
Lucey credited Schlenbaker with an outstanding effort at outside linebacker for Squalicum, which has outscored its first two opponents 74-38. Lucey said Billy Scammell and Jaymeson Thompson had 12 tackles apiece.
Richardson had a game-high 130 yards on five catches.
SEHOME 20, OAK HARBOR 7: The Mariners (2-0) snapped a scoreless halftime tie with Jacob Kaepernick’s short touchdown pass to fellow returning senior standout Tim Malo.
Kaepernick helped the Mariners to a 14-7 lead after three quarters with a 1-yard touchdown keeper. He finished 24 for 36 for 320 yards including a game-clinching scoring -pass of about 35 yards to Luke Evans.
Malo, who plans to play for Brown University in the Ivy League, had one of the best games of his stellar career with 12 catches for more than 150 yards. Craig Dorsch led Sehome’s ground game with about 60 yards, coach Kevin Beasley said.
Beasley credited junior defensive lineman Gavin Ortega and sophomore outside linebacker Tommy Funk with excellent defensive efforts.
“That was Tommy’s first start,” said Beasley. “He led us in tackles with at least 10.”
MOUNT BAKER 49, BLAINE 14: Fullback Toby Jefferson scored three touchdowns and wingback Ayden Rodriguez tallied two, all on runs. Jefferson’s 4-yarder was Baker’s first score and the other four scores all ranged from 15 to 20 yards, Mountaineers coach Ron Lepper noted.
“Mason Jacoby threw a touchdown pass of about 75 yards to Garrett Smith and Phil Paez got our last touchdown with a run of about 80 yards,” Lepper said. “Davin Beason had a big interception (the second in two games by the junior linebacker) to set up our third touchdown.”
The Mounties (2-0) did something Lepper, in his 25th season as head coach, had never seen. Wyatt Thomas, a 294-pound lineman, filled in at kicker and both blocked a conversion kick and then made good on an extra point. All this came after he missed the first attempted kick of his career before his block.
“I’ve never seen a kid miss a kick, then block a conversion and then make a conversion kick himself,” Lepper said. “Our kids loved seeing him do that.”
Blaine (0-2) showed spirit after falling behind 42-0, with Will McKinney throwing a 5-yard scoring pass to Ben Arps and Gabe Cranford scoring from the 1. Junior middle linebacker Spencer Dalry was credited with 9 tackles in a outstanding effort.
“Spencer was really outstanding in his first start,” Blaine coach Jay Dodd said.
LYNDEN CHRISTIAN 71, BELLINGHAM 0: Senior quarterback Logan Dykstra completed 13 of 17 passes for 283 yards and five touchdowns and ran four times for 49 yards and one score.
Dykstra threw scoring passes of 15 and 22 yards to Cole Moorlag, 34 yards to Jackson Apol, 13 yards to Shale Whittern and 26 yards to Caleb Ryan.
Kayden Mellema scored the Lyncs’ second touchdown with a 3-yard run and Dykstra scored from the 6. The Lyncs wrapped up the scoring on a 3-yard run by Davonta Bootsma, a 35-yard sprint by Zac Owen, a 14-yard pass from Will Colwell to Jamison Hintz and Colwell’s 9-yard run.
That gave the Lyncs (2-0) 19 touchdowns including 11 by different players in their first two games, by far a first in 26 years of head coaching by Dan Kaemingk.
Bootsma and Owen led rushers with 51 yards apiece. Apol had 4 catches for 113 yards, Moorlag 4 for 63, Whittern 2 for 53 and Ryan 2 for 42.
“Robb Myhre (Bellingham’s new coach after 20 years at Nooksack Valley) is doing a good job of building structure (with a young team),” Kaemingk said. “You could really see that.”
GAMES OF FRIDAY, MARCH 5
Lynden vs. Squalicum at Civic Stadium, 7 p.m.
Lynden Christian at Meridian, 7 p.m.
Bellingham at Blaine, 7 p.m.
Mount Baker at Bishop Blanchet (Seattle), 7 p.m.
Nooksack at Anacortes,, 7 p.m.
GAME OF SATURDAY, MARCH 6
Ferndale at Sehome, 7 p.m. (Sehome now has its own field).
