Ferndale’s rout of Kelso leads Whatcom County power sweep in state football playoff games
Seldom have Ferndale football fans been more enthralled by stunning surprises from their team’s stars, much less in the state playoffs.
Ferndale’s 44-14 win over Kelso in a fascinating 3A game Friday at Civic Stadium led a 4-0 Whatcom County sweep in Round of 16 state playoff games.
Believe it or not, Ferndale career rushing and scoring leader Isaiah Carlson turned a pass — the first of his career — into a 43-yard touchdown to up-and-coming junior receiver Conner Walcker for the game’s opening score, much to the delight of a large gathering rooting for their ever-active Golden Eagles.
Landen Hatchett, the 305-pound fourth-year offensive lineman/defensive tackle, scored his first touchdown and later was thrilled to return a blocked field goal 20 yards for his first chance to rumble down the field as the fans went nuts.
Both plays were thanks to Hatchett’s fourth-year line buddy Jake Mason, whose blocked punt — resulting in Hatchett’s touchdown — was the turning point of what had been a scary first half.
The other three Round of 16 games weren’t exactly boring, either. Defending state 2A champion Lynden’s 54-7 victory over Black Hills Friday at Civic extended the Lions’ state-leading win streak to 21; Mount Baker’s 37-26 1A win at Tenino on Friday was a showcase for running back Marquis Jesse and fellow senior quarterback Landon Smith; and Nooksack Valley’s 37-13 1A win over Riverside on Saturday at Civic was the Pioneers‘ first state win in 12 years.
The teams combined for 172 points in the four wins and gave Whatcom County’s 11 teams a 47-23 season record against out-of-county competition. The county’s teams have hit the 40-point mark in 29 games.
The quarterfinals will feature five Northwest Conference teams along with Wesco champion Ferndale — the largest local showing in quite a while, if ever.
The local pairings will be No.7 seed Ferndale (9-2) vs. No. 2 Eastside Catholic (10-0) in 3A; No. 1 Lynden (10-0) vs. No. 8 Highline (10-1), No. 6 Anacortes (9-1) vs. No 3 North Kitsap (10-1), and No. 10 Sedro-Woolley (8-2) vs. No. 2 W.F. West (9-1) in 2A; and No. 3 Nooksack Valley (8-1) vs. Cashmere (9-2) along with No. 10 Mount Baker (6-4) vs. No. 2 Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls (10-0) in 1A.
The sites, dates and times announced Sunday include two games at Civic Stadium: Lynden vs. Highline at 6 p.m. Friday and Nooksack Valley vs. Cashmere at 3 p.m. Saturday. On the road, both Saturday, it’s Ferndale vs. Eastside Catholic at 4 p.m. at Seattle Memorial Stadium, and Mount Baker vs. Lakeside Nine Mile Falls at 4 p.m. at Spokane Union Stadium.
FERNDALE 44, KELSO 14
Ferndale lost a fumble on its first series after 11 running plays, but fast-improving sophomore linebacker/fullback Talan Bungard quickly scooped up a Hilanders’ bobble at Kelso’s 43, setting the stage for Carlson’s shocker.
“We saw (on film) that Black Hills was aggressive (with so many players) in the box, so we worked on that play,” Ferndale coach Jamie Plenkovich said. “Isaiah was really excited about getting the chance to throw.”
Carlson, who later scored his 27th touchdown of the season in orthodox fashion, confirmed he was ready.
“I have faith in my arm,” he said with a grin. “I pitched and played outfield when I was younger. I saw Conner was wide open.”
“Isaiah was impressive. He put the ball right on me,” said Walcker, who also intercepted two passes in the second half and rushed three times for 33 yards.
Bungard’s 10-yard touchdown, following his 33-yard dash and quarterback Bishop Ootsey’s 17-yard scramble, produced a 14-7 lead. Kelso (7-3) tied it at 14-14 midway through the second quarter on Tucker Amrine’s 26-yard pass to Zeke Smith, not long after the two combined on a 78-yard score.
Junior kicker Phoenyx Finkbonner promptly untied the game with a 25-yard field goal — his first of the season — with 2:03 left in the first half when Ferndale stalled at the 8-yard line.
“I’m not much for field goals, but we needed the points there,” Plenkovich said.
With 51 seconds left before intermission, Hatchett added six personally historic points and Finkbonner’s conversion kick made it 24-14.
“Camden Raymond cleared out a man for me and I was able to block the punt,” Mason said.
“That was my first touchdown, but I actually had more fun running the ball (20 yards) after Jake blocked that field goal (in the third quarter),” Hatchett said with a grin.
Bungard finished with 103 yards rushing on seven carries, including a 20-yard touchdown for a 31-14 advantage. Bungard’s 21-yard burst and Carlson’s 15-yarder soon paved the way for Carlson’s 5-yard score, which gave him 94 yards on 18 carries and moved him close to 1,500 yards for the season.
Finkbonner provided the final thrills when he decided not to punt under pressure and instead raced 64 yards to score with 1:56 remaining. He made his fifth of six conversion attempts.
Ferndale finished with 412 yards including 352 rushing.
LYNDEN 54, BLACK HILLS 7
It only seemed like a cast of hundreds was involved, as the Lions (9-0) suited up about 100 players and used 10 runners to gain yardage, three quarterbacks to help produce eight touchdowns on as many consecutive drives, and four receivers.
Indeed, about one-third of the boys at Lynden were in uniform!
With Lynden leading 20-0, senior linebacker Chris Elenbaas made his second interception of the season after No. 16 Black Hills (7-5) gained 52 yards on a pass from Jaxsen Beck to Max Johnson.
Sophomore quarterback Brant Heppner then completed passes of 23 and 28 yards to Isaiah Stanley, helping to set up Heppner’s 1-yard touchdown for a 26-0 advantage.
Senior quarterback Kaedan Hermanutz immediately returned an interception 20 yards. Since it was Hermanutz’s turn in the quarterback rotation, he raced 24 yards to score and the rout was on.
For the 20-0 start, Lane Herringa scored twice on power runs and Stanley raced into the end zone with a 26-yard pass from Heppner, who finished 6-for-10 for 91 yards and now has produced 16 touchdowns rushing and passing combined. Stanley caught seven passes for a personal best 101 yards.
“I love this team,” Stanley said. “I’d much rather play on a team where so many players handle the ball.”
“Nobody cares about stats on our team,” said Heeringa, a superb linebacker/running back who does have a nice stat with 14 touchdowns.
With a 40-0 halftime lead thanks to Heppner’s 9-yard scoring pass to Campbell Nolte, Lynden coach Blake VanDalen and his staff played a horde of reserves in the entire second half.
Luke Human scored on a 62-yard run and backup quarterback Charlie Ayres guided a 61-yard drive capped by his 11-yard dash. Zach Welch made an interception.
The Lions amassed 427 yards including 291 rushing. The elusive Hermanutz gained 66 yards on six carries and Human made the most of his playing time with 81 yards on three carries.
“What especially pleased me was how our starters coached our young kids in the second half,” VanDalen said with palpable enthusiasm.
MOUNT BAKER 37, TENINO 26
Baker used more passing than usual to mount a 37-12 lead in the first three quarters against the bruising No. 7 Beavers (9-2) at Tenino Stadium.
Senior quarterback Landon Smith threw for touchdowns of 32 and 12 yards to junior Landen Hanstead, sandwiched around a touchdown sprint by Marcquis George, who gained 165 yards on 21 carries.
“Landen made a fine catch for the second touchdown,” said Smith, who went 6 for 9 for 160 yards. “The ball was a little low but he did a great job.”
“Hanstead’s second touchdown was the last play of the first half and gave us a 19-6 lead,” said Baker coach Ron Lepper. “We were lined up for a field goal but we got a delay-of-game penalty. Then Tenino called time out and I changed my mind. I had a gut feeling and Landon Smith made a great read and Landen Hanstead made a great catch in the end zone.”
George also scored on runs of 10 yards on the first drive of the second half and from 1 yard, the latter set up by George’s 30-yard dash. Smith, showing the moves that once made him a running back, ran for a 30-yard score.
“Marcques rushed for about 150 yards and would have been over 200 had he not had a long run nullified by a penalty,” Lepper said of George, who has 23 touchdowns. “Landon’s game at quarterback was right up there with his best.”
“I would agree with that,” said Smith, whose more than 150 yards passing gave him more than 800 for the season with 12 touchdown passes.
The Mounties had more than 400 yards total offense for the third consecutive game.
“We had nine possessions and scored six touchdowns,” Lepper said. “Wilhelm Maloley made a big interception in the fourth quarter.”
NOOKSACK VALLEY 37, RIVERSIDE 12
The Pioneers gained their first state playoff win since 2010 as junior quarterback Joey Brown ran 11 times for 117 yards and one touchdown and completed 14 of 24 passes for 145 yards and a 22-yard touchdown to Ryan Hughes for his first varsity score. Brown found seven receivers with completions.
Sophomore fullback Colton Lentz ran 24 times for 148 yards and touchdowns of 4, 26 and 9 yards, including 105 yards in the second half as the Pioneers raced from a 12-7 halftime lead to 24-6 second-half domination. Junior running back Skyler Whittern accounted for 91 yards rushing on 10 carries and an 11-yard touchdown, plus 24 yards on two catches, to help the Pioneers finish with 508 total yards.
Brown was sandwiched between two tacklers and sidelined shortly before halftime, but returned to lead the second-half surge.
“It’s muscle spasms and stingers. I was feeling it and I was screaming inside (early in the third quarter),” Brown said. “But I’ll be all right.”
“Joey will be perfectly fine,” said Lentz, who has 15 touchdowns and more than 1,200 yards. “I did not like the output in the first half. Losing was not an option.”
Brown was especially proud of how younger athletes will look up to Nooksack.
“It feels good to be changing the culture with our first state playoff win in 12 years, to have our players serving as role models for the next classes,” he said.
Hughes, a valuable senior, made his first two varsity interceptions in the final 3:30. He made an outstanding catch of a bullet from Brown in the end zone for the game’s first touchdown.
Gavin Jaeger scored on an 11-yard run for Riverside (4-6) late in the third quarter to cut Nooksack’s lead to 18-13, but John Stremler made an outstanding tackle to prevent Jaeger from scoring a two-point conversion. Brown, Lentz and Whittern then ran for fourth-quarter touchdowns.
Versatile senior Bennett DeLange, a basketball and baseball standout, played in only his third high school football game after turning out late. He showed a lot of speed and moves, catching two passes for 26 yards and intercepting a pass. Jackson Bennett also had an interception and caught two passes for 35 yards on scoring drives.
“We’ve tried endlessly to get Bennett to turn out,” said Brown, who surpassed 1,000 yards passing and hit the 20-touchdown mark passing and running combined.
“I like football and I feel good,” said DeLange. “It’s nice to be around everyone.”
Nooksack coach Craig Bartl agreed with Brown about inspiring the younger players. That’s why he suited up 25 freshmen.
“I think everyone should bring up their freshmen for state,” Bartl said.
ROUND OF 16 SCORES
3A
Stanwood 24, Mt. Spokane 14
O’Dea 42, Peninsula 28
Ferndale 44, Kelso 14
Eastside Catholic 29, Spanaway Lake 0
Bellevue 41, Mead 10
Lincoln-Tacoma 49, Monroe 16
Kennewick 9, Rainier Beach 7
Yelm 51, South Ridge 7
2A
Anacortes 28, West Valley 14
North Kitsap 31, Fife 7
Sedro-Woolley 30, Tumwater 22
W.F. West 29, Ephrata 28
Othello 49, Washington 12
Enumclaw 55, Olympic 0
Highline 30, Washougal 27
Lynden 54, Black Hills 7
1A
Cashmere 22, La Center 17
Nooksack Valley 37, Riverside 14
Mount Baker 37, Tenino 26
Lakeside Nine Mile Falls 33, Bellevue Christian 6
Freeman 28, King’s 13
Eatonville 28, Zillah 0
Montesano 24, Toppenish 22
Royal 41, Cascade Christian 7
UPDATED QUARTERFINALS
3A
No. 11 Stanwood vs. No. 3 O’Dea, 1 p.m. Saturday at Seattle Memorial Stadium.
No. 7 Ferndale vs. No. 2 Eastside Catholic, 4 p.m. Saturday at Seattle Memorial Stadium.
No. 5 Bellevue vs. No. 4 Lincoln-Tacoma, 2 p.m. Saturday at Lincoln Bowl.
No. 9 Kennewick 9 at No. 1 Yelm, 1 p.m. Saturday.
2A
No. 6 Anacortes at No. 3 North Kitsap, 6:30 p.m. Friday.
No. 10 Sedro-Woolley vs. No. 2 W.F. West, 1 p.m. Saturday at Centralia Tiger Stadium.
No. 5 Othello vs. No. 4 Enumclaw, 3 p.m. Saturday at Enumclaw Expo Center.
No. 8 Highline vs. No. 1 Lynden, 6 p.m. Friday at Civic Stadium.
1A
No. 11 Cashmere vs. No. 3 Nooksack Valley, 3 p.m. Saturday at Civic Stadium.
No. 10 Mount Baker vs. No. 2 Lakeside Nine Mile Falls, 4 p.m. Saturday at Spokane Union Stadium.
No. 12 Freeman vs. No. 4 Eatonville at Art Crate Field, 2 p.m. Saturday.
No. 8 Montesano at No. 1 Royal, 1 p.m. Saturday.
This story was originally published November 14, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
