Ferndale football safety Conner Walcker: ‘I’ve loved football ever since I could walk’
Not many high school football players have run the gamut of experiences and emotions that Conner Walcker has, but Ferndale’s senior leader is willing to gamble on a lot more.
Walcker, who says “I’ve loved football ever since I could walk,” is one of those guys who vows he will play the game as long as he can, although he does foresee a career as a business entrepreneur.
At the moment, the standout defensive back/receiver is determined to recover from a 46-14 loss to unbeaten Arlington, beginning with Ferndale’s home game Friday night against another Wesco 3A contender, Marysville-Pilchuck.
He knows that if Ferndale (3-1 overall, 1-1 Wesco North) wins out in the remaining four league games, the Golden Eagles still can return to the postseason, beginning with a crossover game in Week Nine against a Wesco South team.
Winning the overall Wesco title and reaching the state quarterfinals last year with wins over Seattle Prep and Kelso as a two-way standout was quite a thrill for Walcker. He wondered as a freshman if would ever get that chance, much less the opportunity to play in Ferndale’s beautiful new stadium for the first time two weeks ago.
“When I was a freshman, I had no idea we would have such a wonderful stadium when I was a senior,” he said. “Being part of the first senior class to play there is a high honor.”
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Walcker — who could likely play any position in high school well — recalls the “depressing experience” of seeing Washington become one of the 15 states that banned sports while closing schools when the Covid-19 pandemic struck in March 2020.
He found ways to keep in shape and emerged ready to contribute to the varsity as a freshman when an abbreviated winter football season began in February 2021.
Then he suffered a concussion while making a tackle in his first game. After already enduring a myriad of emotions for many months, his season was over almost before it could begin.
Walcker went through concussion protocol, then returned to start both ways as a promising sophomore. He made the All-Wesco defensive team as a junior to help the Golden Eagles go 10-3 including the two state playoff victories.
“Conner has a ton of athletic ability and he plays exceedingly hard all the time,” Ferndale coach Jamie Plenkovich said. “
“He was a free safety last year and now he’s our strong safety,” the longtime coach said of Walcker‘s more complex defensive responsibilities. “On offense, we have him playing all over the place. And as a leader, he leads by example, though he talks when he needs to.”
At this point, nobody is happier than Walcker to see senior Bishop Ootsey improve at quarterback and junior Talan Bungard emerge as one of the state’s better young running backs.
That’s because Walcker — who else? — is Ootsey’s backup at quarterback. And on many teams, he would be under pressure to be the offensive star rather than focus primarily on defense.
“They’re planning to shift me to outside linebacker at Eastern,” the personable athlete said of Eastern Washington University, to which he has committed to accepting a scholarship on early signing day in December.
“I really feel great about having a linebacker coach like Eric Sanders,” he said of the man who will guide his transition to full-time defender. Walcker feels playing strong safety at Ferndale is solid preparation.
Walcker, who carries a 3.6 grade-point average, has the ideal combination of speed, strength and size to play a hybrid defensive position.
“I’m fine with Ferndale being primarily a running team,” said the team co-captain, who would likely be a pass-catching star on most teams. He does, however, relish returning kickoffs and punts when teams dare to kick to him. “All I want to do is help us win.”
Walcker provided a showcase of what he can do offensively while scoring on a 56-yard run and a 19-yard pass from Ootsey in Ferndale’s 26-6 Wesco win over Oak Harbor in Week Two.
“That run came on my favorite play, a sweep,” he said. “And Bishop threw me a perfect ball.”
In addition to the staff led by Plenkovich, Walcker says his inspirations include defensive coordinator Sky Freeman and several of last year‘s seniors, such as Isaiah Carlson (now playing at UCLA), Landen Hatchett (now playing with brother Geirean Hatchett at Washington) and Jake Mason (also now at Washington).
“I credit Isaiah Carlson (Ferndale’s all-time leading scorer) with really pushing me to be the best I could be,” Walcker said.
Walcker treasures memories of his father, Todd Walcker, and his mother, Krista Walcker, providing precious encouragement when he was younger. Now he’s doing much the same with three younger siblings.
“Being the oldest of four has taught me responsibility,“ he said. “Dad played linebacker at Redmond High School and for Boise State and Western Washington. Mom played basketball at Centralia High School and also in the band.”
Walcker says he plans to return to basketball after a year off for intensive physical training at FSP (Ford Sports Performance) in Bellevue. He also craves the challenge of running the 100, 200 and 400 meters in the same track meets and would love to do so at the state meet.
First, though, he’s intent on keeping Ferndale in the running for a return to state.
WEEK FIVE
Thursday
Burlington-Edison vs. Squalicum at Civic Stadium, 7 p.m.
Friday
Marysville-Pilchuck at Ferndale, 7 p.m.
Sehome at Lynden, 7 p.m.
Nooksack Valley at Meridian,7 p.m.
Blaine at Mount Baker, 7 p.m.
La Conner vs. Bellingham at Civic Stadium, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Napavine at Lynden Christian, 2 p.m.
Lummi at Charles Wright, 3 p.m.
This story was originally published September 28, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
