Ferndale outmuscles Sedro-Woolley, claims postseason spot (w/video)

Ferndale’s game plan left little up to the imagination against Sedro-Woolley.

The Golden Eagles lined up in double tight formations all night, introduced an extra linebacker on defense, gave the Cubs a full dosage of Austin Honeycutt and physically dominated up front throughout.

Honeycutt ran for 224 yards on 35 carries and scored all three of Ferndale’s touchdowns, helping the Golden Eagles earn a 20-16 Northwest Conference road win Thursday, Oct. 29, at Sedro-Woolley High School.

“He is a very physical running back, and we just kept feeding him,” Ferndale coach Jamie Plenkovich said of his bruising 6-foot-4, 215-pound back. “We kept saying, ‘Keep feeding him.’ He is getting hit and still getting 3 or 4 more yards after contact. It was a great job on his part.”

The win assured Ferndale (6-3, 5-2 NWC) a postseason berth.

If Lynden beats Blaine on Friday, Oct. 30, the Golden Eagles will travel to play either Marysville-Pilchuck or Edmonds-Woodway on Tuesday, Nov. 3. If Blaine beats Lynden, Ferndale will avoid a play-in game into the Class 3A District Playoffs.

“It feels great, senior year getting into the playoffs,” Honeycutt said. “Couldn’t be more proud of these guys.”

All three of Ferndale’s scores came off long drives. The Golden Eagles scored on a nine-play, 83-yard drive and an eight-play, 69-yard drive during the second quarter, and then scored on a clock-draining 16-play, 73-yard drive on their first possession of the third quarter.

Honeycutt scored from 1 and 8 yards out in the first half before capping the 16-play, third-quarter drive with another 1-yard plunge into the end zone.

For as well as Ferndale’s line controlled Sedro-Woolley’s front, the Golden Eagles were just as impressive defensively.

The Cubs, who entered the game averaging 280 rush yards per game, were held to just 81 ground yards. It was the first time Sedro-Woolley has been limited to less than 100 rush yards this season and only the second time the Cubs have logged less than 200.

Senior linebacker Taylor Bellefeuille was especially active, as was the Golden Eagles’ front four of Christian Rodriguez, Chris Hernandez, Winterhawk Leighton and Honeycutt.

“Not a lot of people have been able to run on us at all, so I wasn’t expecting much,” Bellefeuille said, “but we also brought an extra linebacker into the box, which we haven’t been playing with, so it was just an extra guy, and it made it even easier for us.”

Sedro-Woolley standout Carter Crosby, before exiting the fourth with an ugly injury, finished with 33 yards on eight carries, and Quinn Carpenter finished with 24 yards and scored on a 14-yard TD to trim Ferndale’s lead to 20-10 with 7:21 left in the fourth quarter.

The Cubs made the game interesting in the final minutes, capitalizing on one of three Ferndale turnovers when the Golden Eagles were trying to run out the clock.

Devin Willard threw an 8-yard TD pass to Billy Hornbeck with 0:55 to play, trimming Ferndale’s lead to 20-16, but James Hinson recovered the onside kick.

Ferndale’s Justice Powell ran for 58 yards on 11 carries to help the Golden Eagles finish with 307 rush yards.

This story was originally published October 29, 2015 at 11:03 PM with the headline "Ferndale outmuscles Sedro-Woolley, claims postseason spot (w/video)."