FERNDALE – A three-touchdown outburst in the first quarter by the Grizzlies put the Golden Eagles in catch-up mode as Glacier Peak came to town and defeated Ferndale 35-22 on Thursday night.
The pass-happy Grizzlies went to the air early and often, and connected on a 71-yard touchdown pass on their first drive, but it was quickly answered by a 64-yard touchdown run by senior running back Elliot Lenssen who got a terrific downfield block from junior tight end Hank Whitaker.
It looked like it might be a shoot-out, but Glacier Peak’s defense began to corral Ferndale’s running attack, while also successfully going to the air.
Following Lenssen’s touchdown run, the Grizzlies put up two more passing touchdowns in the first quarter.
Down 21-7, the Golden Eagles looked like they were going to make it a one-score deficit as a strong drive put them at the Glacier Peak 25-yard line with four minutes left in the first half, but on second-and-long, Ferndale’s pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage and pulled out of the air by a Grizzly defender who returned it to the Golden Eagle 27-yard line.
One player later, Glacier Peak scored again to put the 4A visitors up 28-7.
The Grizzlies got into the end zone again in the third quarter, this time on a running play, and Ferndale found itself down 35-7 going into the fourth.
Early in the final period, Golden Eagle junior linebacker Mason Butenschoen forced a fumble near midfield on the scrambling quarterback, which was recovered by senior defensive back Brock Heuck. They were then able to turn it into points as Lenssen finished the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run.
Lenssen finished the game with 167 yards on 29 carries. He now sits at 2,468 career rushing yards, which is the 11th most in school history.
Senior fullback Wyatt Broyles also found the end zone late in the game, also from three yards out, and the Golden Eagles were even able to get two points on the conversion when the snap was mishandled and sophomore Axel Erickson hit Lucas Bailey past the goal line.
That would be the final score, however, as the ensuing onside kick was recovered by the Grizzlies.
The Golden Eagles (3-1) will begin league play next week when they travel to Mount Vernon (0-3) on Friday to take on the Bulldogs at 7:00.
Glacier Peak 35 Ferndale 22 GP 21 7 7 0 - 35 FER 7 0 0 15 - 22 GP - 71 yard touchdown pass (kick good) FER - Lenssen 64 run (McManus kick) GP - 12 yard touchdown pass (kick good) GP - 43 yard touchdown pass (kick good) GP - 27 yard touchdown pass (kick good) GP - 9 yard touchdown run (kick good) FER - Lenssen 3 run (McManus kick) FER - Broyles 3 run (Bailey pass from Erickson)
GP FER 21-83 Rush Att-Yards 50-240 12-15-0 Comp-Att-Int 9-21-2 227 Passing Yards 116 Individual Leaders RUSHING - GP: N/A. FER: Lenssen 29-167, Broyles 16-55, Belyatskiy 3-11, Larson 2-7. PASSING - GP: N/A. FER: Saab 9-21-2-116. RECEIVING - GP: N/A. FER: Hatchett 3-38, Whitaker 2-33, Mahaffey 1-24, Lenssen 1-12, McManus 1-7, Baader 1-2.
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