BY KEVIN THOMAS HULTEN – For Whatcom Preps
FERNDALE – A year ago in Lake Stevens, the Ferndale Golden Eagles and Head Coach Jamie Plenkovich left a 62-6 road defeat feeling less concerned about the loss to the then-4A defending champion Vikings. It was the effort that wasn’t representative.
A year later in Ferndale, the visiting Vikings were met by a young, determined squad who took the fight to the 4A contender for 48 minutes
“A year ago we had JV out there by the second quarter. It wasn’t our best effort,” said senior offensive lineman Braeden Hendrickson. “But this year was different.”
Lake Stevens head coach Tom Tri was complimentary of the young Ferndale team after the Ferndale Golden Eagles’ (3-4) hard-fought 38-7 loss to the #1 Lake Stevens Vikings (7-0, 4A) and Viking players were forming a line to see their trainer after this bruising affair.
If it seems contradictory to call a game with that margin hard-fought, it’s not.
First, check the tape: the Golden Eagles were hand-fighting in the trenches until the final whistle.
Second, consider the following: Lake Stevens has placed every opponent outside of Sumner, Bellevue and Glacier Peak on the running clock mercy rule by halftime — meaning they’ve compiled 42 or more point lead by half on the majority of opponents.
“We’ve got a lot of youth playing in a lot of positions and we’re making progress as the year goes on,” Plenkovich said.
In Ferndale Friday, it was still a game at halftime after the Golden Eagles held Blake Moser and Lake’s high flying offense to just two first half touchdowns.
Ferndale picked Moser off once in the first half and nearly cut it to a one score game before turning a promising drive over on downs inside the Lake 15.
As it was, Lake’s senior kicker Lucas Mooring split the uprights from 29-yards to put the Vikings up 17-0, and after intermission Lake quickly scored on its first three drives.
“We fought hard,” Hendrickson told J425 after the game.
“They keep working, they want to get better, we still have a lot of things to clean up,” Plenkovich agreed.
The 6’3 280-pound Hendrickson had a key block on two plays that led to a Ferndale 4th quarter rushing touchdown.
On Junior running back Elliot Lenssen’s 11-yard cut back run that took Ferndale to the one yard line, Hendrickson sealed off Lake’s four star defensive end Ty Tautolo, a prospect promising enough for Notre Dame to offer on St. Patrick’s Day.
On the next play, Hendrickson leveraged a crack of space and senior running back Jon Stanek shot through to paydirt. Offensive coordinator Jake Locker jabbed a fist skyward and greeted each lineman with a firm handshake and backslap on the sideline.
Ultimately, the Vikings size and speed took a toll.
Junior quarterback Blake Moser— also a heavily-followed baseball prospect with a 96 mph fastball as a sophomore — showed off his arm, dialing in three straight touchdown passes of 65-yards or more on the first three Lake possessions of the second half.
Even when the Golden Eagles caught a break — Viking Junior running back Jayvian Ferrell had a 60-yard TD run called back for a hold — Lake struck back, with Moser finding junior wide receiver Seth Price on a 65-yard post for a score.
The 6’1″ 195-pound Price has a handful of D-1 offers, with the first coming after the first game of his sophomore year. He’s likely to get more after nights like tonight.
Price caught seven balls for 203 yards and three touchdowns. Moser was 11-17 passing for 323 yards and 4 touchdowns against one interception.
Lake Stevens racked up 524 total yards of offense and broke off chunk plays of 40, 63, 65, 65 and 78 yards.
The Golden Eagles recovered an onside kick after their fourth quarter touchdown, but the drive ended with an interception by Lake Stevens safety Dylan Phinney.
“There’s a reason they’re ranked where they are. They have great skill kids. They’re really good on the defensive side of the ball, they play hard and they’re well coached,” Plenkovich said.
Ferndale is at undefeated Sedro-Woolley next Friday at 7:00 pm. Lake Stevens is home against Kamiak.
Kevin Thomas Hulten is a Lake Stevens-based reporter and editor. The Journal 425 is the home paper of Lake Stevens Vikings football and has covered Wesco football since 2006. Clips and highlights: @J425LIVE
Lake Stevens 38 Ferndale 7 LS 14 3 14 7 - 38 FER 0 0 0 7 - 7 LS - 68 yard touchdown run (kick good) LS - 3 yard touchdown pass (kick good) LS - 29 yard field goal LS - 62 yard touchdown pass (kick good) LS - 40 yard touchdown pass (kick good) LS - 78 yard touchdown pass (kick good) FER - Stanek 1 run (McManus kick) LS FER 14-138 Rush Att-Yards 45-100 12-18-1 Comp-Att-Int 8-15-2 386 Passing Yards 91 Individual Leaders RUSHING - LS: Fink 3-76, Ferrell 10-63. FER: Lenssen 27-69, Stanek 13-43, Boleak 5-(-12). PASSING - LS: Moser 11-17-1-324, Nettles 1-1-0-63. FER: Boleak 8-15-2-91. RECEIVING - LS: Price 7-204, Eggers 2-91, Hollenbeck 2-81, Phinney 1-11. FER: Beaven 2-61, Singson 2-4, Hatchett 1-10, Vasak 1-4, Stanek 1-4.
