CHENEY – Ferndale needed to come back at home last week just to get into the round of 32.
Out of the 32 teams, the Golden Eagles were then ranked 26th, which meant that they had to travel across the state to take on a one-loss Cheney team that was ranked seventh.
It looked to be a big mismatch, but there was just one thing… The Blackhawks hadn’t faced a Wing-T team all season, and Ferndale ran it to perfection, to the tune of a 35-34 victory at Roos Field on Friday night.
Not only did the win send the Golden Eagles into the 3A state playoffs, but it also gave head coach Jamie Plenkovich his 200th career victory.
Ferndale began the game with a long drive, but ended up fumbling after cross midfield. The defense quickly made up for it by forcing a three-and-out to get the ball back.
The Golden Eagles drove to midfield again, but were turned away on third down, and when they punted on fourth down it was partially blocked, but went 10 yards past the line of scrimmage where a Blackhawk picked it up and returned it 55 yards for the opening score of the game.
Ferndale then drove 80 yards in eight plays, which was keyed by a 57-yard run by junior halfback Elliot Lenssen. The drive was punctuated with a one-yard plunge by senior fullback Jon Stanek to tie the game early in the second quarter.
The Golden Eagles forced another Cheney punt, but on their next play from scrimmage, the Blackhawks picked off a pass and raced 30 yards to recapture the lead.
It wouldn’t stand for very long as Lenssen returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. It was the first kickoff return for a touchdown for Ferndale since 2018.
Cheney then put together its best drive of the game, and scored its third touchdown of the game, but its first on offense, with a 20-yard touchdown pass.
The Golden Eagles then drove 84 yards on 12 plays, with tremendous play-calling, execution and blocking by the big guys up front, they were able to tie the game once again with a 1-yard Stanek run before halftime.
At this point, it wasn’t a cute story any more that Ferndale was keeping up with the Blackhawks. It was reality, and the Golden Eagles were feeling it.
The third quarter consisted of a great goal line stand by Ferndale, followed by a blocked punt by senior Cole Larson.
The Golden Eagles then tried to pick up a first down at the Cheney 42-yard line on 4th-and-3, but was stopped a yard short and turned the ball over on downs. But, on the very next play Lenssen intercepted a pass and returned it to the Blackhawk 11-yard line.
The third quarter then turned into the fourth quarter, and moments later Stanek danced into the endzone from 13 yards out, and Ferndale grabbed a 28-21 lead.
However, leads were never held onto for very long in this contest, and the Blackhawks quickly ripped off a 73-yard touchdown run to tie the game back up with 10:53 left in the game.
Ferndale was then forced to punt the ball away, but a few plays later on a passing play for Cheney, the quarterback stepped up in the pocket which prompted defensive tackle Braeden Hendrickson to spin inside of the player blocking him. The 290-pound junior then hit the quarterback, forced a fumble and senior nickelback Ryder Beaven fell on the football at the Blackhawk 48-yard line.
The Wing-T offense continued to run clock and gain yards in chunks as the Golden Eagles moved inside the red zone with the game tied at 28-28 with less than two minutes left to play. They finished with 359 yards rushing on an astonishing 61 carries.
Cheney was able to stiffen up, once it had less field behind it to defend, and Ferndale found itself with a 4th-and-goal situation at the 4-yard line.
The Golden Eagles quickly scurried to the line of scrimmage to rip off one of their patented “hurry-up-handoffs”, but they caught everyone off guard as senior quarterback Nolan Boleak faked the handoff, rolled to his right and found sophomore tight end Chance Hatchett in the back of the endzone for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:25 left in the game.
The quick-strike Blackhawks went to work in earnest on the red turf, and were able to string together a few long pass plays. The final, and the most important one, was a 28-yard touchdown pass with 18 seconds left to go.
The Golden Eagles called a timeout once they saw that Cheney was going to go for a two-point conversion and the win.
When the ball was eventually snapped, the Blackhawks threw a quick pass to the outside, and it was blocked perfectly, but out of nowhere came Hatchett who hit the receiver at the 2-yard line. A little extra push from Lenssen brought the would-be hero to the ground and Ferndale was still ahead 35-34.
The Golden Eagles then recovered the onside kick, took one kneel down and walked away with the huge victory.
Ferndale (5-5) will await its opponent, which will be announced on Sunday.
Ferndale 35 Cheney 34 FER 0 21 0 14 - 35 CHE 7 14 0 13 - 34 CHE - 55 yard punt return for a touchdown (kick good) FER - Stanek 1 run (McManus kick) CHE - 30 yard interception return for a touchdown (kick good) FER - Lenssen 95 kickoff return (McManus kick) CHE - 20 yard touchdown pass (kick good) FER - Stanek 1 run (McManus kick) FER - Stanek 13 run (McManus kick) CHE - 73 yard touchdown run (kick good) FER - Hatchett 4 pass from Boleak (McManus kick) CHE - 28 yard touchdown pass (pass failed) FER CHE 61-359 Rush Att-Yards 19-164 2-6-2 Comp-Att-Int 13-24-1 11 Passing Yards 178 Individual Leaders RUSHING - FER: Lenssen 21-210, Stanek 31-146, Larson 5-14, Mahaffey 1-(-1), Boleak 3-(-10). CHE: N/A. PASSING - FER: Boleak 2-6-2-11. CHE: N/A. RECEIVING - FER: Lenssen 1-7, Hatchett 1-4. CHE: N/A.
