Stanwood’s bid for Wesco 3A North title falls short against Ferndale
Published 1:30 am Friday, October 21, 2022
STANWOOD — For much of this season, the Stanwood High School football team’s Wing-T offense has run wild on its opponents.
The Spartans have had a knack for opening up holes for their explosive running backs to pick up big chunks of yardage, which had led the squad to perfect 7-0 record heading into a de facto Wesco 3A North title game.
But Stanwood ran into a big, physical Ferndale team that plays a similar style of football on Friday night, and the Golden Eagles’ talented group in the trenches proved to be a problem the Spartans couldn’t solve.
Ferndale raced out to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter and bottled up Class 3A sixth-ranked Stanwood’s high-powered running game on its way to a 28-7 victory at Bob Larson Stadium.
As a result, the Golden Eagles, who finished in a three-way tie for first in the league last fall, are Wesco 3A North champions for the third time since joining the conference as a football-only member 2016.
“You saw it on both sides of the ball,” Ferndale coach Jamie Plenkovich said of the stellar performance by his linemen. “(Stanwood’s) been super dynamic on offense all year. So for us to hold them to seven points and really control the line of scrimmage, I think on both sides of the ball, that’s what wins games. Our guys up front lead the way and they did a great job tonight. … Super proud of how our guys played.”
Ferndale’s front consistently pushed back the line scrimmage and running lanes scarce for Snohomish County leading rusher Ryder Bumgarner and the rest of Stanwood’s backfield.
With University of Washington commit Landon Hatchett and fellow standout senior Jake Mason leading the way up front, the Golden Eagles (6-2 overall, 6-0 Wesco 3A North) held the Spartans (7-1, 5-1) to just 3.1 yards per carry and 105 yards rushing. Eleven Stanwood run plays went for no gain or a loss, and the Spartans didn’t have a run play go for more than 19 yards.
The seven points scored was also a season low for Stanwood, which averaged 41.6 points and hadn’t scored less than 30 through its first seven contests.
“They did (give us problems up front),” Stanwood coach Jeff Scoma said. “In the Wing-T you have to play low, you have to be low on your blocks. If you come in high against a guy that’s 50 pounds bigger than you, you’re going to have trouble.”
The Golden Eagles set the tone early with a strong running game and capitalized on offensive miscues by the Spartans.
Ferndale and its own Wing-T attack marched straight down the field on the opening drive of the game with a mix of inside runs by standout senior Isaiah Carlson and outside runs by sophomore Zach Nielsen, a combination that delivered most of the night. Carlson’s 3-yard TD plunge at the 9:52 mark of the first capped a six-play, 66-yard drive.
The Golden Eagles then recovered a fumble and took over at the Spartans’ 33-yard line after Stanwood tried to convert third-and-2. Carlson scored three plays later on a 21-yard run up the middle to go up 13-0.
Stanwood fumbled again on third down but this time recovered to salvage the opportunity to try a flip field position with a punt. But Ferndale was able to pressure the punter and force a high, short kick that went for just six yards to the Spartans’ 27.
Nielsen needed just two plays to put his team in the end zone and extended the lead to 20-0 on a 6-yard run with 3:14 left in the first.
Eli Walker’s fumble recovery set up the Spartans’ lone TD. Stanwood took over near midfield and quarterback Michael Mascotti dumped a screen pass to Carson Beckt. The senior running back broke a pair of tackles and rumbled through the middle of the field for a 52-yard score to cut the deficit to 20-7 early in the second.
Stanwood had another opportunity to close the gap on its next drive after receiving a break on third-and-21. Ferndale’s sideline was called for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and Plenkovich was ejected. He declined to comment on the ejection.
Stanwood took advantage of the free first down by getting the ball inside the Ferndale 10 with less than one minute left. But Mason’s sack on second down forced Stanwood to attempt a field goal that the senior also blocked.
Ferndale extended its lead early in the fourth on its third TD drive that started in Spartans’ territory. Quarterback Bishop Ootsey scored on a 1-yard keeper and connected with Carlson for a two-point conversion and 28-7 lead with 7:14 left.
“Super proud of our kids,” Plenkovich said. “We played through a lot of adversity tonight, including me not being able to be there for the second half and part of the second quarter. But (I’m) super proud of our effort and super proud of how far we’ve come since the beginning of the year.”
Carlson finished with a game-high 138 yards rushing and Nielsen added 104.
Bumgarner led Stanwood with 95 yards on the ground and had an interception on defense. Beckt added 68 yards of total offense and recovered a fumble on defense.
The Golden Eagles secured a spot in the Wesco 3A title game at Wesco 3A South champion Monroe next week. The Spartans travel to face Wesco 3A South No. 2 Snohomish. Both teams have qualified for the Week 10 playoffs.
“I thought we did a better job in the second half of stopping them,” Scoma said. “Turnovers are always going to be a killer. I just didn’t think we moved the ball as well as we could. So regardless of turnovers, we should have done a better job and we’ll fix it. There’s plenty of teams that have had one loss and gone a long way in the playoffs.”
