Shorecrest ran out of steam in the second half of Tuesday night’s winner-to-state football game against Northwest League co-champion Ferndale.
The Golden Eagles broke open a tie game with four unanswered touchdowns after the break to seal a 41-14 victory at a jam-packed Ferndale Memorial Stadium.
Ferndale improved to 10-1 and moves on to face third-ranked Kennedy this weekend in the opening round of the Class 3A state playoffs.
Making its first district playoff appearance since 1998, Shorecrest ended its season 5-6 overall.
“We haven’t been in this situation for quite a while and now that the guys got a taste of it, hopefully it will motivate them for what needs to get done in the offseason,” Scots coach Mike Wollan said.
The Scots couldn’t find an answer for Jake Locker. The junior quarterback tied the game twice in the first half on a 32-yard TD pass and an 84-yard kickoff return and his 52-yard punt return in the third quarter gave the Golden Eagles a two-touchdown lead.
Adam Wilgus added three 1-yard TD runs in the second half for Ferndale and teammate John Baker rushed for 84 yards on 13 carries.
Less than a minute in, the Scots took a 7-0 lead on Jesse Hoffman’s 33-yard TD burst. Riley Reynolds recovered a Ferndale fumble on the game’s first play to set up the score.
The Scots regained a 14-7 edge in the second quarter on quarterback Jon Glancy’s 4-yard keeper. But for the rest of the game the Shorecrest offense went silent.
Ferndale held the Scots to 20 yards in the second half and kept Hoffman in check. Hampered by a shoulder injury, the junior tailback finished with 52 yards on 11 carries, a substantial dropoff from the 214 yards he averaged in three previous games.
“We weren’t able to use him like we wanted and that affected what we were trying to do in the second half,” Wollan said.
Sophomore fullback Grady Small added 35 yards on nine carries for the Scots and Glancy completed nine of 17 passes for 70 yards with three interceptions.
“To be in that playoff atmosphere was a great experience for us,” Wollan said. “Hopefully some of our younger players learned some things.”
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