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Yakima Herald
PUBLISHED ON December 3, 2005
Foiled by Ferndale
BY Dave Thomas
By SCOTT SPRUILL YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
TACOMA - So the next time somebody trots out the well-worn axiom that
defense wins championships, don't start thinking of exceptions. It's the
stone-cold truth.
Ask anyone in the Tacoma Dome on Friday night or anyone else who tuned
into the regionally televised Class 3A state football championship.
In what had all the makings of a shootout filled with fireworks and the
dazzling aerial antics of the state's two best quarterbacks, Ferndale
brought nothing but the stone-cold truth.
Check that - the Golden Eagles also brought Jake Locker.
Shutting out a record-setting Prosser offense for three quarters - an
offense that was unstoppable all season and averaged more than 50 points a
game - Locker and company seized the day quickly and never let up en route
to a 47-12 victory on the first day of Gridiron Classic.
In closing out a 14-0 season, the Golden Eagles played as good a game as
any team has, balancing their devastating defense with an offense that
racked up 508 yards and had three running backs go over 100 yards. Locker,
the highly touted quarterback headed to the University of Washington, made
good on his double threat, throwing for two touchdowns and running for two
scores.
"They deserved it. They're no fluke," praised Prosser's junior
quarterback, Kellen Moore, who threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown
passes to lift his state record to 66. He also passed for 270 yards to
eclipse the state record for season yardage.
"Locker's a big-time guy, and they obviously played a great game. For us,
it's a disappointing way to end a great season."
On the other side of Prosser's postgame gathering, Kellen's dad, coach Tom
Moore, had similar praise for the champs. "All the credit goes to them. We
got beat by a better team today," said Moore, whose team finished 13-2 and
equaled the school record for wins. "Their defense blanketed us real well
and we had a hard time getting anything open. They have great athletes and
they're fast - their front four gave us fits."
Kellen Moore, who had thrown for at least five touchdowns in each of
Prosser's last eight games, completed 28 of 45 passes for 270 yards. But
Ferndale was able to pressure and flush the poised youngster, intercepting
two passes in the first half and sacking him for only the fourth time in
15 games. "We expected a dogfight, but our kids were incredibly well
focused on defense," Ferndale coach Jamie Plenkovich said. "We gave them a
lot of different looks and mixed and matched our coverages. We didn't want
them getting into a rhythm because once they do they can put a lot of
points on the board."
Locker was the one lighting up the scoreboard. The powerful 6-foot-3,
210-pound senior rushed for a game-high 138 yards on 16 carries with
scoring plays of 1 and 74 yards. He also passed for 106 yards with
touchdown throws of 46 and 12 yards to Rocki Sandusky. "I'll never be able
to replace this feeling," Locker said. "We got here last year and didn't
win it (losing to Bellevue) and we were fortunate enough to get another
chance. It's amazing how well we played."
From the get-go. Even though Ferndale's first strike was a jolt - Adam
Wilgus' 67-yard scoring dash came on the opening play of the game - the
Mustangs' defense was up to the task for the rest of the first quarter.
Playing mostly against a straight-up Wing-T, Prosser forced a 3-and-out
and a punt to take the 7-0 deficit into the second period. But then the
trouble started.
Ferndale's brutish size and sharp execution began to take over as the
Golden Eagles marched 67 yards on 10 plays - all on the ground - for a
14-0 lead on Jake Locker's 1-yard dive with 7:04 left in the half. The
crucial swing came a minute later when Brady Locker wrestled an
interception away from freshman receiver Kirby Moore. On the next play,
Locker went over the top for a 46-yard hook-up to Sandusky and a 20-0
margin.
The Mustangs responded well, however, sticking to their plan of throwing
under Ferndale's mixture of zone and man defenses. Kellen Moore drove
Prosser from his 35 to a first down on Ferndale's 13. That's when
Ferndale's defense made its biggest statement: There would be no shootout
on this day. The Golden Eagles turned Prosser away on downs, tackling
Moore at the 4 on a fourth-down scramble after tightly covering all five
of his receivers.
Three plays later, Locker proved beyond doubt that his power and speed
were not trumped-up recruiting hype. Breaking back against the flow on an
option play, the 210-pound senior broke two tackles, accelerated into open
field, shifted into high gear and ran past the angled pursuit of Prosser's
secondary. His 74-yard scoring dash came with 39 seconds left and put the
margin at 26-0 at the break.
"We wanted to set the tone physically right away and that big play to open
the game sure helped," Plenkovich said. "But the second quarter was the
biggest difference. We were patient, we got a nice lead and we used some
clock. It couldn't have gone any better."
Halftime did not stall Ferndale's mighty momentum. On their first
possession of the second half, the Golden Eagles stormed 83 yards for
their fifth touchdown. The next time it got the ball, Ferndale scored
again. The Mustangs got on the board in the final period as Kellen Moore
connected with Tylan Watkins (29 yards) and Kirby Moore (7 yards). It was
the sixth time the Moore brothers hooked up for touchdowns in the last
three games.
"We're a young team and these kids accomplished a lot," Tom Moore added.
"We beat Bellevue and we beat Rainier Beach - it was a great season for
everyone here." Despite the setback, Friday's championship finale brought
a close to one of the most prolific offensive seasons in state history.
The Mustangs were simply a force of numbers.
To wit, Kellen Moore finished with 66 touchdowns in 15 games, putting his
runaway state record all but out of reach - except, perhaps, by himself
next season - and moving him into a tie for third on the national all-time
list. Moore's 270 yards gave him 4,600 for the season and broke a
14-year-old state record.
Senior running back Ivan Merino was the victim of a defense that didn't
forget the run, holding him to 24 yards on 12 carries. Nonetheless, it was
enough to break the Valley's all-time career rushing record as Merino's
4,432 yards surpassed Shane Stonemetz's two-year-old record of 4,420.
Sophomore receiver Cody Bruns finished second in three all-time season
categories - receptions (98), yardage (1,644) and touchdowns (23) - and
didn't even play in the final two games because of an ankle sprain.
Prosser's season tally of points was 734 in 15 games. That mind-boggling
average of 48.9 topped the 46.7 the Mustangs put up during their 1992
championship run.
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Tri-City Herald
Mustang magic runs out
This story was
published Saturday, December 3rd, 2005
By Ben Reynolds, Herald staff writer
TACOMA -- What was supposed to be a shootout between two of the state's
best quarterbacks, instead turned out to be a sendoff party for Jake
Locker. The Ferndale quarterback came to the sidelines to a huge roar with
three minutes left, smiling, just waiting to hoist the championship trophy
in front of 7,892 fans.
Locker was just too good and too strong in leading the Golden Eagles
(14-0) to their first-ever state title with a 47-12 blitzing of the
Prosser Mustangs in the 3A championship game Friday night at the Tacoma
Dome. "This is the greatest feeling ever," said Locker, who has verbally
committed to the University of Washington. "This is the ultimate goal.
Words can't describe how I feel."
Locker quickly showed why he is one of the highest-touted recruits to
come out of the state in some time, rushing for 138 yards on 16 carries
for two touchdowns, and completing 5 of 9 passes for 106 yards and another
score. Moore, who had a state-record 64 TD passes coming into the
championship game, added two more to his total, but they came late in the
game. The final one was to his younger brother Kirby on the final play of
the game.
Moore, who was missing two of his top receivers -- Cody Bruns and Nick
Boydston -- because of injury, looked a little uncharacteristic at times.
He underthrew passes and had others sail over the heads of his receivers,
while in the face of the strongest pass rush he has seen all season.
However, he did manage to finish with 270 yards on 28-of-45 passing and
set a state record for yardage in a season with 4,600. Pat Graham of
DeSales held the previous record of 4,410 set in 1991.
"They have big strong guys and knocked us around on the line of
scrimmage," said Prosser coach Tom Moore. Prosser (13-2), which had to
deal with the Bellevue's vaunted wing-T two weeks ago, and the high-octane
passing attack of Rainier Beach last week, dealt with the whole package
from the top-ranked Golden Eagles.
Prosser could not stop Ferndale all night and for the first time in the
playoffs was overmatched by a better team. Ferndale, which lost to
Bellevue 31-28 in last year's title game, racked up 402 yards on the
ground on 45 carries with three players going over 100 yards. And the
Golden Eagles wasted little time in flexing their muscle up front.
On the first play from scrimmage, Adam Wilgus shed blockers for a
67-yard touchdown run to give the Golden Eagles a 7-0 lead and calm the
nerves of the Ferndale players and at the same time stun the Prosser
bench. "That shut us down right there," said Prosser senior lineman Jake
Martin. "We came out kind of lethargic."
Kellen Moore, who was picked off just 13 times coming into the game,
threw two in the first half, while the Ferndale offense ran right through
the defense at over 10 yards per carry. "They went out and beat us," said
Kellen Moore. "They deserved it. It's not a fluke."
Moore tossed his second interception of the first half when Brady
Locker jumped in front of his younger brother Kirby on an out rout. The
next play Jake Locker went up top to a wide open Rocki Sandusky for a
47-yard touchdown to push the lead to 20-0 with 5:30 left in the second
quarter. "We wanted to take some chances down the field on them," said
Ferndale coach Jamie Plenkovich.
Prosser, making its first title appearance since 1999, had a chance to
gain some momentum near the end of the half with a sustained drive inside
the Ferndale 10-yard line, but came away empty. Tylan Watkins dropped a
sure touchdown pass in the back of the end zone, and Moore was stopped a
yard short on fourth down after he was forced to scramble.
Ferndale came right back, needing just three plays to go 94 yards,
highlighted by Locker's 74-yard TD jaunt. He outran the Prosser secondary
and turned the game into a runaway with a 26-0 lead at the half. "This guy
is just a great athlete," said Tom Moore. "He is a big, strong guy."
Moore broke up the shutout with 8:31 left in the game when he hit
Watkins on a 29-yard post rout in the end zone. Prosser had not been shut
out since a 2001 loss to West Valley and was held to its lowest point
total since a quarterfinal loss to Kennedy two years ago. "They broke a
lot of tackles," Martin said. "Offensively, we couldn't put it together."
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