Raise your hand if you saw this one coming. You three untruthful-types over in the corner can put them down now.
On paper, this added up to a loss for the Oak Harbor High School football team. On the scoreboard it equaled a 31-28 upset of Ferndale at Wildcat Memorial Stadium Friday, Sept. 11.
Coming into the game, nothing pointed to a Wildcat win.
Ferndale, one of the most successful programs in the region, entered the game ranked 10th in the state 3A poll after defeating Kamiakin 35-34 in overtime last week.
Oak Harbor, which has been a solid team in its on right the past decade, was crushed 55-6 by a talented Monroe club in the season opener. The Wildcats couldn’t move the ball or tackle. The special teams’ play was anything but.
To make matters worse, seven players who saw significant time in the game were injured and didn’t suit up for the Ferndale contest. Among the missing were four of the five top running backs and two starting defensive linemen, according to coach Jay Turner.
(In all fairness, Ferndale was a bit dinged up too. It’s leading rusher, Ben Broselle, who ran for 150 yards against Kamiakin, did not play, and all-state defensive lineman Chris Hernandez was injured during the first series Friday and did not return.)
After gaining only 190 yards at Monroe, Oak Harbor piled up 368 in the win. Savion Passmore ran for 146 yards on 15 carries, while Dyllan Harris, an all-league wide receiver, moved into the backfield and helped pick up the slack with 101 yards on 12 carries. Quinn Karney did the dirty work between the tackles, ramming for 45 yards on 14 carries.
In all, Oak Harbor rushed for 302 yards behind a reshuffled offense line. (The announced starters were Michael Corfman, Zoren Yabao, D’Andre Bellamy, Weston Whitefoot and Sam Zook.)
Taylor Kolste quarterbacked the first half and completed five of 10 passes for 59 yards. Tyler Snavely took over in the second half and hit one of two throws for seven yards. Harris caught five of the passes for 59 yards.
The Wildcat defense bent a bit, broke a few times and never forced a Ferndale punt. It did stop the Golden Eagles on downs three times.
The Oak Harbor special teams were that. Eric Jensen booted a 23-yard field goal and was 4-for-4 on point-after kicks. (Actually, he was 5-for-5, having to hit one twice after a play was blown dead because of a penalty). Kicker Seth Gluth helped Oak Harbor recover an on-side kick at the beginning of the second half, and the Wildcats thwarted a Ferndale on-side try.
It was a fairly clean game. There were no turnovers by either team and only a combined five penalties, two against Oak Harbor.
So, why the turnaround after the Monroe mess?
The Wildcats didn’t mope after the loss, Turner said, and had “an outstanding week of practice.”
“We came into the game with a different attitude,” he added.
Turner said other favorable factors were that the first-game jitters were gone for his young team and the Wildcats were playing a home.
“It was a big win because of where we stood as a team,” Turner said. “This will be a turning point for the season if we can continue to grow. We can’t let this be the highlight.”
At Monroe, Oak Harbor started its first drive with three short gains and a partially blocked punt.
Against Ferndale, the Wildcats took the opening kickoff and marched 63 yards (including converting on a fourth-and-5 at midfield) for a Mac Nuanez 1-yard touchdown run.
It took Ferndale only two plays to answer when Justice Powell bolted 64 yards for the tying TD. Powell would finish the game with 216 yards on 17 carries.
Late in the first quarter, Oak Harbor stuffed a fake-punt and took over at the Ferndale 46. That led to Jensen’s field goal and a 10-7 Wildcat lead.
The Golden Eagles went up with an 18-yard pass from James Hinson to Sky Freeman in the final minute of the first half.
Oak Harbor opened the second half by recovering an on-side kick and turned it into a 13-yard Harris touchdown run.
Ferndale came right back, thanks to a 24-yard Hinson to Freeman touchdown pass.
Moments later, Oak Harbor took the lead for good, 24-21, when Passmore, seemingly hemmed in, escaped for a 57-yard TD romp.
Helped by a sack by Brycin McIntyre and a pass break-up by Jared Gray, Oak Harbor took over on downs two plays into the fourth quarter. Behind a 37-yard run by Passmore, the Wildcats went 74 yards and tallied on a 1-yard run by Harris to push the lead to 31-21 with 6:28 left in the game.
Ferndale drove in for a score (overcoming a fourth-and-19 with the help of a penalty) with 2:24 left but couldn’t recover the on-side kick. Oak Harbor picked up one first down and ran out the clock, but not without some drama.
Wildcat fans’ already racing hearts sped up a few MPH when Oak Harbor fumbled on the next to last play of the game. Fortunately, Passmore recovered the muff.
Oak Harbor (1-1) has next Friday off and then will begin Wesco North play at home with Everett (2-0) at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2.
It should be mentioned that Oak Harbor’s last scoring drive featured a huge gamble on the part of Turner. The Wildcats, leading 24-21 with less than 10 minutes play, went for it on fourth-and-two at their own 32. Karney bulled ahead for five yards and the first down.
“We were playing to win,” Turner said.
Indeed.
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Savion Passmore bulls ahead for tough yards Friday. Photo by John Fisken.
