Ferris picks up victory

Quick-strike offense coupled with timely and opportunistic defense against a mistake-prone foe provided the ingredients to propel Ferris into a State 4A football quarterfinal appearance.

Ferris travels to Yakima next weekend to play unbeaten Eisenhower, which built a big lead and held on to eliminate Southridge 27-21.

The Saxons (8-3) parlayed three turnovers and a four-down defensive stand into a big first-quarter lead en route to a 41-16 triumph over Kamiakin (8-3) on Friday night at Albi Stadium.

Two fumbles came 15 seconds apart deep in Braves territory, with outside linebacker Brendon Olson recovering both, that led to the final 10 points of a 24-10 lead.

They were among the five turnovers and three fourth-down stops by the Saxons that sent Ferris in into the round of eight.

“I was really pleased with our defense tonight,” coach Jim Sharkey said. “We sputtered at times on offense, but they blitzed a lot and that kind of happens. It also created some big plays.”

What particularly stood out was the work of Jordan Tonani & Co. on dangerous receiver Tim White, who was held to one catch for 10 yards.

“That was huge for us,” Sharkey said.

The game began ominously for Ferris when White took the opening kickoff, burst through a seam and legged it 77 yards for 7-0 Kamiakin lead.

But Tonani stepped in front of a receiver and picked off Corey Hutchison’s pass and in five plays, capped by Olson’s 17-yard run, the score was tied.

The final 6 minutes of the first quarter then turned nightmarish for the visitors.

Kamiakin was inside Ferris’ 20-yard line, but turned away on downs. Connor Halliday, with two blitzers in his face, found Gabe Orosco with a screen pass and the Saxons fullback got outside and into open territory for 76 yards and the go-ahead score.

The game then turned on Olson’s fumble recoveries at the Braves’ 23- and 25-yard lines.

“I don’t know, I just saw the ball on the ground and you’ve got to go get it,” Olson said. “It got us up quick.”

Ferris scored twice with 3 minutes, 30 seconds left in the quarter, including a 23-yard Halliday-to-Jason Bates pass.

The killer before halftime came when Kamiakin eschewed a field goal on fourth down at the 6-yard line. An all-out blitz smothered Hutchison and Ferris covered 85 yards in the final 3 minutes, a middle screen to Tonani from 20 yards out making it 31-10.

Instead of cutting the deficit to less that two touchdowns, the Saxons had a three-TD lead heading into the locker room.

“A field goal wouldn’t have done us any good at that point,” Kamiakin coach Scott Biglin said when asked about his decision. “They score a lot of touchdowns. I knew we needed a touchdown and it would have been a momentum thing. It just so happened it didn’t work out.

By halftime, Halliday had passed for 208 yards and three TDs. Orosco not only caught two balls for 110 yards but added 41 yards on the ground, also getting outside.

“We had a little bit of an outside zone going and our screen play, especially to the fullback, was big for us again,” Sharkey said.

Ferris spent much of the third quarter using up clock with a conservative, mainly run, approach. But when Kamiakin covered 78 yards for a score late in the period, the Saxons answered quickly on a short out and 45-yard run by sophomore Cole Lemer and an 11-yard scoring strike to Tonani with 46 seconds remaining.

The second field goal by Alex Belling came following Kamiakin’s third lost fumble (of 11 bobbles) of the night.

“You can’t turn the ball over against a great team like Ferris and expect to compete with them,” Biglin said. “They deserved to win and are going to make some noise in this thing.”