Ferris holds off rival LC
Brock comes through with late field goal
Placeholder Max Thompson told field goal kicker Braden Brock to keep his head down the second time.
“He probably told me to keep my head down 100 times,” Brock said.
After Lewis and Clark somehow kept Ferris out of the end zone when the Saxons were as close as an inch away, Saxons coach Jim Sharkey elected to attempt a 23-yard field goal with 2:51 remaining.
Brock had no difficulty putting it through after pulling one earlier, and it held as the Saxons shut out Lewis and Clark 3-0 in a Greater Spokane League 4A game at Albi Stadium.
The Tigers (1-3 overall, 0-2 league) moved the ball to Ferris’ 24-yard line, picking up two critical conversions on fourth down. With 39 seconds left, a 41-yard field goal attempt by Adam Jacobson was low and just short.
Brock attempted a 33-yard field goal with 5:22 to go before halftime, but he pulled it just left.
“I didn’t keep my head down and kick through it,” said Brock, who had five receptions for 40 yards. “It was just a bad kick overall. It was all my fault. I was nervous, first time out here. It was a nerve-wracking thing.”
The Saxons’ scoring drought extended through 15 quarters, going into the fourth. And it appeared the game might end scoreless. But Thompson intercepted a pass for Ferris and returned it to LC’s 27-yard line with 4:11 remaining.
Ferris (1-3, 1-1) moved to the 1 where it had two stabs at the end zone. But the Tigers put up a wall. That’s when Sharkey sent Brock in for the field goal attempt.
“It was a much more complete effort,” Sharkey said. “We didn’t score points but we moved the ball and kept our defense off the field. We took strides last week defensively (in a 48-0 loss), especially our run defense. So we just built on that. I love these kids. They show up every day, they work hard, we’re getting better.”
Brock praised the Saxons’ defense.
“This was a really good break through,” he said. “Our defense held them the whole game. I felt confident after I made that kick that we were going to stop them.” Sharkey has seen improvement, especially last week.
“We had some things (offensively) last week that we didn’t take advantage of,” Sharkey said. “We’ve played a brutal schedule. Our young pups keep getting better every day. We caught the ball so much better tonight and Logan (Bunker) took a huge step as a quarterback.
“We thought if we could keep it close early the heat would be on them because they’re the one picked to do things this year.”
Bunker completed 19 of 34 passes for 154 yards. Ferris limited LC to 28 yards rushing on 26 attempts.