Latest / Whatcom Preps Podcast / Whatcom Preps Podcast Episode 188 - Ferndale Golden Eagles Preview

Transcript

Whatcom Preps Podcast Episode 188 - Ferndale Golden Eagles Preview · Whatcom Preps Podcast

0:01
This is Ferndale senior Camden Raymond and you're listening to the Ferndale football preview on
0:06
the Walcome Preps podcast with Tyler and Ryland. It's a matter of pride.
0:26
Greetings and welcome to the Welcome Preps Podcast. You're listening to the twenty twenty
0:31
three Ferndale Golden Eagles team preview. I'm Ryland Spencer along with me as always
0:35
Tyler Anderson of a Walcome Preps. Tyler, how we doing? You know?
0:40
To be honest, I'm a little sad why this is the last preview?
0:46
And I love I love doing these previews and it's the last one,
0:49
man, Yeah, it is. It is the last one. You know
0:51
why because this is the last of ten team previews as we get ready for
0:56
the upcoming season. We've already covered every other team, I mean literally all
1:00
well nine the other nine teams. If you would like to hear any of
1:03
those team previews, head over to walk on prepps dot com. You can
1:06
find everything right there on the front page. If you're listening to this a
1:08
couple of days later, it might be on the second page. It's but
1:12
but you know what, it's right there, Or you could go up to
1:15
the podcast area, right, Tyler, Yeah, absolutely, they'll all be
1:19
in there yet, they will be in there. Technically speaking, this would
1:22
be podcasts like one hundred and ninety. It's like in that range, like
1:26
somewhere right around there. Actually, I think Lyndon Christian might have been one
1:33
hundred and eighty or Bellingham was one hundred and eighty, so this is probably
1:36
like one eighty nine. Yeah, somewhere in there. We're gonna hit two
1:41
hundred by like week three. Yeah, I mean maybe a little bit further,
1:46
but it's gonna be. It's gonna be there real quick. I mean,
1:47
before you know, we're gonna be a two hundred, which means I
1:49
don't know, maybe we've got to find somebody special. But yeah, tomorrow
1:55
we will have a week one preview predictions, fantasy picks, and I'll look
1:57
at all eight games on the schedule. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast
2:02
wherever you get your podcasts so you can get notifications when we post in the
2:07
future. We would like to thank Camden Raymond little Guy for the intro for
2:13
them, for the Camden Golden Eagles, for the Ferndale Golden Eagles. He's
2:17
almost like his own team size wise, he's a big boys, he's a
2:23
big cat if you are a big Eagle. So yeah, thank you to
2:27
Camden Raymond for that previous Tyler. You were out there at Ferndale. General
2:30
thoughts on the day first off? Actually, you know me, I'm a
2:35
little bit of a geek for stadiums and and what are we looking at?
2:39
Is it? Is it looking good out there? Is it gonna be rocking
2:43
and rolling when they've when the Golden Eagles first come home, Yeah, it's
2:46
gonna be awesome. You know. It works out pretty well too because they
2:50
have their home and opener in week three, so it's not right off the
2:53
bat and there's still construction going on there. You know, the the stadium's
2:59
pretty much done. But like even their first practice of the season, they
3:04
had to have that at Blaine because they were still working on the track.
3:07
I mean it was they were like finishing up the track, you know.
3:09
So it's very very fresh. Looks awesome, big, the big it's a
3:14
matter of pride. Sign is up. It's it looks good. It just
3:19
looks beautiful. It's weird though, as Ferndale playing on turf is just kind
3:23
of strange. They're just you know, they're so smash mouth and you think
3:25
of I think of like some really muddy, gritty, getty kind of games,
3:30
and but you know, it's just kind of the way things are going.
3:34
They can they can practice on it. It doesn't you know, tear
3:37
up other fields. It's not in the same place that the old field was,
3:40
so that kind of gives it kind of a weird vibe a little bit,
3:44
Like the Blaine one was put right on top of where the old one
3:46
was, so uh, the only thing about that was that the you know,
3:50
the stands were taken out and then they were put on the other side.
3:53
So you still kind of have a weird feeling about it, like it
3:57
does kind of feel new unless you look you know, east and west and
4:01
it kind of feels the same. At Ferndale, it looks like it's in
4:05
a whole completely new area completely. I mean, it's you know, it's
4:09
pretty cool and you see the brand new school off the side, and it's
4:13
it's awesome. It took me a while just to get in there. I
4:15
didn't know everything was gated off, and I had to kind of walk around
4:17
and everything, and they got my got my steps in. They were wandering
4:23
aimlessly over there. Yeah, oh, bright orange shorts, it's Tyler.
4:27
Yeah, well they were pink, the bright orange crocs going with the with
4:30
the pink shorts. H and yeah, and it was you know, it
4:33
was awesome. It was. It was a good atmosphere. It was on
4:36
the first it was a first of two two days on a Monday, and
4:41
and yeah, and the air quality wasn't too bad. So yeah, it
4:46
was good. Well. Coach Jamie Plankovic and his twenty season with the Golden
4:50
Eagles twenty fourth season overall. Uh, Tyler, you said, four seasons
4:55
at Sea home before coming over to Ferndale. Uh. Career record of one
5:00
eighty two and sixty four for coach Plankovich. They play their games at Ferndale
5:04
High School. I mean, I guess we don't know if there's a name
5:08
or anything for it yet. Uh. Yeah, I'm not I should have
5:11
asked coach Plankovich of his meaning to ask him that about if it's still going
5:14
to be a memorial field or not. And I just never got around to
5:17
asking him that. I was kind of I think he was kind of in
5:21
a hurry to he had a call coming in at the end. Anyways,
5:25
So but well, we'll find out. Well, if they want to name
5:28
it after walk On Preps, I'm sure we could strike a nil deal with
5:30
the stadium or uh yeah, I mean not like they got anybody they could
5:38
name it after up there, or or maybe they just call it, uh,
5:41
you know, Tyler Anderson Field. I mean, I like fink Bonner
5:45
Field, Pink Bonner Field. That sounds like something, sounds like something out
5:49
of like uh like what's that movie like ace Ventura? Yeah, like pink
5:57
Bonner Field. Yeah, and Tyler nine and three last season, I mean,
6:01
the heck of a season for these guys, coming off a seven and
6:04
three season the year before, basically kind of the same run of the mill
6:08
thing or run of the table and then just maybe a couple of extra playoff
6:12
games that they had here. So they did make it to the state quarterfinals
6:15
last season, but they lose some guys. I mean, and when I
6:19
say some guys, I'm talking three guys who are now playing football in the
6:26
the well the PAC twelve for the moment. But it's gonna be something else
6:29
here for all three of those. Actually, it's gonna be big ten for
6:30
all three of them here and about them about twelve months, but you know,
6:35
Landon Hatchet, Isaiah Carlson, Jake Mason, Gone, Jordan Mason,
6:40
Gunn, Zach Nielsen. We'll talk about him here in a minute. When
6:45
we get to the running backs, Damian Tony Gone. I mean, there's
6:47
some really really strong pieces here are gone. But you know, when you
6:51
look at the top attorneys, Tyler, there are a lot of names that
6:55
people know. I mean, Connor Walker, Campden Ram and Talent, Bung
6:59
Guard, Bitch Boots. These are guys that work very much, key players
7:02
and last year's squad and I'll tell you what, there's there's still enough talent
7:06
to go around. Let's just put it that way. And you know,
7:10
I think this coaching staff does a great job of finding the right fit for
7:14
guys and putting them in the right position, then getting a lot out of
7:17
their players. So, uh, it's gonna be interesting to see. We'll
7:19
start with quarterback. Those we go through the roster here and a name that
7:25
another one We're feel like we've been talking about this guy for quite a while.
7:28
And now Bishop Ootsy last year only attempted the sixty two passes, but
7:32
that seems like it's maybe even on the high a little bit for Ferndale,
7:34
but uh, sixty two passes attempted, four and twenty eight yards, just
7:40
four touchdowns. But that's that's their game, that's what they do. They
7:44
like to run the ball up there at Ferndale. And uh, Tyler Bishop
7:47
Ootsi. I mean, I don't know that there's much to say. If
7:49
people want to hear more from Bishop, they can go find the Quarterback the
7:53
Senior Quarterbacks podcast that you did with him, or podcast slash Zoom slash,
7:58
yes, that you did with him in a few other guys from around the
8:00
county. But yeah, Tyler Bishop boots, Yeah, just just an awesome
8:05
kid, first and foremost, I mean, a three sport athlete. Uh,
8:09
a winning attitude, awesome leader. And it looked pretty good throwing the
8:13
ball. You know, just kind of grown into the position a little bit.
8:16
Uh. You know, he was a running back growing up. I
8:18
mean, you know they all were at Ferndale probably so yeah. Uh and
8:24
then you know, turned into a quarterback once once the high school hit and
8:28
he's done. Well, he's he's just everybody just has so much love for
8:31
him and respect for him, and and uh, you know, I I
8:35
tell you what, uh, and I don't know if I have told this
8:39
story on the air, but just not that long ago, me and uh
8:43
miss walk and Press Uh we went into Edeline Dairy to to have some ice
8:48
cream and and right there in Ferndale now that we're residents of Ferndale, and
8:52
and there's Bishop Bootzy behind the behind the counter and he was able to help
8:56
us, and he made up one heck of a banana split for Lauras.
9:00
So I was about to say, did he did he give you know,
9:01
a little extra anything in there? Like yeah, yeah, I mean he
9:05
he packed it in pretty good. It was awesome, you know, And
9:07
we talked for a little bit, and it was funny because we've been in
9:09
there twice since then. The second time, they didn't have any bananas,
9:13
and so she was like, she looked at me, she goes, I
9:16
bet Bishop would go out by a banana right now. But he's such a
9:20
good kid, and I said, I know. And then so the third
9:22
time we went, she brought her own banana just in case. But they
9:26
but they did have bananas, but Bishop wasn't there last the last two times.
9:28
So uh, yeah, he's just an awesome kid, you know,
9:33
probably uh, you know, a three year starter on defense, and this
9:37
will be a second year starting on offense. I just I just love everything
9:41
about his game and his attitude, and he's he's a great interview, he's
9:46
he's he's you know, he's just everything you want in your leader of a
9:50
program. Tyler. I don't want to get too far off topic here,
9:52
but I think we got to give a little round of applause for miss walcom
9:56
preps. That's a hell of a move to bring your own your own banana.
10:00
Yeah it was. It was pretty awesome. Yeah that is. That's
10:03
damn impressive, Tyler. I'm just gonna say, like, that is that's
10:07
next level. I mean, it really is. What about running backs,
10:09
Tyler, I mean obviously Isaiah Carlson led you know, the world and pretty
10:15
much everything. It seems like last season, like what do you have like
10:18
eight hundred touchdowns rushing? I mean, I don't even know. But yeah,
10:22
he's gone. And there's a name that I kind of mentioned a little
10:26
bit earlier that we were expecting to come back and have a huge season that's
10:31
not there anymore. But you know what, talent bun Guard's back. Who
10:33
knows, maybe Phoenix Sphinx Bonner is gonna get some carries. Connor Walker,
10:37
what are we looking at here? Because we know that somebody's probably gonna rush
10:41
for a thousand, and I don't think there's any of the what do you
10:45
call it? What are the brothers? The three brothers that came through recently?
10:48
Oh yeah, yeah, I don't think there's another brocell is there?
10:54
I mean, what are we looking at in the backfield? No, it's
10:56
uh, you know, talent bun guard. I think it's gonna get a
10:58
pretty good chunk of it, you know, from that fullback spot. He's
11:01
just such a great straight ahead runner. It just always seems to pick up
11:07
big yards just going right up the middle. There's no there's not a ton
11:11
of dance to his game. You know, he's just he's just gonna go
11:13
straight up and and uh he it seems like he hits top speed once he
11:18
gets to the goal line, like he can shoot through that whole pretty well.
11:22
Good size too, at six one, two hundred and eight pounds,
11:24
and he's just a junior. And then it's gonna be interesting because you could
11:28
you might see some double wing, some different things because a lot of these
11:31
guys are kind of wing back guys. Connor Walker will primarily play in the
11:35
as the wing, and we've seen him split out wide, We've seen him
11:39
line up at quarterback. We've seen him do a lot of different things.
11:43
But he's really started to do well as a wing back last season and he'll
11:46
probably do more of that. He's you know, always six three two hundred
11:50
and ten pounds seeing her now, you know, just to utilize his speed
11:54
coming off the edge and stuff like that. Dylan Moore's another wing back,
11:58
six one, two hundred pounds. He's done really well over the last couple
12:01
of years. You mentioned Phoenix fink Bonner. Every time he seems like,
12:05
uh, he gets to come into the game and carry the ball. He's
12:09
he has some big plays. He's five eleven hundred and ninety five pounds.
12:13
He's kind of a full back type as well. So it's it's, you
12:16
know, finding that halfback spot is what's gonna be tough, and that's a
12:20
spot that you know Nielsen could have fit into perfectly. But they have a
12:24
guy Jacob Gandy at five eight hundred and eighty five pounds. He's a junior.
12:28
Uh, he's a big time wrestler. I love his toughness. Uh,
12:31
he could fit that spot pretty well. So they have a bunch of
12:35
different guys that could get in and get and get carries and and you know,
12:39
and when they when they don't, when they haven't relied on a one
12:41
main guy, they they're they're totally fine with five guys rotating in and out.
12:46
Sometimes they have guys that can play wing back or halfback. Sometimes guys
12:50
have guys that can play fullback or half back. So you know, they
12:54
have all those like those three specific running spots. But now I saw some
12:58
different things at practice. I saw some shock gun stuff. I saw,
13:01
you know, wing back, like I saw bun guard lined up at wing
13:03
and then and then goes in motion and takes it, you know, goes
13:05
back to the fullback spot and takes it carry right up the middle. So
13:09
you know they're gonna find ways to keep teams kind of off balance, and
13:13
you never know where these these running backs are coming from. All right,
13:16
let's talk about the receiving corps. I mean, they're not exactly known for
13:20
putting up big numbers, but Connor Walker, he's the leading receiver returning.
13:24
They only return nine total receptions and what are we looking at here about a
13:30
little over two hundred yards. Let's slay two hundred and twenty yards or so
13:35
and three touchdowns receptions. But we're talking about Connor Walker and Talent bun Guard
13:41
being the two guys that bring back the most. So those two guys,
13:43
we just talked about them getting a lot of the carries. So Tyler or
13:46
there's some names we need to know about that receiver. Yeah, Kevin Woods
13:52
is a senior that's kind of waited his turn. He's six three hundred and
13:54
fifty five pounds. He's he's gotten a lot more confident as the going into
13:58
his senior year. Now I think he could. I think he could.
14:01
You know, has a good size advantage. Speaking of size, how about
14:03
a six five, two hundred pounds senior eight and O'Toole he caught a pass
14:07
last year? He could you know? I mean think about these guys as
14:11
a wide receiver, and you know, you think about receivers at Ferndale,
14:15
they're asked to do it a lot of blocking. You put a six five,
14:18
two hundred pound guy on the on the outside there and imagine him blocking
14:20
downfield on some small corner. Uh, he could really get after it.
14:24
Hunter Wills as another kid about six four one hundred and eighty five pounds.
14:28
He's a junior. Those are kind of the three main split out wide guys.
14:33
You know, I could imagine, you know, uh, if they
14:35
if they go you know, double wide, or if they go twins,
14:39
you might see Connor Walker move from wing back to to like a slot receiver,
14:43
and you know you have to be ready for him. Yes, he
14:46
caught only six passes last year, but the year before I think it was
14:50
around thirty, so he definitely can catch the ball. He's a big time
14:54
receiving threat. But they're just gonna find the best ways to put it in
14:58
his hand. And then it tied end. They had to replace a great
15:01
one with with Jordan Mason, so he was All Conference first team. So
15:05
they have Lincoln Thomas who's a six one hundred and ninety five pound junior.
15:09
He's a former quarterback, so this is his first time playing the position.
15:13
He's he's kind of got that spot locked down, but a couple of seniors
15:18
are behind him. Will post six two hundred and ninety five pounds and Ryan
15:22
Jefferson a little bigger at six one, two hundred and twenty pounds, so
15:26
they got some depth at tight end, and you know a lot of times
15:30
again we that like, like we've talked about at Ferndale, if you're a
15:33
tight end, you're gonna be doing a lot of a lot of run blocking.
15:35
So that's what they'll be asked to do. And Ferndale's not gonna not
15:39
gonna change it up too much. They know what they do, and they
15:41
know it and they do it well. When we start looking at the offensive
15:46
lion Tyler, I mean, obviously Camden Raymond is uh, you know,
15:50
maybe one of the most important offensive lineman returning this year in Wacomb County.
15:54
I mean when you when you think about the things he's gonna be asked to
15:56
do this year. I look at the top returnee that we have here on
16:00
your preview, and I don't see a lot of linemen here. I mean
16:06
I see a couple of guys, but we're talking about losing some big names
16:10
as well. So, uh, they got I don't want to say they
16:12
have to rebuild it, but yeah, I gotta find some things that you
16:18
know, I don't want to say you don't have to plan for him either,
16:21
because obviously you knew that eventually those guys are gonna be graduating but we're
16:25
talking about losing two of the of the better guys in the last ten years
16:27
in the county and uh in Hatchett Mason. So I mean, what are
16:33
we looking at here? Who's the offensive line? Yeah, it's uh,
16:37
well, Camden Raymond. One of the first things I noticed at practice,
16:40
other than just you know, his polling ability and his aggressive style, is
16:45
that he was playing tackle, not guard. And so he's moved out to
16:48
quick tackle, which was where the Jake Mason has played the last three years,
16:53
and that that person's usually asked to do quite a bit, and so
16:57
they'll they'll use him there. He's got he's got really good quickness. He's
17:02
nasty, you know, on the on the sweeping blocks and different things like
17:06
that. He's he is like you said when when of the most important lineman
17:11
in Walcom County this year based on you know, leading his team and stuff
17:15
like that. Uh, there's another kid at the strong tackle. He started
17:18
there all last year, Cooper Herrick. At six five, two hundred and
17:21
seventy five pounds. As a as a senior, he was kind of that
17:25
unsung guy that just wasn't talked about very much. And maybe that's my fault,
17:29
but out of the five offensive lineman, he just wasn't brought up very
17:32
much. But he returns now, so after a big year of moving the
17:37
football, he knows what that what that takes. And you know, you
17:40
see a big six five, two hundred and seventy five pound guy out there
17:42
with a you know, giant man beard. I mean he's ready. You
17:45
know, he's uh, he looks very dominant. A kid that a lot
17:51
of people don't you know, know about, that aren't in the area,
17:55
is Kellen Lafaye. He's a kid that would have started last year at guard.
18:00
He had a great you know, spring and everything was ready and he
18:03
had a nasty injury, so he missed the entire season. I think he
18:06
got to play in that final playoff game. So he's fully recovered now.
18:11
So you kind of so look, so even though it appears that there's not
18:15
a lot of starters coming back, he kind of get three of them back.
18:18
You get, you know, you get a guy that started all year,
18:19
you get a guy that would have started all year, and you get
18:22
Camden Raymond. So those are the big three, uh, and then the
18:26
other couple. There's a couple other guys that are battling it out. It
18:29
looks like Colshan la Valley is a kid at six one, two hundred ninety
18:33
pounds, he's just a sophomore. H he could get he's been looking good.
18:37
And then as a junior at six feet tall two hundred and eighty five
18:41
pounds named Wyatt straight. So those are those might be the two kind of
18:45
leaders in the clubhouse. I'm not sure where they'll play center guard. Maybe
18:48
Kelly and lafaveall go play center. All I know is that who the two
18:52
tackles are going to be after that, Uh, it might be some mixing
18:56
and matching. We'll see it and how they line up on Friday now when
19:00
we flip it over to the defensive side of the ball, Tyler just in
19:03
the trenches, I mean, obviously Camden Raymond returns thirty three and a half
19:07
tackles seven tackles for a lost two and a half sacks last season. There's
19:12
not very many other names I really really recognize here. You mentioned Cooper Herrick,
19:18
but he only had one and a half tackles last year. So who
19:19
are the guys inside in the trenches. I don't want to say this is
19:22
a weakness for them, because they they're coached really well and they're gonna always
19:27
have guys. But I think right now there's just not very many names that
19:30
people know. Yeah, you're right, you know. Camden Raymond is this
19:33
will be his fourth year starting at defensive tackle, so he definitely is a
19:38
guy that will be leaned upon to put up some big numbers and do some
19:41
good things. That Colshan la Valley kid the sophomore, he could be next
19:48
to him at defensive tackle. Bit another big body at two hundred ninety pounds.
19:51
Camden Raymond right now is about six two two eighty and moving very very
19:55
well. The defensive vents spot. I think Kellen the Faith might be one
19:59
of them. And Phoenix Finkbonner moves from linebacker to play the other defensive end
20:03
get some speed out there. He's a great athlete and and he's he's just
20:07
got some physical to this to him, some toughness, no we I mentioned
20:11
it a lot last year. When he's kicking off, he's the one running
20:14
down and lighting the kicker turner up. So he's he wants to hit,
20:18
he wants to make plays. He's a senior now, five eleven hundred ninety
20:22
five pounds. I think that he could. He could, you know,
20:23
put up some numbers. I think at that defensive end spot they like to
20:26
have at least one of their defensive end have a lot of speed and and
20:30
he will kind of take over that that spot there. All right, let's
20:34
talk about linebackers. Always always got good linebackers there at Ferndale. Uh you
20:40
mentioned Phoenix Finkbonner moving down to the line, but Calm Bungard. I think
20:45
he's one of the best in the county at linebacker. I've always thought Connor
20:49
Walker was going to be a linebacker. Are they gonna put him in there
20:52
this year? Is he staying in the secondary? What's going on there?
20:56
Yeah? I thought so too. I mean, you know, he's accepted
20:59
the scholarship at Eastern Washington University as a linebacker. Yeah, And so I
21:03
was kind of thinking the same thing. I watched a little bit of you
21:07
know, some some seven on seven stuff that they were doing together. Uh,
21:12
you know at Ferndale, you know, uh, first team defense against
21:15
some scout offense, and he was playing strong safety. So he'll he'll stay
21:22
back there at strong safety, but you know, he'll he'll do different things.
21:25
I mean a guy like that that's that size, can come up in
21:26
the box and hit You're absolutely correct about talent bung Gard. He's a great
21:30
player on the inside. He was a blessing last year as a sophomore,
21:33
coming in for the injured JJ Noak and improving that he belongs. Has a
21:38
knack for the ball. Uh. You know you mentioned some of his numbers.
21:42
Five and a half tackles for lost, five fumble recoveries to lead walk
21:47
and count. I mean, he just has a nose for the ball.
21:48
Knockdown three passes, intercepted another two. Uh that middle linebackers. Not a
21:52
lot of teams run that four three, you know what I mean. And
21:56
and when you do that, you better have a really good middle linebacker.
21:59
They might not have too much of a middle linebacker. You might see some
22:03
more four two five sets, different things like that, but he'll definitely be
22:07
in the middle of the field, and he can he can play the run
22:10
equally as well as he plays the past. Other guys you could see in
22:12
there, Jacob Gandy I mentioned he actually he had a really good season two.
22:18
He's always only five eight hundred and eighty five pounds. You'd look at
22:22
him and think he could be like a strong safety, but he's just so
22:23
tough, and you know he can he can kind of hide behind some guys
22:27
and then he can step up and make a play as a linebacker. And
22:30
then Lincoln Thomas, the kid playing tight end, the former quarterback, he'll
22:36
be he's in the run two as a probably a starting linebacker. You mentioned
22:40
Connor Walker going to stay back there, and I'm looking here, I see
22:44
Bishop Bootsy. I look at the stats and I see eleven interceptions returning.
22:49
That's quite a good chunk of interceptions when you consider how much talent this team
22:53
is replacing. But Tyler on the back end, who are the who are
22:57
the guys that we need to know about him? Mean you mentioned potential four
23:00
two five. If they do that, we got another another dB to talk
23:03
about it here, So give me the guys on the back end. Yeah,
23:06
you're right. Well, Bishop Bootsy returns as his third year as a
23:10
corner. You know, he had a couple interceptions last year. I think
23:12
he had three as a sophomore. So he's just he just has a great
23:17
nose for the ball. He can he can lock down his guy and and
23:21
always does a fantastic job as a as a corner. Kevin Woods will probably
23:26
play that other corner spot. He got a little bit of time last year,
23:29
especially when Walker got hurt. They moved Bishop to safety and then Kevin
23:33
Woods kind of came in, so he was he was that third corner last
23:34
year. Uh and and now he'll he'll step right into the starting spot there.
23:41
Uh as a you know, as a in the safety spot. If
23:44
they do a four two five, you know you could see Connor Walker and
23:48
Dylan Moore likely be this kind of the strong safety guys. And Connor Walker,
23:52
I mean five interceptions last year. I think he had you know,
23:56
three as a sophomore, so he's been racking those up. Forty five and
24:00
a half tackles. He can hit you. He's good size, great great
24:06
speed. I mean he came out in the track team and was was just
24:08
he runs that two hundred. I love guys that run the two hundred and
24:11
see them turn turn that bend and they just shoot out of there. Uh.
24:15
Boys, he's one of those kids. And then aid O'Toole, you
24:18
know, six foot five playing free safety. You know he could be back
24:23
there and making plays. So you kind of have good size and you know,
24:27
I would definitely say the biggest strength of this Ferndale team is their secondary
24:32
I just there's so much returning talent and and not just like guys that are
24:37
returning, but really good like they're just good players, you know. I
24:41
mean, you can have a bunch of guys that are coming back, but
24:42
if they don't produce, it doesn't mean anything. And these guys have produced
24:45
over the last couple of years. I think the most impressive stat I see
24:49
here, how the heck did talent bun guard come up with five fumble recoveries
24:56
that he just has a nose for the ball man. I mean, it's
25:00
unbelievable. They might have been in five separate games and he didn't force any
25:04
of them, you know. I mean a lot of times, you know,
25:08
you'll see a guy pop the ball and then get it, or a
25:11
guy that will take the ball away from you or whatever. Uh. You
25:15
know, Jason Gillory was great at that. He would just wrestle the ball
25:18
away from you and just have it. And yeah, he just if the
25:22
ball's on the ground, he's the first one there. He you know,
25:26
and he's got good hands. I Mean I've seen some you know the game
25:27
that you're at. That was against uh Stanwood. I believe there was a
25:32
weird player where the ball kind of bounced funny and he just he just scooped
25:34
it right up. I mean he just you know, he got it and
25:37
fell forward and and you know that was early on in the game. Uh.
25:41
He's just he's got good hands, he's he's a he's a he's an
25:45
infielder, I think he and he's got great speed. I think he led
25:48
Walcom County was seventeen stolen bases. So with that kind of size and speed
25:52
and athleticism and just knowledge and a nose for the ball. Uh, he's
25:56
he's a fun one to watch. He sure he isn't afraid to stick his
26:00
nose into things either. No, not at all, Tyler. I mean
26:03
I would think five fumble recoveries in a season's gotta be. I mean,
26:07
I can't imagine too many guys having more than that in a season. Yeah,
26:12
I mean it is a lot. It is a lot. I want
26:17
to say, like if they want to say, like eight might be the
26:21
record that it's from, you know, from what I've gathered. I mean
26:23
obviously haven't gone back and done all the defensive stats, but five is a
26:26
lot and in one season. Yeah. I mean that's like when you when
26:30
you look at a quarterback and they hit a they hit a high number and
26:33
you go, wow, it's a it's a lot of touchdown passes. You
26:36
know, it's like five fumble recoveries. That's just not a number you see
26:40
very often. Like some guys have two, three, maybe, yeah,
26:42
four is like, oh wow, he had a nice season. The five
26:45
is like wow, like how do you have five when you you know,
26:49
I mean, that's that's that's like a half a game almost, you know
26:52
what I mean, Like, yeah, I don't know, it's pretty wild.
26:56
Now in the kicking game, Tyler obviously Phoenix Finkbonner, we talked about
26:59
him a lot of any but we haven't even talked about him at the spot
27:00
that most people probably know him Matt, which is kicking and uh so he
27:04
returns. What else were we looking for as far as the the special teams
27:10
game. Well, the good thing is that he returns as a place kicker
27:14
and kicking off and punting. You know, he's back to do all all
27:17
three of those things, which is you know, a huge, huge deal.
27:21
I think that that's and that's always been a staple too at Ferndale.
27:26
Uh, and he's back to do all those things, you know in the
27:29
return game. Uh, there could be a slew of different guys. You
27:33
could see Connor Walker back there, Kevin Woods, you know, those are
27:37
both guys that have have done that in the past. Jacob Gandy could do
27:41
it. Uh, that's and that's a spot that you know, I was
27:45
kind of thinking that's another spot where Zach Nielsen would have been. But Connor
27:48
Walker is a guy that, uh, you want to get the ball in
27:53
his hands as many times as possible. And it was funny because I was
27:56
talking to coach Blankovic about it, and a lot of coaches have that have
28:00
a mindset of putting younger guys back there to kind of give their starters a
28:04
break, and and he was kind of the complete opposite about it. He
28:08
just kind of said, we during a course of a game, we're always
28:12
finding ways. We want to find ways to get the ball to a guy
28:18
a star in space and have him create and he goes on kickoffs and punts.
28:22
That's they're just giving it to us to do that. So you know,
28:26
he likes to have you know, a guy back there. Ryan Pelton
28:30
returning kickoffs or you know whatever, Jacob Rocel and somebody you know you can
28:33
rely on. Yeah, right, kind of like when the Seahawks had Brian
28:37
Walters back there. You know, he wasn't gonna fumble. He might just
28:41
only call for a fair catch, but at least he knew you were getting
28:42
the ball. Yeah. Absolutely. By the way, in nineteen ninety one,
28:47
Rob Bauma of Lyndon Christian had eight fumble recoveries. Wow, I mean
28:52
that is just a ridiculous number of fumble recoveries. It is. It is.
28:56
Oh my goodness, I was just kind of looking that up. But
29:00
yeah, so so yeah, So the special teams I think is gonna be
29:03
another strength for this team. I mean, you know, you return all
29:07
that stuff, you return the you know, some returners, and it's just
29:11
a really really positive thing overall for the Golden Eagles. Now, Tyler,
29:15
when we look at the schedule here, it looks like it's just a straight
29:18
flip from last season, starting off at Linden at Oak Harbor, and then
29:23
you mentioned it earlier that first home game at the at the new stadium there
29:27
against Glacier Peaka, a team that really put it on him last year.
29:33
It was forty two to fourteen down there at luman Field, the Seahawks Stadium,
29:37
and then they get so they actually start league playing week two, but
29:41
then go back to non league in week three, and then they get right
29:44
back into it there with at Arlington home versus pill Chuck, at Getchell Home
29:48
versus Mount Vernon home versus Stanwood, and then week nine will be a Westcoat
29:55
crossover. So last year they crossed over, went down and smacked around Monroe
29:59
a little bit down there, and then you know, if all goes is
30:02
planned for those guys, week ten will be a playoff game somewhere. Last
30:06
year they they had Seattle Prep and then they beat Kelso in the first round
30:10
of the state tournament before losing in the quarterfinals. When you look at this,
30:15
Tyler, I mean, first off, I think we all know the
30:17
game that you're looking at the most, which would be Linden because that's the
30:19
one welcome county game they got. But how about some out of non league
30:26
or games outside the county that you look at and you go, you know
30:29
what they used to play? These guys are a lot or you know anything
30:32
like that with the schedule, Yeah, a few of them. You know,
30:34
it's it's it's I mean, I'm super glad they have their own stadium
30:38
obviously, but it was kind of a blessing when they played at Blaine for
30:42
me only not only because I could walk to the game, but because they
30:45
played a lot of Thursdays and Saturdays there, so yes, I was able
30:49
to see a lot. Now it's you know, looks like straight up Friday
30:52
games, and and that's awesome for them. Obviously. The Linden one is
30:56
a big one that's gonna draw a ton of fans. It's always it's always
31:00
a fun game to go to. I'm excited about the Glacier Peat game,
31:03
the opening of the stadium. I just want to be there for that.
31:07
I love the history and and to be a kind of a part a moment
31:11
of history would be really cool to be at that first game. I didn't
31:14
get to go to the first game at the new Blaine stadium. It was
31:17
the COVID year, so there was kind of restrictions and stuff like that.
31:21
And you know the game, uh, you know, they used to play
31:25
Mount Vernon, a ton that used to be a league opponent, So uh,
31:27
that one, that one should be That one should be pretty cool.
31:30
I'm glad they're playing it at home because I can't stand watching film of games
31:33
that are at Melt and the Stand. The stand would one, I mean,
31:38
that was a knockdown, drag out game last year. Uh yeah,
31:44
you were there, uh, and so I would expect that one to be
31:48
you know, pretty uh pretty physical. Uh maybe a few other things,
31:53
but yeah, I think that would be a good one to go to too.
31:57
So there there, there's a lot of them. It's weird because you
32:00
know, Ferndale's a team. Like when I start charting out where I'm gonna
32:04
go and everything, I'm always trying to hit at least to see every team
32:07
three full like like twelve quarters. Basically, yea, I might go to
32:13
a half here, a half there, but I want to see every team
32:15
live on the sideline for twelve quarters. And so I always kind of charted
32:20
out and I look and I'm like, man, I gotta get Ferndale in
32:22
there. And the reason why I never usually think about going there is because
32:24
they're not playing a Walking County team. I'm trying to knock out two walking
32:28
County teams at the same time. So so I'm trying to make a more
32:30
concerted effort to do that. And yeah, so those but that that's what's
32:36
cool about this season. There's a handful of games that I'm actually very interested
32:38
in, so so I'll definitely be able to make those. Yeah, and
32:42
I'll tell you what, Marysville Pilchuck. I think that's a team that struggled
32:45
last year with a new head coach. But and they've replaced a ton from
32:49
the year before. But that's a team that I think maybe made some strides
32:52
this year a little bit. And uh, I think they'll be better.
32:55
I think they will be a better team and could be a could be a
32:59
real good game out there at the new stadium. So yeah, and you
33:02
know what, you know, the Arlington one, even though it's at Arlington,
33:07
and you know, I don't I have the big bubble around Walking County
33:08
or you know, and I'm trying to drive, I always hit the bubble
33:12
because I can't leave the county. But I went to Arlington for a scrimmage,
33:17
you know, back in back in June. So I and that's I
33:22
know it's a weird thing, but that I need that familiarity of being at
33:25
a place before I feel really comfortable about going there on a Friday night,
33:30
and so I kind of feel comfortable about that, and so I could I
33:31
could make that one. That was a heck of a game last year when
33:35
they played and Arlington likes to air it out, and so it's kind of
33:38
that ground versus air game, and so that might be a fun one.
33:42
It's gonna be It's gonna be a fun season. Yeah, I'm excited for
33:45
I think there's a lot of questions to be answered by Ferndale, But I
33:49
also look at that roster and go, you know what, there's already some
33:52
answers in place, or there's some guys that could step up and be some
33:55
answers, you know. And obviously we know that they're gonna be well coached,
33:59
they're gonna be well prepared, they're gonna have, you know, the
34:01
coaching staff is going to be ready to go. So it's gonna be interesting
34:05
to see. Now, Tyler, when we talk about the breakout player,
34:07
you like the list here, I'm seeing the name that you've mentioned quite a
34:10
few times so far on both offense and defense, Jacob Gandy, junior running
34:15
back and linebacker. Tyler, what is it about Jacob gandhy Well, he
34:19
there were little spots last year, especially on defense, where he really stood
34:22
out to me. And it's so funny because especially with Ferndale over the like
34:28
last year, they had so many guys that were playing that had been playing
34:30
for so long. You know, it's like you get used to see in
34:34
number sixty six and sixty five and and you know, twenty two, and
34:38
like you just see these numbers, and so I already know who they are,
34:42
and I'm charting the game and I'm taking stats and everything, and I
34:45
just kept seeing like number five and I never had to go to my roster
34:49
so many times for the same kid. You know, I'm like, who
34:52
is that. I'm like, oh, it's Gandy. Why why am I
34:54
not picking that up? Everything? He just kept making plays and I had
34:59
to knock it into my head, like you better remember who this kid is.
35:01
And you know, by a few games into it, I did remember.
35:05
He kept making plays, and I just thought, man, this kid's
35:07
just a sophomore. He's really dynamic. And I think a lot of you
35:10
know, the biggest jumping you see a lot of the time, is that
35:14
a sophomore to junior season and just physical growth. Confidence, Uh, you
35:19
know, you know, the knowledge of the game, everything just kind of
35:22
jumps and he's kind of fitting all those categories. And you know, if
35:27
anyone's gonna benefit to the to the absence of Zach Nielsen, I think it's
35:31
really gonna be Jacob Gandy. I mean, he would have played a lot
35:35
with Nielsen playing anyways, but now I think he could be featured even more,
35:38
especially on the offensive side of the ball. So I just really think
35:42
he's gonna have, you know, a huge, huge season. I mean,
35:45
he only carried the ball eight times last year. I mean he could
35:46
he could carry the ball, you know, one hundred and twenty times this
35:50
year. I would not be surprised. So I expect some really good things
35:52
out of him. All right, Tyler, anything else, final word?
35:57
Anything before we get out of here. I mean, other than that's it,
36:00
that's all. We'll talk to you guys next season. Well, yeah,
36:05
I just I just love these Uh, I just I just love these
36:08
uh previews. I know it's so fun. And you know, I when
36:12
I was really young, I used to like write up my own previews like
36:15
by hand, and for what I thought was God, I mean, I
36:17
wasn't going to practices. This is when I was like fourteen years old,
36:21
you know, and yeah, and so I it's so cool to be able
36:27
to actually do this and and have you know a few people read it.
36:30
It's it's it's unbelievable. I'm just so thankful for all the fans and and
36:36
uh and the people, the listeners and and everyone that's excited about high school
36:39
football being back again. And and hope to see everybody out there on the
36:45
sidelines, and and I'll have stickers ready hopefully, and we'll be good to
36:50
go. Did you get more stickers? I still have some left over,
36:54
believe it or not, because when I moved from Blaine to Firdale, I
36:57
found something. Oh so I I found a few more sheets of them,
37:00
So I'll have some ready to go. We will have code words. I
37:05
guess that's something else we got to put in for tomorrow. Tyler. A
37:08
quick reminder. You can subscribe to the podcast here on wacom Preps if you
37:15
go find the podcast itself and then click the little subscribe button. You can
37:20
also do it over on Spreaker, Apple Podcast. Whatever it is you have,
37:24
you can subscribe to it there get notifications when we post something new.
37:29
One of the things we're posting tomorrow we will have a week one preview,
37:32
predictions, fantasy picks, look at all eight games on the schedule. And
37:37
now that I just remembered code word for Tyler to give you some some some
37:42
free stickers there from Walcome Preps. So yeah, other than that, that's
37:46
it. That's all we've got. All ten teams have been previewed now and
37:51
you can find it all over on wacom preps dot com. He's Tyler Anderson.
37:54
I'm Rylan Spencer. You've been listening to the twenty twenty three Ferndale Golden
37:58
Eagles team preview. We will talk to you Mark