Latest / Whatcom Preps Podcast / Whatcom Preps Podcast Episode 431 - 2026 Ferndale Golden Eagles Football Preview

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Whatcom Preps Podcast Episode 431 - 2026 Ferndale Golden Eagles Football Preview · Whatcom Preps Podcast

• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Greetings and welcome into the Whatcom Preps podcast. This is
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: episode 431, the 2026 Ferndale football preview, and I am
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Tyler Anderson of Whatcom Preps. Again, I love doing these previews.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: It's a new batch of kids all the time, but
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: with the Golden Eagles, even though they did lose some
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: key players, it's a lot of the same kids coming back,
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: so that'll be really fun to talk about. We'll start
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: off with the head coach, Jamie Plankovich, who's now in
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: his 23rd season with the Ferndale Golden Eagles. How about that?
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: 27th season overall as a head coach in Whatcom County,
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: with a career record of 200 wins to just 78 losses.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: That 200th win was quite memorable last year, with that
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: state play-in win over Cheney on the road, 35-34. Pretty amazing.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Last season, going 5-6, but making the state playoffs. The
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: big losses for this year that have graduated, Colson LaValle,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Jonathan Stanek, Ryder Bevan, Nolan Boliak. Those are kind of
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: the main four that have moved on. But a lot
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: of key players return, and we'll get into that in
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: a little bit when we start going through the positions here.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: Look at last season's results. And like I said, a
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: 5-6 record. It was kind of an up-and-down season, but
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: finished strong. Last year they began the season in a
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: 38-8 loss against Linden. They turned around and beat Oak
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Harbor 39-14. Then defeated Marysville-Getchel 41-14. Lost a shootout to
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Mount Vernon 42-33. Lost to Stanwood 21-14. Turned around and
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: defeated Snohomish 15-14 in a game-winning two-point conversion at the
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: end there. Lost to one of the best teams in
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: the entire state, Lake Stevens 38-7 in a game I
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: thought they played extremely well in. Lost to Cedro Woolley 33-7.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: And then in their crossover Westco game, defeated Edmonds Woodway 35-27.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: which allowed them to get into a state play-in game
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: where they were a big underdog on the road against Cheney.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: They won that game 35-34. Really just a crazy game.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: If you have NFHS capabilities, I would suggest going back
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: and watching that game. It was just a great high
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: school football game, which meant they made it to the
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: state playoffs at the 3A classification level. albeit the 16 seed,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: which meant you had to go on the road and
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: play top seeded O'Day. And the Irish took care of
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: business there, 49 to zero. So a five and six
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: record for the Golden Eagles last year. The schedule's a
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: little different this year. The Westco 3A is not north
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: and south anymore. It's north, central, and south. So there's
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: fewer teams in each division of the conference. meaning not
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: as many league games. You can open it up to
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: more non-league games. They do play a couple other Westco
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: 3A teams in their non-conference play that are from different divisions.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: For example, they're going to start off the season hosting
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: Everett on Friday night, the 4th, and that's one of
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: those games. The next week, they will have an 8 p.m. game.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: Keep that in mind, an 8 p.m. game at Edmonds Woodway.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: And that's because that stadium hosts like four different teams.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: And so they always have double headers on Friday nights.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: I think they're like at five 30 and eight or
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: something like that. So it will be an 8 PM
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: game in week two on the road at Edmonds Woodway.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Then they'll come back and host Linden in week three
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: and then host Glacier Peak in week four. So those
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: are the non-league games. And then they'll go into league
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: where it's at Mount Vernon, hosting Oak Harbor at Stanwood
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: at Cedral Woolley. So, yeah, I mean, it's... And then
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: in week nine, they don't have a scheduled game. They
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: will play a crossover with another Wesco 3A team to
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: determine if they can get another round of 32 and
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: so on and so forth. So that's kind of how
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: it works in the 3A. So no Marysville Getchell on
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: the schedule, no Snohomish on the schedule. So a little
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: different than last year. And, you know, I'll be honest,
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: the rest of the Westco 3A North, I'm very unfamiliar
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: with just because I don't follow those teams. The only
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: time I see these teams is when they play Ferndale, really.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: So Mount Vernon, I mean, you know, last year they
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: had some playmakers. I know they've returned a really good
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: wide receiver. Oak Harbor has kind of up and down years.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: You never really know. Stanwood got Ferndale last year, usually.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: a strong running team, but we'll have to wait and see.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: And then Cedro Woolley, he's always very, very good, you know,
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  Speaker 1: kind of ranked in that top 10 in the state
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: year after year. Tremendous program there. A lot of, you know,
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: machine-like offense inside handoffs. They just execute extremely well, so
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: you know they'll be in the mix for sure. So
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: it's going to be probably a really tight league, and
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: it's just going to be how does Ferndale play? get
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: through that? You know, can they get through it being
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: one of the top teams and, and then, you know,
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: do well in the crossover and then get into a
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: state play in game and just go from there. So yeah,
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: it'll be, it'll be really, really exciting. Like I said,
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: a lot of players come back. Let's start off at
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: the quarterback position. That's not a position where the player
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: comes back. We have a new starting quarterback, much like
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: a lot of the walking County. So Sawyer Saab, will
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: take over at quarterback. I watched a lot of seven-on-seven
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: stuff over the summer, and I know you're thinking, Ferndale, seven-on-seven?
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: But no, they did a lot of seven-on-seven stuff, and
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: he throws a really smooth pass. It looks effortless. It
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: looks very catchable, and that's great to have at the
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: high school level. You see some people that are really
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: trying to just you know, throw it hard all the
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: time and it has like a downward thing and it's
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: not very accurate. And, um, you know, he's, he's, he's
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: kind of got it. I like the way the ball
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: comes off his hand. So I'm really excited. I know
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: for an L doesn't throw a ton, but it's nice
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: to have that. And, um, you know, coach was saying
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: that he's really elevated himself, uh, in the off season
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: and become, you know, the guy to have at quarterback.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: So really excited to see what Sawyer Saab does and,
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: at quarterback this year, returning at running back could be
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: the best player in Whatcom County, Elliot Lenson, uh, last year,
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: 192 carries for 1,442 yards and 10 touchdowns. The average
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: seven and a half yards, a carry. He is a
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: home run threat every time he touches the ball. Um,
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: and to have him back along with most of their
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: offensive line, which we'll get into later, uh, Wow. That is,
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: that's a luxury that a lot of teams do not have.
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: So his explosiveness, his ability to change speeds, to cut,
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: to plant and go his balance. I mean, he, he
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: just stays on his feet constantly. And then, and then
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: the home run threat, he can break away from, from defenders. So,
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: you know, that's a, that's a huge, huge thing for
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: that offense, especially with a lot of the misdirection and
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: all sorts of different things. And, And that, that wing
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: T offense and seeing who has the ball. And before
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: you know it, he's gone. So he's going to be again,
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: a major key to that offense. And we'll see if
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: he can replicate what he did last year. And if
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: he does, you might see them get back to the
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: state playoffs again. Other than that, it's a lot of
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: guys that don't have a, that didn't have a ton
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: of varsity carries last year, I should say, but you know,
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: there's not, there's not, you know, it's not that there's no,
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: not talent in that, in the, in these spots. And that's,
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: what's fun to see. I'm really curious to see why
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: Royals at the fullback spot. And we played a, he
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: played some, had some sparing moments as a sophomore that
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: were kind of eyeopening. And I thought, okay, when this
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: guy gets older, he's going to take over and he's
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: going to be great. Last year he was injured. So
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: we only, he only had 12 carries for 70 yards,
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: averaging nearly six yards to carry. So this year, um,
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: He's going to be a force in that fullback spot,
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: just those dives and traps and different things. I think
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  Speaker 1: that he's really going to be able to hit that
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: hole and be explosive. And he's a low center of gravity.
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: I mean, he's smaller in stature as far as height goes,
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: but he's very strong, you know, and just that low
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: center of gravity and that bowling ball force that you're
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: going to have to tackle. I'm really excited to see
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: what he does at fullback. So I think that those
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: two spots are kind of set. You might have some
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: different looks at wingback. You could see Johnny Mahaffey back there.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: You could see Brock Huick back there. Or Huick. or
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: I'm trying to know how to say his name. And
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: those are kind of the main two guys. Huick's more
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: of a physical player. Johnny Mahaffey is more of a speedster.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: So it could depend on, you know, play calling or
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: what the game is presenting them at the time. Caleb
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: Vincent as another backup, Michael Belyatsky, Lucas Bailey. These are
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: all guys that had some carries last year. So it's
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: a deep room at the running back spot, which is
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: usually the case for the Ferndale Golden Eagles. What's usually
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: not a deep room is the wide receivers. And so
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: they pretty much just split one out at a time.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: They might go two every once in a while, but
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: it's usually the wingback that kind of joins the other
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: wide receiver teams. Parker McManus is kind of separating himself
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: as the main wide receiver. Didn't play a ton of
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: it last year and was more, you know, defensive and
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: special teams. But this year being a wide receiver is
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: a good, really, really good athlete. And then joined by
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: Luke Bader, who could be a wide receiver in some
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: really circumstantial spots where, you know, you see a third
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: and goal at the five and, Luke Bader, who is 6'7,
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: at least, split out wide, throw the ball up to him.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: He's a big-time shot blocker on the basketball court, turning
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: up for football this year. We'll have to wait and
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: see what kind of impact he could have. I think
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: it could be great. Um, so that could be something
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: a little, you know, another added weapon there for the,
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: for the golden Eagles, uh, Johnny Mahaffey, like I said earlier,
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: a wing back, he could be split out like a slot, uh,
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: every once in a while. He did have three catches
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: last year, but he averaged over 30 yards of catch.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: So like I said earlier, he's a speedster. Um, he's
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: hard to, he's hard to capture, you know, he's just
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: like a water bug just running around and, and, um, he's,
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: he's so fast and, So that's a nice weapon to have.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: Elliott Lenson coming out of the backfield had eight catches
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: last year. I think he had maybe more than that
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: as a sophomore. Blake Singson is another kid that's a
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: senior now. He had a couple catches last year. So
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: you have some guys that have some varsity experience, even
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: on the outside for the Ferndale Golden Eagles. At the
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: tight end spot, returning Chance Hatchet is huge. What a
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: playmaker he was last year just as a sophomore. 19
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: catches for 252 yards. three touchdowns. I think he could
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: approve on those numbers even. And he's a great blocker
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: in the run game. So he's kind of that perfect
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: tight end to have in this kind of offense. And
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: if you let him leak out, he will make the
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: catch and he'll make you pay. Other guys, they have
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: a lot of guys that they really like at this
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: tight end spot. So look for Trevor Cutts, Mason Cash,
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: Carter Hayes, Hank Whitaker. Hank Whitaker, a former lineman, that
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: is really physical and athletic. And so you could see
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: him as an extra tight end as well. And they might,
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: I mean, the line is so strong and the tight
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: end room is so deep, you know, you might see some,
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: some different things. You might see multiple tight ends or
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: tight ends lined up outside or in at the wing or,
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: you never know. I mean, they've got, they just have
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: a lot of options to play with. And that's, what's
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: really fun with this kind of offense is you could
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: do so many things and you might know that Elliot
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: Lenson is going to get the ball 20 times, but
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: you don't know how it's coming and, and all those things.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: And you, and if you have seven or eight, you know,
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: big time, strong guys blocking ahead of you with these
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: extra tight ends and different things, It could be a
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: long night for the other team. So pretty excited about that.
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about this offensive line here. Obviously, Colson LaValle graduating,
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: you know, three-year starter, that's a big blow to the team.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: But my goodness, around him, all these guys return. Trey Munson,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: Braden Hendrickson, Braden Arps, Peace Windwalker. These guys are crazy.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: really big, strong, physical kids that all returned that played
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: a lot of varsity last year. And Mason Button shown
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: who's grown from about five, 10 to six, two and
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: gotten much bigger and much more physical. We'll take over
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: that center spot. And there you go. Now you got
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: your five dudes up front and they look to be
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: loaded and ready to go, which is another huge thing
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: for that running game and the protection of a brand
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: new quarterback. So, really like how things are looking right
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: now for the Ferndale golden Eagles. Uh, let's go to
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: the defensive side of the ball on the defensive line. Uh,
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: inside it's kind of those same guys, Trey Munson, Braden
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: Hendrickson are, are two guys that are right at like
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: 300 pounds each. They can move their athletic, um, And that's,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: that is going to be a lot of trouble for
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: opposing teams to try to, I mean, if you're going
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: to double one, you know, good luck because the other
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: one's going to probably get through and cause something. It
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: might not be a tackle for loss or it might
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: not even be a hurry, but it could cause a
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: running back to change his direction, slow things down where
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: another kid makes the play. And that's the dirty work
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: that those interior defensive linemen do that, makes a winning
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: football team. And then their backups are Braden Arps and
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: Peace Windwalker. And these are guys that could be starting
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: on a lot of other teams on the interior of
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: a defensive line, but you'll be able to rotate these guys.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: They all start on the offensive line. So you gotta,
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: you gotta rotate the best you can see who needs
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: a breather. But again, now these guys aren't 300 pound guys,
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: but they're 245 pound guys and they might, be able
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: to get in there and show some quickness and make
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: plays behind the line of scrimmage. Now with the four-man front,
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: you're going to have those two defensive ends. Look for
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: Wyatt Broyles to be on one side. He really got
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: after it as a defensive player a couple years ago.
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: And then, you know, last year he was hurt. He
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: only had eight tackles last year, but I'm excited to
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: see him coming off the edge and making plays in
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: the backfield and whether it's against the run or the
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: pass and Mason Cash is another kid, defensive end, Lucas Bailey,
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: and Jaden Johnson Pruitt, who did some great things last year.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: He knocked down three passes. He intercepted a pass, 16,
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: 16 tackles, one and a half tackles for loss. So
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: you could look for him to make some plays behind
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage as well. You know, talking about the,
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: the big guys up front, you know, Trey Munson had
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: 12 tackles, one and a half tackles for loss. He
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: also had two fumble recoveries. as did Braden Hendrickson. So
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: those two big guys in the middle combined for four
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: fumble recoveries, they make plays, and they're going to push
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: that line up front. What we've seen a lot in
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: the NFL, too, if you think about it, is it
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: used to be the edge rusher was a big deal,
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: and it kind of transformed with Aaron Donald, Chris Jones,
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: those kind of guys where the interior push is becoming
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: almost more of what you want. And that looks like
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: what the Golden Eagles have here with these big guys
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: in the middle. And you look at the Seahawks with
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy. I mean,
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: those are interior defensive linemen that are, you know, you're
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: going to cause a lot of havoc. And so that's
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: kind of what they're looking to do. uh, at the
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: inside linebacker spot chance hatchet returns with 58 and a
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: half tackles last year, nine tackles for lost two force
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: fumbles and interception, a pass broken up. So he's, he's
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: one of the best linebackers, if not the best in
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: the entire County and just a junior Mason button shown
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: Joe joins him. Uh, now he'll be probably inserted into
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: that starting lineup. He was a backup last year with
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: eight and a half tackles. Like I said, he looks
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: a lot more physical and, um, and he's just grown.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: I mean, you know, when you become, when you, when
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: you have that growth spurt, it really hits and you
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: turn out for, you know, you come out to the
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: football practice and it's noticeable. He looked, he looked great
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: out there. So that was really fun to see. And
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: then they kind of have like the nickelback spot. And,
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: you know, it could be, could be Brock Hewitt, could
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: be Michael Belyatsky. They'll just have to see, you know,
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: a player that's going to be playing kind of more,
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: you know, on the inside, not so much on the edge.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: You want those physical kids there. And then Elliot Lenson
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: is a strong safety. So he'll be up in the
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: box on certain plays and against running teams or certain
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: formations or down in distances. He had 58 or I'm sorry,
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: 57 tackles last year, three and a half tackles for loss,
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: three passes broken up. Um, so he's, he's a force
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: and he's just a tremendous football player. Uh, And then
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: the other guys in the secondary, you look for Parker
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: McManus to kind of take over that cornerback spot. He
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: was a free safety last year. Last year he had 35.5 tackles,
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: six passes broken up, two interceptions, a tackle for loss,
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: and a fumble recovery. He'll be moving out to the
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: corner spot. And then moving from corner to free safety
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: will be Johnny Mahaffey, who last year had 33 tackles,
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: seven passes broken up, and a fumble recovery. I think
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: it's just kind of a natural fit for him to
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: go to free safety. He's so fast. He can cover
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: a lot of ground back there, and then he just
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: has to wait. and look and see what is coming.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: Like I said in that Nickelback spot, Brock Hewitt last year, 29.5 tackles,
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: two passes broken up, and a fumble recovery. So a
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: lot of varsity experience there. Should do a pretty good job.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: In special teams, it's one of the few teams that
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: returns their kicker. So That'll be nice to have as
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: Parker McManus comes back. He kicked 26 extra points last year.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: He could be doing the punting too as well. Nolan
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: Boliak did it last year, so the punting job is open.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: Jackson Waslin is another kid that could be doing the punting.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: Sometimes when I talk to these coaches, it's pretty early
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: in the game and they haven't really practiced much punting yet.
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: But those are the two that you could see. In
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: the return game, obviously, Elliot Lenson last year was dynamic
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: in kickoff and punt returns, averaging over 30 yards a
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: kickoff return last year and 8.5 yards per punt return.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: But you could see other guys. You could see Parker McManus,
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: Johnny Mahaffey. There's those kinds of guys back there, Brock Hewick,
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: Wyatt Broyles. So they have a lot of guys that
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: have experience doing that. You talk to a lot of coaches,
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: especially in the punt return game where you just want
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: them to catch the ball. You know, uh, Ferndale plays
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: on that turf. A lot of these opponents play on turf.
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, I don't know if Ferndale
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: has a game on natural grass this year and you
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: just want a guy to catch the punt so it
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: doesn't land and then bounce another 20 yards. So, you know,
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: just go and get it. That's the big thing. If
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: you can return it, great. Uh, so we'll have to
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: see on that, but. But that's kind of how the
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: Golden Eels look this year. There's a lot to like.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of returners. The league is a little different,
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: so there's more non-league games to figure things out. I
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: think last year, they used to always start off with Linden,
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: and then they'd play a league game right away, whether
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: it was Oak Harbor or somebody like in Week 2.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: And this year, the league games don't start until October.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: So you really have some time to figure out, answer
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: maybe some questions. If there's a position battle, get some
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: guys in there, try to figure it out. So there's
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: really good things there. And really excited about the Golden
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: Eagles this year. Obviously the coaching staff is fantastic, been
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: doing it a long time. And it's a great stadium.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: Even though they do the light show after a touchdown,
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: which freaks me out if I'm on the sideline and
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: I can't get a good picture. But hey, I get it.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: That's okay. That's okay. Do your thing, Ferndale. And, yeah,
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: it's going to be awesome. So really excited about the
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: Golden Eagles this year. And we'll be back at it
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: tomorrow morning when the Sehome football preview comes out. So
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: be ready for that. But you've been listening to episode 431,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: the 2026 Ferndale football preview. I am Tyler Anderson of
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: Walker Preps, and I will talk to you tomorrow.