Eagles eliminate Ferndale and return to state tournament

In a city where Decatur High School has gotten a lot of attention on the football field, Federal Way High School is having an excellent year of its own.

After defeating Ferndale convincingly, 38-10, the Eagles are back in the state tournament for the second time in the past three seasons.

Federal Way took third in the regular season, dropping games to Decatur and Enumclaw, the two teams that finished in front of the Eagles. But since those two losses, the Eagles are playing as good as any team in 3A. The Eagles were the 13th seed and took on a tough Ferndale side that was not going to make life easy for the Eagles.

“We’ve prepared all week for this. We’ve been doubted. Everyone thought we were going to lose this game. Everybody did their job. Everybody was a part of this,” junior Zamarie Tellez said.

Federal Way’s defense rose to the occasion — on defense the Eagles caused five turnovers, four interceptions and a fumble. It was the most complete game the Eagles had played up to this point in the season.

“It is 100% as much of a team win as you can get. Our playmakers made plays when we needed them. Everybody contributed. Our defensive line was in there making plays, even down to our kicker. It was an excellent team win,” Head Coach Marcus Yzaguirre said.

Takaways were a focus for this ball-hawking Eagles team. Coach Iz gave them a goal of how many turnovers he wanted: 15 interceptions and eight fumbles were the requirements, or else Federal Way would have some much unwanted conditioning. But the Eagles’ defense surpassed those numbers and tacked on an extra five turnovers against Ferndale.

“It’s an emphasis — secure the tackle. Then be in your position and you’ll make plays,” Iz said.

“We just fly around. We are head hunters. We just like to get to the ball. Even when we make mistakes, nobody doubts each other. We pick each other up and we are back at it,” Tellez said about the defensive intensity.

Federal Way actually trailed early in this game in a fairly unusual way. The two sides both had one possession, not unusual. But a punt from Ferndale’s Jacob Gandy pinned Federal Way at their own two-yard line. On the first play, Gandy tackled Austin May in the endzone for a safety and the first and only Ferndale lead of the night, 2-0.

Federal Way went scoreless in the first quarter, but on its first play of the second, Austin May broke lose. Quarterback Andy Cortez found May over the middle, and May used his speed to outrun the entire Ferndale defense for a 60-yard touchdown.

On the next Eagle possession, Cortez utilized his other weapon, Zamarie Tellez. With 8:10 left in the half, Tellez made a spectacular grab. Coming back to the ball, with a defender draped all over him, Tellez was able to reel in the ball and score the Eagles’ second touchdown of the game.

By the middle of the second quarter, the Eagles’ defense had settled in and slowed a difficult Wing-T offense.

“Our defense was disciplined. When you play a team that is as renowned and as good as Ferndale is, you’ve got to be disciplined. The first two series kind of opened our eyes. They needed to wake up. They settled down and woke up and were victorious,” Coach Iz said.

Just before the half, Federal Way ran a fullback dive on the one-yard line for their third score of the night.

Tellez recorded an interception to close out the first half and opened the second with another touchdown, this one from 13 yards out, and the Eagles were in the driver’s seat over Ferndale, 28-2.

On the following Ferndale drive, Todd Clark recovered a fumble, his second turnover of the night after an interception in the first half. Clark has been a focal point on the Eagles’ defense, and stood out when the bright lights came on.

A field goal and a Raymond Toso rushing touchdown finished the scoring for Federal Way and finished a 38-0 run after allowing Ferndale to take a 2-0 lead early in the game.

In the second half on offense, the Eagles were clicking on all cylinders. Tellez and May were rocking in the first half, then sophomore Miles Fuavai made his impact felt in the second.

“They complement each other very well. It is definitely a luxury, even with a player like Jayden Sinclair. He didn’t have too many catches this game, but you have to respect him because of his speed… Miles makes a big play every single game because people sleep on him,” Iz said.

Federal Way has two top-end positions groups, receiver and linebacker.

The receiving group has made their impact felt all year and is ready to keep creating havoc for other teams in the state tournament.

As far as the linebackers go with Clark, De’Nali Faletogo, Miles Fuiva, Wayne Olive and Kaicen Carter, they are playing some of their best football all season: “Denali and Todd compliment each other like nobody’s business,” Iz said. “Those five backers have played lights out.”

Ferndale did find the end zone with 1:40 left in the game, but this game was very much out of reach.

The Eagles take on Roosevelt at Memorial Stadium at 2 p.m. Nov. 16 in Seattle.

“Everybody counted us out. We are just excited to be here,” Coach Iz said.

Federal Way is the 12th seed and the Rough Riders are the fifth seed. The Eagles have won six straight games and are playing with a ton of confidence, and are the underdogs coming into the state tournament.

“Fed’s always doubted every year. We take it, and we prove everybody wrong,” Tellez said.