When Ferndale dropped its opening game of the season to Stanwood, a team which had gone 0-10 the year before, it seemed like the start of a long fall. But, the Golden Eagles righted themselves and lost only one more game the rest of the way. Even though they didn’t make the playoffs, they averaged 27.6 points per game, which made them the highest scoring team of the 1970’s.
Matt Beck
Senior quarterback Matt Beck was named All-League 1st Team, and was a dual threat. He completed 25 passes for 384 yards and six touchdowns. He also ran for 456 yards (5.0 average) and 10 touchdowns.
Tom Finkbonner
Ferndale has been known through the years to have many running backs to eclipse the 1000-yard mark during a season, but there can only be one player in school history to be the first to do it. That player was senior, Tom Finkbonner. The 5-foot-11 190-pound senior finished with 1006 yards rushing (5.3) and 12 touchdowns, and he was named All-League 1st Team. Junior Galen Lane accumulated 524 yards on the ground (5.6) and five scores.
Chuck Oltman
Senior tight end Chuck Oltman led the Golden Eagles in receiving for the second straight season, catching 13 passes for 223 yards (17.2) and five touchdowns. Ed Imhoff, Steve Baker and Finkbonner each caught three passes. Senior Randy Brudwick (6-2 195) was the leader of the offensive line, and he garnered All-League 1st Team honors.
Randy Brudwick
The defense recorded three shut outs, and it was led by Beck and junior Eric Swobody as the defensive ends. Finkbonner and Steve Baker manned the inside linebacker spots, with Lane and Rod Brudwick on the outside. Imhoff and Ron Walton played cornerback with Oltman playing free safety. Sowbody and Oltman were each named All-League 2nd Team. Walton also kicked 13 extra points and a field goal for the Golden Eagles.
State Play-in Game: Archbishop Murphy 41, Mount Baker 27
After a few rough seasons in downtown Deming, the Mountaineers turned it around in 2011. It was also the final year of Mount Baker competing in the 2A division, before getting moved back down to 1A.
Andrew Zender
Andrew Zender became the first sophomore quarterback to start a game in school history since Lance Zamzow in 1992. He started from day one, and would go on to have one of the finest Mountie careers. He completed 41 passes for 780 yards and seven touchdowns.
Levi Wigg
Senior Levi Wigg had an incredibly impressive season to cap off his legendary career. He rushed for 1413 yards (9.1 average) and 22 touchdowns, and he was named both All-League 1st Team as well as All-State 1st Team. Junior Jake Schleimer pounded out 680 yards on the ground (6.9) and six touchdowns, while senior wingback Aaron Baddeley had numerous big plays, gaining 243 yards (10.6) and a touchdown.
Zan Roman
Lanky junior Zan Roman was a pleasant surprise, leading the team with 21 catches for 405 yards (19.3) and five touchdowns. Wigg caught 10 passes for 181 yards and a score. All-State senior Alec Postlewait (6-3 266) led the offensive line, and he was joined by All-League 2nd Team center, junior Tyrel Cronk. Together the helped lead the way for nearly 2700 yards on the ground and 33 touchdowns.
Alec Postlewait
Postlewait was a bull up front, with 111 total tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss, he was named All-League 1st Team as well as All-State 2nd Team. Cronk was named All-League 1st Team at linebacker, totaling 121 total tackles, 18 tackles for loss, four passes broken up, three forced fumbles and 1.5 sacks. Wigg and Baddeley stood out in the secondary. Wigg finished with 42 total tackles, eight passes broken up, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and an interception. Baddeley had 69 total tackles, seven tackles for loss, three interceptions and three passes broken up. Wigg was named All-League 1st Team, with Baddeley nabbing All-League 2nd Team honors.
Edgar Zavala
Junior Edgar Zavala hit on 35 extra points and averaged 34.3 yards per punt. Roman averaged 27.2 yards per kickoff return, while he and Wigg handled the punt returning.
State Playoffs: 1st Round: Mount Baker 36, Cedarcrest 16
State Quarterfinals: Eatonville 45, Mount Baker 6
It was the first time in five years that the Mount Baker football team’s head coach would return for another season, and it did wonders. Doug Preston had a talented group of seniors to work with, along with some strong underclassmen that were ready to show what they could do.
Seniors Lance Zamzow and Tom Horsmon split time at quarterback in 1993, helping lead the Mountaineers to their first postseason berth in seven years. The decision was made to use Zamzow’s speed on the outside as a wide receiver, and Horsmon would be the starting quarterback. That lasted one week into the season. Coach Doug Preston needed another talented receiver to take the pressure off of Zamzow, and the decision was made to move Horsmon outside, and insert junior David Galbraith behind center. It worked.
David Galbraith
Galbraith had a huge game at Steilacoom, and the Mounties never looked back. He finished the season completing 72 passes for 1183 yards and 14 touchdowns, to only five interceptions. He also ran for 390 yards (5.8 average) and two touchdowns on his way to being named All-League 2nd Team.
Scott McKeever
Seniors Scott McKeever and Galen Smith shared the workload at tailback in the I-Formation offense that Baker ran in 1994. McKeever led the Mounties in rushing for the third straight season (the only player to do that in school history). He ran for 665 yards (6.0) and six touchdowns, and he was named All-League 1st Team. Smith totaled 498 yards (6.1) and also ran for six touchdowns. He was named All-League 2nd Team. Senior fullback Lee Stavik ran for 153 yards (6.4) and scored a pair of TD’s.
Lance Zamzow
Coming into the season, Baker didn’t have any receivers with varsity experience. Mike Perez transferred to Nooksack Valley, and former quarterbacks Zamzow and Horsmon were now the wide receivers. Zamzow brought amazing speed and play-making ability, while Hormson had size (6’4″) and terrific hands. Zamzow caught 22 passes for 477 yards (21.7) and six touchdowns, and he was named All-League 1st Team. Horsmon led the team with 38 receptions for 581 yards (15.3) and six scores, and he was named All-League 2nd Team. Junior tight end Chris Rainwater was also a pleasant surprise, catching 13 passes for 151 yards (11.6) and two touchdowns, and he was also named All-League 1st Team.
Travis Brouwer
The offensive line was a consistent strength. Full of seniors, left tackle to right tackle, they led up front for Mount Baker’s balanced attack. Right tackle Karl Frombly (6-0 257) and right guard Jacob Cecka (6-4 241) were each named All-League 1st Team. While left tackle Dan Butenschoen (6-4 219), left guard Travis Brouwer (6-0 170) and center Jeremy Zender (5-11 225) were all named All-League Honorable Mention.
Karl Frombly
The defensive line was led by Frombly, who was named All-State 1st Team at defensive tackle. He had 70 tackles, four tackles for loss, three sacks and he scored a touchdown on a fumble return. Galbraith was a rock at defensive end, with 103 tackles (59 solo), 14 tackles for loss, eight sacks while knocking down four passes, and he was named All-League 1st Team. Fellow junior Pete Malec held down the other side at defensive end, with 42 tackles and eight tackles for loss.
Galen Smith
Stavik was named All-League 1st Team at inside linebacker, and he had 99 tackles (66 solo) and 10 tackles for loss. Smith was also in on 103 tackles and was named All-League 2nd Team at linebacker. Rainwater played as an outside linebacker/strong safety and was in on many big plays, scoring three touchdowns on defense, and was named All-League 1st Team.
Chris Rainwater
Horsmon led the secondary from his free safety position. He intercepted nine passes and had 82 tackles, and he was named All-League 1st Team. Zamzow intercepted four passes from his cornerback spot, and was named All-League Honorable Mention.
Tom Horsmon
Junior Travis Weeks was named All-League Honorable Mention at kicker, hitting on 27 extra points and a field goal. Zamzow handled the punting duties. McKeever returned kickoffs, including a touchdown return against Cedarcrest in the state playoffs, and he finished his career with over 1000 kickoff return yards. Zamzow was a dangerous punt returner, with two touchdown returns, and a third that was called back.
After the tragic loss of Coach Curt Kramme, the Lynden football program has decided to stay within the program. After serving the past 20 seasons as an assistant under Kramme, including the last eight as the defensive coordinator, Blake VanDalen has been chosen as the new head coach of the Lions.
“The last 20 years has been an amazing gift,” VanDalen said during a phone interview. “Bittersweet would be the only way to describe how I’m feeling. I just want to represent all that Coach Kramme has done in the last 26 years.”
VanDalen is currently teaching physical education and weight training at Lynden High School.
“I was fortunate enough to be there when we went up to to 3A, and then back down to 2A,” he said. “I was there when we went down to Texas to learn the spread offense, and when we won six state championships in eight years. I learned from the best”
As a 1990 graduate of Lynden, VanDalen played for both Rollie DeKoster and Ross Boice. As a senior he was named All-League 2nd Team at defensive back.
Meridian quarterback Simon Burkett attempted 367 passes last season. That’s more than any other quarterback in Whatcom County history. Nooksack Valley quarterback Casey Bauman became the first player in school history to complete 200 passes in a season. Both are heading into their senior season this fall hoping to guide their respective teams to a league championship, and they could be reaching some lofty career numbers when it’s all over. Because both players are also know to do damage running the football, as well as passing, I decided to look up the Whatcom County career leaders in combined touchdowns, using touchdown passes and touchdown runs. It appears that both players will climb up this list of superstars!
Mount Baker is known for running the ball, but it’s nice to have an athlete like Thomas Barbo on the outside when the Mountaineers elect to throw. After putting up 110 receiving yards and two touchdowns last night, Barbo has passed Mike Perez as the school’s all-time leader in receiving yardage with 1284. Even though Perez transferred to Nooksack Valley before his senior season, he held the record for 23 years. So, it would only seem appropriate that Barbo broke the school record in this, his junior season.
Almost everyone plays, or has played, fantasy football. So, you know that if a player on your fantasy team scores in the double digits, that’s a pretty good game. Using fantasy football’s general scoring method, here are each of the ten schools’ highest ranked players in past games played on today’s date!
Blaine senior Anthony Ball had a monster game last week at Anacortes (six receptions, 151 yards and a TD) that shot him into the Top 10 in Whatcom County history for career receiving yardage (1823 yards), surpassing legends like Mike Perez (1798), former teammate Josiah Westbrook (1736) and former Borderite Greg Wright (1800). Tonight he will aim to become the Blaine all-time leader in receiving yards, as he is only 25 yards behind Trevor Chau.
Ben Peterson
Another receiving phenom has been Squalicum senior Ben Peterson. Because he has been used all over the field on offense, his receiving numbers are down this year. But after last week he became tied with Lynden legend Ryan Van Diest with 2323 career receiving yards, which is good for 4th in Whatcom County history. He also returned his seventh kick for a touchdown, tying him with Ferndale’s Jake Locker for the Whatcom County career record. Maybe he’ll break that record this week, or perhaps he’ll do it on October 22nd with Locker (who is now an assistant coach for Ferndale) in attendance against the Golden Eagles?
Ben Broselle
Speaking of Ferndale, senior running back Ben Broselle passed the 1000-yard mark in career rushing yards last week. Of course, that’s a huge accomplishment in itself, but as of now, he’s only the third player in Whatcom County history to rush for over 1000-yards while averaging OVER 10 yards per carry! He’s currently averaging 10.04 yards for his career, now all he has to do is keep it up. The other two players that did this were Ferndale’s Brady Locker and Mount Baker’s Michael Millson. Broselle’s backfield mate Justice Powell has already reached the 1000-yard milestone, while junior Cole Semu is just 136 yards away.
Jed Schleimer
Mount Baker senior Jed Schleimer came into this season as Mount Baker’s all-time leading rusher. Now he’s looking to pass some of Whatcom County’s all-time greats. Now over 4000 yards rushing in his career, he’s passed Ferndale’s Ash Perrin, Lynden’s T.J. Busch and Squalicum’s Chad Clark. He is now 35 yards behind former Pioneer Dave Longoria for fourth place in county history. Schleimer has also been on a tear this year scoring touchdowns. His 64 career touchdowns has him second all-time, only behind Mario Gobbato’s 78 (which I thought would never be broken).
