Dex Homer delivered the block heard ‘round East Vancouver, Mitch Saylor coasted in for the game-winning touchdown, and the Union Titans are going to the Tacoma Dome.
Saylor’s 65-yard return of Homer’s blocked field goal with 3 seconds to play gave the Titans a 21-14 victory over Ferndale in a Class 3A state quarterfinal football game Saturday at McKenzie Stadium. Union (12-0) will play Lakes of Lakewood (12-0) in the semifinals either Friday or Saturday at the dome.
“I timed the snap perfectly, and I laid out,” Homer said. “Best feeling I could ever have in my life, right now.”
Saylor scooped up the loose ball and ran untouched into the end zone, breaking a 14-all tie and capping Union’s first come-from-behind victory this season.
“I gotta give credit to Dex,” Saylor said. “If he doesn’t block it, we don’t score.”
It was the last of many clutch plays from the Union defense and special teams.
“We think we’re (at least) going to overtime and they do a good job of blocking our field goal and running it back,” Ferndale coach Jamie Plenkovich said. “It was two evenly matched football teams.”
Ferndale, which averaged 45 points per game in its 11 victories, jumped on Union for a 14-point lead in the first half, then got shut down by the Titans the rest of the way.
The Golden Eagles, who had 196 yards and 12 first downs in the first half, were held to 93 yards and three first downs in the second half.
That allowed Union a chance to get back in the game.
Blake Russell’s 14-yard touchdown run right before the half gave the Titans some momentum. He tied the game in the third quarter, cashing in from two yards out.
“We had never trailed all year, so it was just a matter of how we would respond to it,” Russell said. “We just kept hammering away at them.”
Union’s offense wasn’t getting much done, either. In fact, the Titans were held to a season-low 186 yards of offense.
But it was turnovers, not yardage, that got the Titans in trouble. Union had the ball four times in the first half, scored one touchdown and turned the ball over on the other three possessions.
In a way, the Union coaching staff was optimistic. With all that, the Titans trailed by only seven at the break.
“If we could just get in situations where we could eliminate our mistakes and took what was out there, then we thought we could have success,” Union coach Cale Piland said.
First, the Titans had to rely on their defense.
Linebacker Derek Adams ended one Ferndale drive in the second half with a shoestring tackle of Ferndale quarterback Casey Locker on a third-down play.
“We all had faith in each other,” Adams said. “At halftime, it wasn’t too intense. We all stayed calm in the locker room. Our coaches didn’t get on us. They just supported us. And then we definitely showed that we were the better conditioned team.”
In fact, that was part of the plan all week for the Titans. Keep it close going into the stretch run.
“We thought we could win in the fourth quarter because they have so many kinds who play both sides of the ball,” Piland said. “Also, they haven’t been challenged all year.”
While Union has not played many close games this year, the Titans have had to finish off a couple of opponents, including Columbia River and Camas.
The Titans also learned how to respond to adversity.
“We really showed character there, bouncing back from those three turnovers,” said Russell, who finished with 59 yards on 15 carries against what he called the best defense Union has faced this season.
Ferndale took advantage of two of Union’s turnovers in the first half. Jordan Finkbonner scored on a 2-yard run for a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter. The Golden Eagles made it 14-0 moments after intercepting a Union pass when Locker broke free for a 24-yard run.
Union’s Tyler Coad returned the ensuing kickoff 44 yards to set up Russell’s first score of the game, with 1:17 to play in the half.
After forcing Ferndale to punt for the first time in the game early in the third quarter, the Titans put together a nine-play, 62-yard drive to tie, with Russell scoring on a short run.
Neither team could manage to get a first down on their next three possessions before the Golden Eagles went from their own 30-yard line to the Union 27-yard line with 14 seconds to play.
They opted for a 44-yard field goal try.
It backfired on the Golden Eagles, with Homer, Saylor and the Titans running the other way, on their way to the Tacoma Dome.
