LoginSpecial connection leads Ferndale to dominate win over Royal Oak
ROYAL OAK — As the clock ticked inside of 10 seconds remaining in the first half Friday night, Ferndale head coach Eric Royal called a timeout.
His team had moved the ball 82 yards down the field in just 46 seconds. A 39-yard screen pass from Cullen Hock to De’Kari Smith, followed up by a personal foul. Then, a 23-yard screen to Antonio Jones helped set the Eagles up with a first and goal at the 4-yard line.
The timeout allowed Royal to set up what very well could have been the final play of the first half. And Hock, the team’s senior signal caller, knew exactly what was going to happen.
“Throughout the entire offseason leading up to the season, and now into the games, I’ve known that (Antonio) is my guy in the red zone,” Hock said. “I don’t think I remember that last time I’ve seen him drop a pass. He’s got hands like glue. Every time we’re in the red zone, it’s like (check your) reads, but when Tony’s open, you get him the ball.”
And true to form, that’s exactly what Hock did. Jones found a hole in the middle of the end zone, and Hock delivered the touchdown pass. It was the third time the two had connected for a score in the second quarter. It helped the Eagles to a 21-0 lead, one which they wouldn’t relinquish en route to a 35-0 shutout of the host Ravens on the road.
“He just trusts me to go up and get the ball,” said Jones, who also hauled in touchdown catches of 26 and 24 yards. “He knows that anytime we get down (into the red zone), I’m there to catch the ball.”
The Eagles are loaded with offensive talent. Royal knows it, and despite his team being shut out for the first 17 minutes of the game Friday night, he knew it was just a matter of time before all that talent was unleashed.
“We’re a senior-laden team with a lot of experience and our skilled guys are very explosive,” Royal said. “It seems like they’re taking turns right now, from game to game. Jayden (Mills) didn’t have an outstanding game tonight, but he was getting a lot of attention which opened things up for some other guys — like Antonio and El’Vonte (London). And Cullen did a nice job getting the guys the ball.”
Both teams attempted to establish the run early in the game, resulting in a scoreless first quarter. On Ferndale’s first possession of the second quarter, Royal decided to let Hock air it out. After opening the possession, which started near midfield, with four straight running plays, Hock found Jones streaking down the sideline. Jones went up over the defender and hauled it in for a 26-yard touchdown to break the scoreless tie.
After forcing a Royal Oak punt, Ferndale opened its next possession with a 45-yard pass from Hock to Mills. Then, Hock went back to Jones for the 24-yard touchdown reception.
“We really try to set up the pass from our run game,” Royal explained. “I’m a big play-action guy. If we can establish the run game, it’s going to open up our pass game. That’s our philosophy. We try to be balanced, but with our weapons we’re probably going to pass the ball a little more. We’ve got the skill to do it.
“We just have to find the right balance. Whatever the defense is going to give us, we’re going to take advantage of it.”
Royal Oak’s defense stifled the Eagles early on, forcing a pair of punts over the game’s first 12 minutes.
“I thought we had a good game plan coming in and we put our kids in place, and I thought we fought and battled,” Royal Oak head coach Colin Campbell said. “I just think it’s a matter of learning. We need to keep learning, to keep fighting.
“Ferndale, they’re a good team. This is the (kind of) team we want to compete with. We want to be here. We want to fight and compete with teams like (Ferndale). For a while we did, then they started to figure some stuff out. We just need to figure out how to respond.”
Neither team scored in the third quarter, but Ferndale would add a pair of rushing touchdowns late in the game to put the final touches on a spectacular performance. Jaylin Dennard scored on a 31-yard run with just under five minutes remaining before Gary Maxwell found a seam in the Royal Oak defense, scoring from 18 yards out with 2:25 left to play.
Photo gallery of Ferndale at Royal Oak football in OAA Gold football action
Ferndale used multiple weapons on both offense and defense Friday night. Everyone in the stadium saw how much talent the Eagles have to work with. And Jones made sure to mention that talent by name after the game.
“Shout out to El’Vonte London, Jayden Mills. We’ve got me, we’ve got (Cullen), Gary Maxwell, De’Kari Smith. We’ve got weapons for days,” Jones pronounced.
London and Jones each had an interception for Ferndale (2-1 overall, 1-0 OAA Gold), while Bryce Ferguson finished with multiple sacks in the victory. With the loss, Royal Oak fell to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the Gold.
