Locker leads Ferndale to 3A state championship

TACOMA – University of Washington-bound Jake Locker and Ferndale turned what was supposed to be a close game into a rout.

The senior quarterback, who has committed to play his college football for the Huskies, accounted for four touchdowns, leading the Golden Eagles to a 47-12 victory over outmatched Prosser for the Washington high school Class 3A championship on Friday night.

The game figured to be even between Ferndale (14-0) and Prosser (13-2) since the Mustangs knocked four-time defending 3A champion Bellevue out of the playoffs in a quarterfinal game. Bellevue beat the Locker-led Golden Eagles 31-28 in last year's title game in the Tacoma Dome.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Locker, who also returns kickoffs and plays in his team's secondary, was too much for Prosser.

After senior running back Adam Wilgus scored on a twisting 67-yard run 24 seconds into the game on its first play from scrimmage to give Ferndale a 7-0 lead, Locker went to work in the second quarter, when the Golden Eagles scored three touchdowns for a 26-0 halftime lead.

First, Locker capped a 51-yard, 12-play drive with a 1-yard quarterback keeper for a touchdown that gave his team a 14-0 lead. After cousin Brady Locker intercepted a pass from Prosser junior quarterback Kellen Moore at the Mustangs' 40, Locker connected on the next play for a 46-yard TD pass to Rocki Sandusky, who got behind the Prosser secondary and caught Locker's perfectly thrown ball near the goal-line.

Then after Prosser drove the ball to the Ferndale 7, but gave it up on downs, Locker showed his speed to the Mustangs with a 74-yard touchdown sprint that started up the middle with 39 seconds left in the first half.

Moore passed for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, the first coming on a 28-yarder to Tylan Watkins with 8:31 left and his team trailing 40-0. That gave him a state-record 66 touchdown passes this season.

Ferndale won its first state title in its 14th state appearance. The Golden Eagles appeared in their third championship game.

Prosser won titles in 1992, 1993 and 1999. The Mustangs lost in the finals for the third time.