High School

Ferndale tops Fairfax in epic comeback victory: Live updates recap for California CIF State 7AA championship

Follow live as Fairfax and Ferndale face off in the 2023 CIF State 7AA high school football state championship game

Tarek Fattal, SBLive Sports

TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA - Ferndale scored 29 straight points to overcome a 21-0 deficit to defeat Fairfax in the CIF State Division 7AA final at El Camino College Friday night.

Tanner Pidgeon scored two touchdowns and Prescott Langer scored the other touchdown for the Wildcats, who capture their first CIF State title in program history.

Fairfax quarterback Ivan Levant finished with 306 yards passing and two touchdown passes. Levant threw for 264 yards in the first half. Wideout Sebastian Ikolo had 201 yards receiving.

Fairfax' offense was held to just 32 yards in the second half.

The Los Angeles City Section is now 0-9 in CIF State finals since 2018. Narbonne and Crenshaw won CIF State titles in 2017.

FERNDALE 29, FAIRFAX 21. FINAL

4TH QUARTER

-Ferndale is in victory formation to run the clock to zeros.

-Fairfax turns the ball over on downs. Ferndale takes over at midfield with 3 minutes to play.

-TOUCHDOWN: Tanner Pidgeon scores on a 1-yard TD run. Ferndale 29, Fairfax 21. 6 minutes to play.

-INTERCEPTION: Ferndale's Isaak Kasso intercepts Ivan Levant on third down. Ferndale takes over on the Fairfax 28-yard line with a 22-21 lead. 8:45 left in the game.

-Ferndale turns the ball over on downs. Fairfax will take over on their own 14-yard line with 10 minutes to play.

3RD QUARTER

-End of the third quarter. Ferndale 22, Fairfax 21

-TOUCHDOWN: Ferndale takes a 22-21 lead over Fairfax thanks to a 4-yard run from Prescott Langer. Fairfax once led 21-0. 5:40 to play in third quarter.

-ONSIDE KICK: Ferndale recovers a the Fairfax 40-yard line.

-TOUCHDOWN: Tanner Pidgeon breaks for a 40-yard touchdown on Ferndale's opening possession of the second half. Fairfax 21, Ferndale 15. 8:10 left in the third quarter.

HALFTIME: Fairfax 21, Ferndale 8

2ND QUARTER

-TOUCHDOWN: Ferndale's Tanner Pidgeon runs for a 14-yard TD. (two-point conversion attempt is NO GOOD). Fairfax 21, Ferndale 8. 54 seconds left in the first half.

-Ferndale forces Fairfax to punt. The Wildcats will take over on the Fairfax 49-yard line with 1:54 left in the first half.

-FUMBLE: Ferdnale fumbles the ball and its recovered by Fairfax at the Ferndale 32-yard line. 3:07 left to play in the second quarter.

-SAFETY: Ferndale shows a sign of life, blocking Fairfax' punt in its own end zone. The ball goes out of bounds for a safety. Fairfax 21, Ferndale 2. 5:57 to play in the second quarter.

-TOUCHDOWN: Ivan Levant throws a 75-yard TD to Sebastian Ikolo. Fairfax leads 21-0.

-Fairfax gets a fourth down sack to force a Ferndale turnover on downs.

1ST QUARTER

-Fairfax 14, Ferndale 0. End of 1.

-Fairfax drives to the Ferndale 2-yard line but fumbles the ball on a scoring attempt. Ferndale's Jonah Anderson recovered the fumble and returned it to Fairfax's 30-yard line.

-Ferndale goes three-and-out and punts to the Fairfax 37-yard line with 3:34 to play in the first quarter.

-TOUCHDOWN: Ivan Levant passes to Darvens Joseph for an 8-yard TD. Fairfax leads 14-0 with 4:44 left in the first quarter.

-Ferndale converts one first down and punts the ball to the Fairfax 29-yard line. Lions take over with 5:44 to play in the opening quarter.

TOUCHDOWN: Henry Prince QB sneak from 1-yard line to give Fairfax 7-0 lead. 8:06 to play in the first quarter.

  • Two long passes from Ivan Levant to Sebastian Ikolo set up the Prince sneak.

-Fairfax will receive the ball first

Published
Tarek Fattal, SBLive Sports
TAREK FATTAL, SBLIVE SPORTS

Tarek Fattal has been covering high school sports since 2015 in Southern California and primarily in Los Angeles, covering notable athletes such as Bronny James, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Alyssa Thompson. He was with the LA Daily News for eight years, which included being the beat reporter for the UCLA men's basketball team. Tarek can be seen on TV regularly on CBS/KCAL as a sports analyst with Jim Hill.

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