Superior size and strength enabled John F Kennedy to carry a gorilla off the field Friday.

Behind six feet, four inch 286-pound senior tackle Kevin Freitag and the rest of the Lancers' massive line, running back Nate Williams exploded for 133 of his season high 202 yards on 27 carries to lead Kennedy (11-0) to a 24-13 win over defending Class 3A football champion Ferndale (10-1) in front of an estimated 5,000 fans at Highline Stadium in the first round of the Washington state playoffs.

Kennedy, which stopped the Golden Eagles' state-best 24-game winning streak will match up against O'Dea (9-2) in the quarterfinals Friday at Seattle's Memorial Stadium as two Catholic schools collide.

After gaining 56 yards on nine rushes in the first half of a 10-7 Lancer lead, Williams wanted the ball.

"Nate said at halftime to give him the ball," Kennedy coach Bob Bourgette emphasized. "When he wants the ball, you give him the ball."

For Williams, the third try against the Golden Eagles Northwest League champions was golden.

"Losing to them, we were definitely tired of them," Williams said. "We're a team on a mission."

For Bourgette, whose team lost to Ferndale last season in the semifinals and two seasons ago in the first round round, plus a loss in 2001's first round a heavy load lifted.

"It wasn't a monkey, it was a gorilla we got off our backs," he said.

Ferndale began the game vigorously, shredding the Lancer defense for 72 yards to the Kennedy 1-yard line before Kennedy's blitzing defense plugged the Golden Eagles for a 1-yard loss on fourth and two.

"That really set the tone for us," Williams said.

Kennedy then drove 97 yards on 17 plays with Jesse Rowe plunging one yard for a 7-0 lead.

Ferndale knotted the score on quarterback Casey Locker's 1-yard run.

Daniel Martiniello kicked a 28-yard field goal with 43 seconds left in the first half to put Kennedy in front, 10-7.

Receiving the second half kickoff, the Lancers lost the ball on a fumble at their own 24, but three plays later Nolan Washington intercepted a pass for JFK and Kennedy smashed its way 89 yards - 86 by Williams - and scored on a Williams 5-yard scamper to extend their lead to 17-7 with 4:36 remaining in the third quarter.

Ferndale hung in there to cut the lead to 17-13 on a 30-yard double handoff run by Brady Locker.

Seconds later, Kennedy's Nolan Washington sealed the deal by taking the ensuing kickoff and delivering the mail down the left sideline to the house for a touchdown as the Lancers attained a 24-23 cushion with 8:30 left in regulation.

"I got a good block and had only one defender to juke," he said.

Under defensive coordinator Dino Peretti's well conceived schemes, linebacker Marc Avery-Airhart finished with two sacks and two tackles for a loss while linebacker D'Mario Carter had two sacks in the second half as the Golden Eagles were limited to 63 second half yards.

Ferndale coach Jamie Plenkovich credited Williams and the Lancers for a fine effort.

"You saw how many tackles (Williams) was breaking," he explained. "We saw that on film. There's no secret why he's a D-1 player."

Kennedy outgained Ferndale 333 yards to 161. The Lancers ground out 290 yards rushing.