After much postponement because of smoke pervading the Fairbanks area from forest fires, the much-anticipated “re-match” between the Lathrop Malemutes and Soldotna Stars was played in Wasilla on Saturday afternoon, August 12. Wasilla was selected as a neutral location for the two teams.
The Stars, after a tightly played first half, walked away with a convincing 56-20 drubbing of the back-to-back repeat state champions from the Interior.
If three missed extra points were the Stars’ undoing in last year’s championship match-up, they were perfect in 8 attempts in this game. The trio of Center Henry Williams, Holder Trevor Michael and Kicker Jace O’Reagan showed machine-like precision.
The explosive offense that is the hallmark of both teams was slightly marred with a “first-game-of-the-season” problem with penalty avoidance. The Stars had 2 TD’s called back due to holding penalties and gifted Lathrop with pass interference calls, and Lathrop returned the favor with numerous offside and procedural calls.
Nevertheless, the “dual quarterback” system of the Malemutes’ Solomon Wade and Jenner Webb, working from the shotgun formation, led to big gains in the first half, which nevertheless ended with a 28-12 Soldotna lead. The Stars made an impressive statement on the first play from scrimmage with a 55-yard rushing romp by Wyatt Faircloth.
The 2nd half was all Soldotna, highlighted by Colin Peck’s and Jaykob Kemp’s 70+ yard runs during 2 different drives and QB Zac Buckbee’s spectacular 2nd-effort keeper for a TD.
As the Stars turned the game into a rout, the running clock “mercy rule” went into effect. But the Malemutes demonstrated their never-say-die pride and kept the game interesting throughout the 2nd half with an offense that mixed running and passing.
The Stars’ next game is against Palmer is Friday at Soldotna High School, 6 p.m. on ESPN 1140AM, 96.9FM and radiokenai.com.
