Nikiski 54, Monroe Catholic 14
Recap provided by Bob Bird
In the 9-Man football conference, the Monroe Rams traveled the thousand-mile round trip against the Nikiski Bulldogs to find the natural turf field in perfect condition, along with perfect autumn weather: blue skies and pleasant temperatures.
This made for a great Homecoming setting for Nikiski, which pounced on the Rams for a whopping 38 1st quarter points. As usual, the Parrish Brothers duo of Oliver and Kaiden scored three of the TDs by way of rushing, while Oliver picked up a luck bounce on a fumble for a defensive touchdown. An Ethan Ellis pass of 54 yds to Wyatt McGuire closed the quarter
McGuire’s interception in the 2 nd qtr led to the only points in that stanza, with his brother Ryder McGuire’s run of 14 yards.
At halftime, fans were entertained by aerial acrobatics courtesy of daredevil pilot Scott Sexton, who made sky-writing inside loops, barrel rolls, vertical climbs, and nose-diving stalls.
The 2nd half showed Nikiski placing in numerous substitutes, which allowed the battered Rams to score twice. Talon Loving proved the Monroe star throughout the game, spelling QB Ryan Mavencamp and often scrambling to and fro to get away from Bulldog pursuers, sometimes for gains, sometimes for long losses.
Both teams showed outstanding sportsmanship throughout, helping opponents to their feet after some punishing tackles. Perhaps the most noteworthy act came when Kaiden Parrish was hit for a completely untouched pass from QB Ellis and was on his way with no opponent in sight for a 60+ yd TD … only to step intentionally out of bounds at the 10 yd line in order to avoid running up the score.
Loving completed the scoring with a 47-yard TD run for the Rams with 2 minutes to play. The handshake line after the game demonstrated that sports teach lessons of character that make it an important element of American culture.
Wyatt McGuire earned Player of the Game honors for Nikiski with two TD receptions and two interceptions.
Next up: the Bulldogs travel to Valdez for their final game of the regular season on Saturday, Sep. 28 at 12:00 p.m.
Soldotna 63, Wasilla 21
With another lopsided victory over the Wasilla Warriors on Friday, the Soldotna Stars extended their current win streak to 16 straight games going back to the beginning of the 2023 football season. In the route of Wasilla, Andon Wolverton turned in arguably his best game of the year with a four-touchdown performance.
Wyatt Faircloth opened the scoring for Soldotna in the first quarter, punching in a goal-to-go score from two yards out. Lokeni Wong doubled the lead with a 9-yard touchdown run a few minutes later.
Wolverton power in from one yard out for his first score of the game early in the second quarter. Also in the second, Matthew Schilling caught a 2-yard pass from Owen Buckbee to put the stars up big.
Wolverton added touchdown runs from 7, 28, and 69 yards in the third quarter.
With the win, Soldotna moves to 4-0 in conference play and 6-0 overall on the season. They sit in first place in the Railbelt Conference.
Next up: the Stars host the Eagle River Wolves in a conference matchup at home on Friday, Sep. 27 at 5:00 p.m. The game will be aired on ESPN 1140 AM, 96.9, FM, and radiokenai.com.
Redington 20, Kenai 6
The Kenai Kardinals fell in a tightly contested matchup against the Redington Huskies on Friday, Sep. 20. The Kardinals found themselves with several short field situations, starting drives in our very near opponent territory on all but two drives, but were unable to capitalize.
The game remained scoreless through the first quarter, but in the second, Redington senior quarterback Christian Ingraham completed a 71-yard touchdown pass to Kaden Saxton to put the Huskies on the board first. Redington converted a two-point attempt to give them an 8-0 lead.
Immediately after the Redington’s opening score, the Kardinals engineered their longest drive of the game. Quarterback Tony Perez led his team with conversions on two 3rd-and-long and one 4th-and-10 on the drive en route to a touchdown. The score came with 20 seconds remaining in the first half when Perez found Sawyer Vann in the corner of the end zone on 4th-and-10. The Kardinals failed to convert a 2-point attempt and went into halftime trailing 8-6.
The Huskies held Kenai scoreless in the second half but added two more touchdowns. Ingraham threw for another touchdown, and Redington sealed the win with a rushing touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Kenai had chances to score but had two costly interceptions in Redington territory in the fourth quarter.
Next up: the Kardinals host the Kodiak Bears in a conference matchup at home on Saturday, Sep. 28, at 5:00 p.m. The game will be aired on ESPN 1140 AM, 96.9, FM, and radiokenai.com.
