The Soldotna Stars defense held the Kenai Kardinals scoreless in the Northern Lights Conference football championship game on Saturday at Kenai Central High School. The Nikiski Bulldogs shutout Seward 44-0 on Friday at Nikiski High for the first Peninsula Conference championship.
SoHi 23 – Kenai 0 Northern Lights Conference Title Game
A stifling SoHi defense held the Kardinal rushing attack under 150 yards and held the Kardinals three separate times on fourth down; en-route-to, SoHi’s 10th consecutive Northern Lights Conference championship. The Stars football program extends the state’s longest winning streak to 37 consecutive games!
The Stars rushed for over 225 yards and three rushing touchdowns. Kristian Palaniuk opened the scoring with a 6-yard touchdown run on the Stars first possession, following a defensive stop of the Kardinals on fourth down at the SoHi 29-yard line.
The Stars lead 7-0 at the half
SoHi’s Mason Prior capped the Stars first drive of the second half with a 20-yard run for a 14-0 SoHi lead. Blake Jones added a 27-yard field goal for a 17-0 SoHi lead after three quarters. Palaniuk added a final 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Final Score: SoHi 23 – Kenai 0
Jace Urban lead the Stars rushing attack with nearly 90 yards and 29 yards receiving; Palaniuk added 85 rushing yards. The Kardinal ground game was lead by Andrew Welborn, held under 60 yards for the game.
The Stars, as the #1 NLC seed, will play Thunder Mountain, SEC #2. The Kardinals will play North Pole, SEC #1 seed.
Both games are scheduled for Saturday, October 10th at Dimond High School in Anchorage. Game times will be released on Sunday at 5:00 p.m.
Nikiski 44- Seward 0 Peninsula Conference Championship Game
The Nikiski Bulldogs, 3-0 in conference, locked-in the Peninsula Conference championship and a #1 seed into the Small Schools Football playoffs with a 44-0 victory on Friday over the Seward Seahawks.
Nikiski lead 42-0 at the half on the strength of three touchdown runs by Rykker Riddall, who ran for 173 rushing yards; and three touchdown passes by quarterback Cade Anderson, two touchdown completions to Hunter Holloway and the first touchdown of the game to Nate Carstens. Final Score: Nikiski 44 – Seward 0
Nikiski, top seed in the Peninsula Conference, will host a first-round playoff game against the #2 seed Barrow from the Aurora Conference on Saturday, October 10th at 4:00 p.m. Eielson will be the #1 seed from the Aurora Conference and will host the Peninsula #2.
