The 2019 Alaska high school football season is nearly here!
Friday Night Lights opens the state’s football pairings on August 16th featuring the spotlight pairing of the 2018 Division II State Champion Soldotna Stars facing the 2018 Division I State Runner-Up and preseason DI top-pick West Anchorage at West High School.
Other Week one pairings include:
2018 Division I Champion East hosting the Colony Knights (8 wins in 2018 w/loss to East in playoffs).
2018 Division III Champion Eielson (five titles in seven years) opens against DII North Pole.
Nikiski ( four-time Small School State Champion) travels to Redington High School on Friday.
Kenai Central High School (six state championships since 2002 and 16 state appearances) opens on the road in Homer on Saturday.
Winningest Active Coaches Look To Repeat State Championships
Galen Brantley III, head coach for the Soldotna Stars, and David DeVaughn, head coach for Eielson, look to guide their respective teams to return state championships as each coach continues to move up on the Alaska Winningest Football Coaches list.
In only 12 years, Brantley has amassed 116 wins with the Stars (over 90% win percentage) and the program holds both the longest, consecutive win streak with 59 victories and the second-longest streak with 29 wins. Coach Brantley stands 5th on the all-time list.
Coach DeVaughn in 18 seasons has produced 127 wins at Ben Eielson High School, 4th on the all-time list.
Current Alaska Football Winningest Coaches (updated Aug 15, 2019)
#1 Rod Christiansen, 28 seasons (Palmer) 159 wins (retired in 2018)
#2 Buck Nystrum, 31 seasons (Eielson and North Pole) 150 wins
#3 Bruce Shearer, 21 seasons (Kenai, Chugiak and East) 130 wins
#4 David DeVaughn, 18 seasons (Eielson) 127 wins*
#5 Galen Brantley, currently in 12th season (SoHi) 116 wins*
#6 Bob Boudreaux, 22 seasons (SoHi, Kenai and Service) 105 wins
#7 Jim Beeson, 19 seasons (Kenai) 103 wins
* active Alaska coaches
