The ASAA State Football Championships kick-off with the semi-final pairings in Division II and Division III opening on Friday, October 8th. First round winners advance to the ASAA First National Bowl State Championships on Saturday, October 16th at Service High School.
Division II Football
SoHi vs North Pole 4 p.m. Friday @ SoHi Broadcast on ESPN 1140AM
The Division II playoffs feature a Friday pairing between the Soldotna Stars and the North Pole Patriots at Soldotna High School’s Justin Maile Field, scheduled for a 4 p.m. kick-off.
SoHi Stars
The SoHi Stars enter the game on a six-game win streak, including a week eight 42-41 victory over Division I South Anchorage and a 4-0 Northern Lights Conference record for 2021. The Stars earned their 15th-straight NLC championship and suffered only a season-opening loss to Lathrop. SoHi has averaged 39 points-per-game through seven games and has played six of seven games against teams of larger enrollments included two Division I programs.
The Stars are the reigning 2019 state champions for Division II football, undefeated in 2020, and SoHi has won eight-straight Division II state championships dating back to 2012.
North Pole Patriots
The North Pole Patriots qualify to the Division II playoffs with a 1-1 Railbelt record with a 52-13 win over West Valley, a 35-14 loss to Lathrop and a cancelled game against Kodiak. North Pole played Eielson on Tuesday night to continue the tradition of the Blood Bowl and to provide for a Senior Night–North Pole defeated Eielson 50-6 (according to North Pole Football Booster Club Facebook).
North Pole has victories over Division II NLC Chugiak and RBC West Valley (the two teams are 0-7 vs DII competition).
SoHi vs North Pole @ SoHi Friday 4 p.m. ESPN 1140AM and streaming at radiokenai.com
Division II Football
Lathrop vs Eagle River @ Lathrop 3 p.m. Saturday, October 9th
The Lathrop Malemutes, 5-1 on the regular season and unbeaten against Division II opponents, hosts Eagle River, 6-1 on the regular season, in the second Division II playoff semi-final scheduled for Saturday.
Lathrop, Railbelt Conference champions, owns a week one 27-21 victory over SoHi on Lathrop’s home field. The Eagle River Wolves, #2 in the NLC, only loss came at the hands of the Soldotna Stars 27-14 in week five of the regular season.
The winner advances to the ASAA Division II football championships on Saturday October 16th.
Division III Playoffs
Kenai vs Redington 7 p.m. Friday @ Redington Broadcast on ESPN 1140AM
Kenai Kardinals
The Kardinals finished the regular season with a 1-2 Mid Alaska Conference record and earned the #3 seed into the Division III football playoffs with a 27-22 victory over the Homer Mariners. Kenai won two of three games to close the regular season.
Redington Huskies
The Redington Huskies, #1 seed from the Mid Alaska Conference, finished the regular season undefeated and averaging 51 points per game for a 7-0 record. Redington defeated Kenai in week five of the regular season 68-14.
Kenai vs Redington @ Redington Friday 7 p.m. ESPN 1140AM and streaming at radiokenai.com
Division III Playoffs
Monroe Catholic vs Houston Friday 6 p.m. Fairbanks
Monroe Rams
The Monroe Rams opened the season 3-0 against Division III teams; then, dropped a 42-20 game to Redington. Monroe finished the regular season 4-1 and 3-0 in the Denali Conference earning the Denali Conference’s only berth to the DII state football playoffs.
Houston Hawks
Houston earned the #2 seed from the Mid Alaska Conference with victories over Kenai and Homer. The Hawks fell to Redington 40-6 in the regular season finale’ Pink Bowl. Houston is the reigning 2019 Division III football champion.
Division I First Round Pairings
Division I Quarterfinals
Friday
7 p.m. — South (2-5) at West (5-2)
7 p.m. — Bartlett (4-4) at Colony (5-3)
Saturday
3 p.m. — Dimond (0-6) at Juneau (6-1)
4 p.m. — Service (1-7) at East (7-1)