The Soldotna Stars claimed the 2016 Northern Lights Conference football championship on Saturday with a decisive 54-27 victory over the Kenai Kardinals in the regular season finale’ at Soldotna High School on Saturday.
The Stars finish the regular season with an undefeated 8-0 record, 4-0 in the NLC and SoHi football’s state win-streak extends to 47-straight games.
SoHi 54 – Kenai 27
The Stars rallied from a 13-7 deficit early in the second quarter with four, unanswered second quarter touchdowns, en route-to a 54-27 victory over the Kenai Kardinals, eliminating the Kardinals from a possible playoff position.
Kenai opened the scoring with a 56-yard touchdown pass from Chase Gillies to Zach Tuttle and SoHi answered with a 63-yard drive capped by a 13-yard TD run for Brenner Furlong. The first quarter ended tied at 7-7.
Kenai opened the second quarter with a 54-yard touchdown pass, again from Gillies to Tuttle for a 13-7 Kenai lead.
The SoHi defense then set up a pair of touchdowns with two interceptions. SoHi scored four-straight touchdowns to close the first half. SoHi scores included: Jace Urban, 7-yard run; Austin Schrader, 33-yard run; Schrader, 12-yard run; and Levi Hensley, 11-yard reception from Brandon Crowder.
Half time score: SoHi 34 – Kenai 13.
The Kardinals opened the third quarter with a recovered, on-side kick and converted their opening drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Nick Beeson. SoHi followed with touchdowns by Furlong, on a 39-yard run and Schrader on a 3-yard run. Kenai’s final score featured a 3-yard touchdown run by Beeson and SoHi closed the game with a 6-yard TD carry by Urban.
Final Score: SoHi 54 – Kenai 27
For the game, SoHi rushed for nearly 450 yards with Brenner Furlong surpassing the 200 yard rushing mark and Austin Schrader carrying for over 100 yards. Kenai’s Chase Gillies passed for 165 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 35 of Kenai’s 111 rushing yards.
Medium School Playoffs
The Stars advance to the Medium School Football semi-final playoffs, scheduled for Saturday, October 8th at Palmer High School. SoHi, as the #1 seed from the NLC, will face North Pole, Southeast Conference #2 seed, on Saturday in the 1:00 p.m. contest.
Palmer, 3-1 in the NLC and the #2 seed, will face Thunder Mountain, #1 Southeast, in the 4:00 p.m. game on Saturday.
The winner’s advance to the 2016 Medium School Football Championship Game, set for Saturday, October 15th with a 12:30 p.m. game time.
Nikiski 8 – Seward 22
Seward defended their home field on Saturday downing Nikiski 22-8 for the Peninsula Conference championship. Both teams entered the contest with 3-0 conference records.
Small School Playoffs
Nikiski, #2 seed from Peninsula Conference, will travel to Eielson, #1 in Aurora Conference, to face the Ravens on Saturday, October 8th. The Ravens are the two-time defending Small School champion.
Eielson vs Nikiski 1:00 p.m. Saturday, October 8th at Eielson High School
Seward, #1 from Peninsula Conference, will host #2 Aurora Conference Houston on Saturday, October 8th.
