Kenai 13, Houston 14
The Kenai Kardinals played the Houston Hawks on Friday, Sept. 8 and dropped an angst-filled 1-point game to the Hawks.
Both teams demonstrated their parity with identical 3-1 records, an ability to move the ball and pick up first downs, only to be frustrated by stubborn Red Zone defenses by their opponents on numerous occasions.
Scoreless until late in the 2 nd quarter, the Hawks struck first on a 34-yard TD pass from QB Carter Seime to WR Keldin Nicoll. The extra point attempt failed.
The end of the 2 nd quarter ended with a mysterious and uncorrected error that cost the Kardinals thirty precious seconds. In possession around midfield after the Houston kickoff and with 1:27 remaining, the Kardinals lined up, only to have the referees blow the whistle for a penalty. While the referees consulted each other, the clock — incredibly — continued to run.
Neither the referees nor anyone from the Kardinal’s bench noticed this, except for the fans on the Kenai side. When the error was finally spotted by the official clock keeper, now with just :57 seconds remaining, no effort was made to correct the stolen 30 seconds. The officials admitted that they were totally clueless until this reporter called their attention to it during halftime, when it was impossible for Kenai to have any beneficial ruling.
The error influenced the Kardinals’ play selection and led to incomplete passes and an “up-for- grabs” interception to close the first half, with Houston leading 6-0.
Houston moved into true control of the game late in the 3 rd quarter. A drive, spearheaded by Houston RBs Noah Whitted and Robert Mitchell ended with a one-yard run by Seime, followed by a 2-point conversion, and gave the Hawks a 14-0 lead.
The Kardinals two touchdowns then followed after the Hawks kickoff early in the 4th quarter, when a cold, steady rain thoroughly soaked the players. Kenai QB Zeke Yragui mixed his handoffs to RB’s William Wilson and Bobby Hayes that finally penetrated the Hawks stubborn red zone defense, which had sacked Yragui numerous times during the game. A 6-yd run by Hayes made it 14-6 and the extra point was good.
The ensuing kickoff led to a huge bonehead play by the Hawks. The deep end-over-end kick by Sawyer Vann was left completely untouched, with the Hawks’ deep receivers hoping the ball would bounce into the end zone for a touchback.
It did not. The Kardinals alertly downed the ball on the 6, and 2 plays later Hayes was in for a TD. The Kards elected for a 1-point conversion which was blocked in the driving rain. With plenty of time and several possession opportunities remaining, the game ended with Houston working ball control as the Kards ran out of time outs.
The Kards are now 3-2, with heart-breaking losses now to both Barrow and Houston. The Hawks moved to 4-1.
Nikiski 32, Ben Eielson 26
The Nikiski Bulldogs made the trek north worth their while, pulling out a win in a close one, topping the Ben Eielson Ravens 32,-26.
The 9-man football experiment continues to pay dividends with speedy affairs featuring high scoring, tense games, and a budding rivalry. With Seward collecting a 58-0 home win over the Valdez Buccaneers, the stage is set for a high stakes showdown in Nikiski this Friday.
Earlier this season, Nikiski fell on the road to Seward, but with conference play technically beginning this last weekend, the two teams are currently tied at 1-0 for the conference lead. A win for either team would all but lock up the conference title – given the competition both schools have faced from Eielson and Valdez – before moving on to postseason play.
Eielson is 0-1 in conference play, and 1-3 overall; Valdez is 0-1 and 0-4.
Overall, Seward still has the edge on Nikiski with a 4-0 season thus far, while Nikiski sits at 3-1.
Nikiski Kicks off against Seward at home this Friday at 5pm.
Wasilla 6, Soldotna 67
In what has become a weekly installment of schoolyard bullying, the Soldotna Stars sent Wasilla home nursing their wounds after pounding the Warriors 67-6 in SOHI’s Homecoming game.
The Stars failed to put up points on only two of their 12 offensive drives, both with second and third string reserves on the field in the fourth quarter, and one of those two was to end the game by taking a knee.
Perhaps no clearer indication of SOHI’s dominance was the score with 6 minutes still to play in the second quarter: 46-0, meaning the Stars were scoring at a rate of about a touchdown every three minutes.
By halftime the Stars had already amassed more than 250 yards on he ground, and close to 100 yards through the air. The sustained rushing attack combination of Faircloth, Medcoff, and Peck, along with the occasional Buckbee-Big-Yards scramble is arguably the most formidable backfield in the state – at any divisional level. Buckbee led the running game with 74 yards rushing on 4 carries (he also threw 3 touchdown passes for 77 yards), followed by Faircloth, 67, Peck, 59, and Medcoff, 57. Medcoff left the field due to an injury sustained during a kickoff early in the second quarter, and did not return. He was able to walk off the field under his own power, though.
SOHI tight end, Andrew Pieh, took home player of the game honors, after collecting 2 touchdown receptions and an interception on defense. In fact, Pieh’s second touchdown came on the play immediately following his interception – a 44 yard touchdown Buckbee strike.
With Eagle River falling to Chugiak over the weekend, the Stars move into sole possession of first place in the Northern Lights Conference. On Monday, both the Alaska Sports Broadcasting Network, and the high school sports website, MaxPreps, had SOHI ranked #1 in the state of Alaska amongst all teams (Division I, II, & III included).
SOHI travels to Fairbanks this weekend to take on West Valley.
