The Kenai Kardinals and Soldotna Stars both clinched playoff spots for the Northern Lights Conference football conference in Medium School division with victories on Saturday. Both teams celebrated Homecoming with decisive wins. The Nikiski Bulldogs suffered a road loss at Eielson in a rematch of the 2014 Small School championship game.
Kenai 56 – Palmer 35
The Kardinals scored three unanswered, fourth quarter touchdowns to pull away from Palmer 56-35 in Northern Lights Conference action at KCHS. Tied at 35-35 into the final quarter, the Kardinals Andrew Welborn scored three rushing touchdowns and the Kenai defense held Palmer scoreless for the final 18 minutes. Welborn rushed for five touchdowns on the day.
SoHi 62 – Eagle River 6
The Soldotna Stars improved to 6-0 on the season and the SoHi football program advanced to a state record 35-straight victories with a dominate 62-6 victory of Eagle River.
SoHi opened with 28 points in the first quarter and lead 49-0 at the half. The Stars used nine ball carriers and two quarterbacks, with seven different players scoring touchdowns.
Nikiski 7- Eielson 34
In a rematch of the 2014 Small School Football state championship game, Eielson pulled away from Nikiski 34-7, breaking open a contest which was close at the half.
Nikiski’s lone touchdown came midway through the first quarter on a Cade Anderson pass to Dylan Broussard, tying the game at 7-7. Eielson held Nikiski scoreless for the remaining 3 1/2 quarters.
Nikiski stands at 4-2 on the year and are still unbeaten in the Peninsula Conference.
Playoff Update
Kenai and SoHi both stand at 3-0 in the NLC and will meet week eight at KCHS for the Northern Lights Conference championship. Both teams clinch playoff berths for the Medium School playoffs.
Nikiski has clinched a playoff spot for the Small Schools playoffs and will likely face Eielson again in the 2015 Small School Football championship game.
(Kardinal team photo by Dr. Ben Pontius)
