A fifteen-straight Northern Lights Conference football championship, an undefeated run through conference opponents and a guaranteed home playoff game in the first round of the Division II football playoffs were all on the line for the Soldotna Stars when SoHi took to the field on Friday night against the Wasilla Warriors.
Seven touchdowns and 49 points later; all boxes were checked and the Stars cruised to a 49-21 victory over the Warriors and SoHi celebrated Senior Night at Justin Maile Field.
Soldotna finished NLC play with a 4-0 record and the Stars will play the #2 seed from the Railbelt Conference in the semi-final round of the Division II state football playoffs the second weekend of October. With the SoHi victory over Wasilla, Eagle River secures the #2 seed from the NLC and will travel to Fairbanks to face #1 Railbelt Lathrop in the first round.
SoHi 49 – Wasilla 21
The Stars scored on their first five drives and only a fumbled snap stopped the Stars in the first half as SoHi posted 42 first-half points against Wasilla. The Warriors matched SoHi in the first quarter with a pair of touchdowns for a 14-14 tie; then the Stars defense stepped-up with three interceptions, a blocked punt, and three times stopping Wasilla on downs.
SoHi – Wasilla Scoring Summary
First Quarter
SoHi 10:41 Brayden Taylor 1-yard touchdown run 7-0
Was 7:54 Wasilla 22-yard touchdown run 7-7
SoHi 5:21 Wayne Mellon 25-yard touchdown pass from Taylor 14-7
Was 3:47 Tim Grisso 12-yard touchdown run 14-14
Second Quarter
SoHi 11:25 Gehret Medcoff 1-yard touchdown run 21-14
SoHi 8:56 Wayne Mellon 8-yard touchdown run 28-14
SoHi 6:38 Brayden Taylor 4-yard touchdown run 35-14
SoHi :30 Dylan Dahlgren 45-yard touchdown pass from Taylor 42-14
Third Quarter
SoHi 3:23 Gehret Medcoff 27-yard touchdown run 49-13
Fourth Quarter
Was 2:47 Izaiah Lattin 32-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Mahoney 49-21
The Stars close the regular season with non-divisional road game at South Anchorage High School on Saturday, October 2nd.
