A pair of impressive victories closed the regular season for high school football on the peninsula; the Soldotna Stars running away from the Kardinals 43-13 and the Nikiski Bulldogs dominating Seward 58-14.
Soldotna advances to the Division II playoffs as the #1 seed from the Northern Lights Conference with an undefeated 8-0 season, 4-0 in the NLC.
SoHi will face North Pole, #2 seed from Southeast Conference, in the Division II playoffs on Saturday, October 7th at Palmer High School.
Nikiski earns the #2 seed from the Peninsula Conference into the Division III football playoffs, finishing the year with a 3-1 conference record.
Nikiski will face Barrow, #1 seed from Aurora Conference, in the Division III playoffs on Saturday, October 7th at Barrow High School.
SoHi 43 – Kenai 14
The traditional season finale’ between the Stars and the Kardinals provide an abundance of big plays, plenty of athletic feats, and good sportsmanship between the two rivals; as the Stars pulled away for a 43-13 NLC victory.
The Stars improved the football program’s Alaska consecutive win streak to 57 victories. SoHi also won its 13th consecutive Northern Lights Conference championship.
The Kardinals opening drive advanced to the Stars 2-yard line; SoHi turning away Kenai on 4th and goal. The first quarter ended 0-0.
SoHi opened the second period with a 76-yard Brenner Furlong touchdown run and the Stars lead 7-0. Kenai answered with a 65-yard drive and a 7-yard touchdown run by Rykker Riddall. Kenai 7 – SoHi 7
The Stars score on their next possession with a 68-yard run by Furlong. SoHi 14 – Kenai 7
A fourth,straight scoring drive with Kenai connecting on a halfback option pass from Rykker Riddall to Zach Tuttle for 42 yards. Kenai added a two-point conversion by Tyrone McEnerney to tie the game at 14-14.
SoHi closed the first half scoring with a 39-yard touchdown run by Aaron Faletoi. SoHi 21-Kenai 14 at the half.
The second half belong to the Stars with the SoHi defense forcing three Kardinal turnovers, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.
SoHi added touchdown runs of six yards by Furlong; one yard run by Brandon Crowder and a 14-yard run by Furlong, with a two-point conversion by Eli Sheridan.
Final Score: SoHi 43 – Kenai 14
For the game, the Stars rushed for over 400 yards: the Kardinals went to the air for about 150 yards.
Nikiski 58 – Seward 14
The Nikiski Bulldogs over-powered Seward 58-14 and secured the #2 seed into the Division III football playoffs.
Ian Johnson scored three rushing touchdowns as the Bulldogs gained 232 yards on the ground. The Nikiski defense forced seven turnovers; including three interceptions returned for touchdowns. Tyler Olsen recorded three interceptions and Brock Sarks returned two interceptions for touchdowns and Justin Harris returned an INT for a score.
Nikiski will travel for the first round of the playoffs. The Bulldogs opponent will be the Barrow Whalers in Barrow on Saturday, October 7th.
Photo courtesy of Kenai Kardinals Football facebook
