Soldotna 63, Palmer 27
The Soldotna Stars kicked off their campaign to repeat as Division II state champions on Friday, Aug. 16, with a definitive win over the Palmer Moose.
In a contest that nearly didn’t happen after Palmer attempted to preemptively forfeit the game before the season began, the Stars ran away early, scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter.
After a Palmer three-and-out, Jacob Kemp followed up a 40+ yard run with a 5-yard touchdown run to open the scoring for the game. Wyatt Faircloth added on another Soldotna score a few minutes later, punching in a touchdown from the 1-yard line.
Palmer quarterback Nolan Garner engineered a touchdown drive in response. Reed Craner scored on an end-around run set up in part by a 40-yard Garner scramble on a broken play.
Then, with 27 seconds left in the first quarter, Andon Wolverton scored on a 42-yard scamper around the left side. Wolverton would add touchdowns in the second and third quarters and finish with 117 yards on only five carries.
Lokeni Wong and Wyatt Faircloth also scored in the second quarter, Wong on a 12-yard run up the gut and Faircloth on a 35-yard pass from Owen Buckbee.
The Stars travel to Eagle River on Aug. 23 to take on the Chugiak Mustangs.
Kenai 21, Homer 0
Game recap provided by Bob Bird
The Kenai Kardinals began their defense as Alaska’s Division III champions with a hard-working 21-0 victory over a tough Homer Mariner squad. Defense was the key to the game as both teams played to a stingy 7-0 Kenai lead at the end of the first half.
In the shut-out, the Kardinals proved to be the superior defensive team. Homer never got inside the Kardinals’ 40-yard line, and when they did, they went the wrong way through penalties and tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
When the Mariners found good yardage during the game, it came from QB Preston Stanislaw, who often ran keepers or handed off to HB Justus Grimes. Homer’s defense shined most brightly when they stopped a Kenai drive at the 3-yard line in the 2nd quarter.
The Kards’ Tony Perez, who had never before started a varsity game at QB, showed superb poise and maturity throughout the game. Only in one set of downs did the Kenai backfield look clumsy, but never yielded a turnover except once with a failed screen pass. Perez handed off to Bobby Hayes and Aasen Campanella for
TD runs and a surprise veer-in pass to Zane James in the 4th quarter iced the game for the Kardinals. Also running extremely reliably were Hayden Hughes and Delen Byrd, whose small size did not stop him from running inside often for good yardage.
Next up, the Kardinals head to the top of the world to take on the Barrow Whalers in a rematch of last year’s Division III State Championship.
Nikiski 6, Seward 54
The Nikiski Bulldogs turned in a tough show during their 9-man football season opener against defending Denali Conference State Champion Seward Seahawks on Saturday, Aug. 17.
The game started off on a high note when Kaiden Parrish took a handoff from Ethan Ellis on the opening play from scrimmage up the middle for an 80-yard touchdown run. The Bulldogs failed to punch in the 2-point conversion.
After that, the game belonged to the Seahawks. Seward put up one indefensible offensive drive after another without showing anything like the defensive weakness displayed on the opening score by Parrish. Quarterback Brett Gilmore was provided plenty of time in the backfield by his offensive line and used the time to great effect on several bootleg rollouts, running for multiple first downs and a score.
More than Gilmore, though, it was Seahawks running back Ronan Bickling who showed up in extraordinary fashion. The senior running back came into the season with big shoes to fill after Seahawks star Kupono Albino graduated in 2023, averaging more than 150 yards per game in his senior season. Bickling, however, more than compensated for the absence of Albino, running for over 140 yards and four touchdowns.
Nikiski, running a 9-man modified version of the Power-T offense, had a difficult time keeping the Seahawks defensive front out of their backfield. After the big run by Parrish to open the game, the run game was largely stymied, and aside from a few passes for minor gains, the Bulldogs were held to very little yardage for the remainder of the game.
Next week, the Bulldogs will travel to the interior for a match with Monroe Catholic, 2024’s newcomer to 9-man football.