Soldotna 57, West Valley 21
Soldotna Stars Head Coach Galen Brantley became the winningest coach in Alaska football history on Friday night when the Stars won yet another lopsided game, a hallmark of Brantley’s tenure at the program’s helm. The Star’s coach now boasts an eye-popping career record of 160-9.
The game was delayed due to an unprecedented storm cell that passed over the central peninsula. Lightning ignited the sky repeatedly for about an hour, sending game officials scrambling as they tried to determine some sort of protocol for dealing with the weather. As ASAA had no policy regarding lightning in place, it was decided that the game could begin as long as 15 minutes had passed since the last lightning strike.
The game started about 20 minutes late, and that’s when the lightning went from the sky to the field. The Stars scored four touchdowns in the opening quarter, led by Junior halfback Andon Wolverton, who ran it in twice from 53 and 17 yards.
Wolverton added another 20-yard score in the second quarter.
After falling behind by two scores early, West Valley tried going to the air, but Matthew Schilling made them pay for that choice when he intercepted a Wolfpack pass and then nabbed a 26-yard touchdown pass from Owen Buckbee.
Wyatt Faircloth, Lokeni Wong, and Jacob Kemp all added touchdowns for the Stars in the first half before Brantley turned things over to his JV players.
Chugiak 29, Kenai 7
Recap provided by Bob Bird
On Saturday, Sep. 7 the Kenai Kards buckled to a thoroughly deep Chugiak squad 29-7. Kenai moved the ball well in the first quarter but came up empty inside the Red Zone on a 4th and 4. The Mustangs countered with 2 touchdowns in the first half, making a 2-point and a 1-point conversion for a 15-0 halftime lead.
Chugiak was led by QB Sam Young, with running performed by Conner High, Luke Poland and Cooper Scherffius. Landon Bobo proved to be one of the state’s finest kickers, smashing a booming 70+ yard punt, which was somewhat negated by the 20-yard touchback.
The Kardinal defense forced several turnovers and kept the Mustangs in a tight game. At the start of the 4th quarter, two passes by Kard QB Tony Perez to Makai Johansen led to Kenai’s only TD, as the big Tight End barreled through the Chugiak defense, making the score 15-7 and positioning Kenai for a comeback.
However, the Kardinal running game was deflated by an injury to HB Delen Byrd at the end of the 3rd quarter, allowing Chugiak to key on Bobby Hayes and Aasen Campanella. The Mustangs finished with two 4 th quarter TDs, making the game a late runaway.
