HOUSTON — Houston had the home field advantage Saturday afternoon, but it was the Kenai Central Kardinals who looked like they owned the place with a dominant 28-0 Northern Lights Conference victory at Terry Shurtleff Field.

The loss was the second straight for the Hawks, who have fallen back to earth after opening the season with four consecutive victories. Houston fell to 2-2 in the NLC, while the Kardinals improved to 2-1. Houston now sits in fourth place in the NLC and faces the very real possibility of having to travel north of the Arctic Circle for the opening round of the state small-schools playoffs next month.

Following the game, Houston coach Norm Bouchard said his team was unable to match Kenai’s intensity throughout the game. “I don’t think team-wise they’re any more talented than we are,” Bouchard said. “I think they’re a good football team, but so are we. What they did is they came out and outworked us today.”

Kenai limited the Hawks to just 73 yards of total offense, including 15 in the second half. Houston crossed into Kenai territory just once in the game, punted five times and earned only three first downs.

Bouchard was quick to take the blame for his team’s underwhelming performance.

“That’s my fault. That’s got nothing to do with the kids. It’s my job to get the kids to the level they need to play at,” he said. “Today they weren’t there, so I’ll take responsibility for that.”

Kenai opened the game with a 10-play, 65-yard drive that ended when junior fullback Nick Rouswell rumbled 13 yards through a massive hole in the line of scrimmage to give the Kardinals the lead, and Zach Rabung’s conversion pass to Ty Anderson pushed Kenai’s advantage to 8-0.

Houston countered with its best drive of the afternoon, getting a 21-yard completion from Jordan Webb to Micah Ranum on its first play from scrimmage and driving down to the Kenai 20-yard-line.

But a costly offsides penalty on third down killed the Hawks’ drive as Webb failed to complete his next two attempts.

The senior quarterback was limited somewhat by the absence of Bryan Mason, the Hawks’ top receiving threat who sat out Saturday’s game with a shoulder injury. Without Mason in the lineup, Webb completed only 4-of-12 passing attempts for 39 yards.

“We probably could have used [Mason] today, but I’d rather have him for the next couple games than rush him back,” Bouchard said.

Neither team scored again in the first half, as Houston’s defense was able to fend off two Kenai trips into the red zone to end the half.

Kenai used a blocked punt to set up its second score of the game, going 35 yards on five plays to take a 15-0 lead on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Dalton Chappell to Rouswell.

Kenai’s sophomore quarterback played well in his first varsity start, throwing for 81 yards and rushing for another 86. Kenai head coach Jim Beeson said he elected to start Chappell in favor of Rabung as a way to diversify the Kardinals’ run-reliant offense.

“Zach makes us a lot more athletic at the wide receiver position,” Beeson said of Rabung, who caught two passes for 20 yards and had an acrobatic touchdown catch called back on a pass interference call.

The start may have been inevitable for Chappell, whose two older brothers, Cole and Tyler, also played quarterback for the Kards.

“The ability to throw the football a little bit more I thought was a factor,” Beeson said.

While the new quarterback may have helped Kenai stretch the defense, the Kardinals still did plenty of damage on the ground. Junior running back Billy Kiefer was the game’s leading rusher with 111 yards on 17 carries, while Rouswell added 64 yards on 7 carries for the Kards, which picked up 289 yards on the ground.

Houston, meanwhile, never could get things going. Senior running back Kyle Sumner ran for 34 yards on 15 carries to lead Houston, whose longest running play of the game was a 10-yard quarterback sneak by Mason to end the first half.

“Once they started scoring, our team just put our heads down,” Webb said. “It’s something we can’t do in the future.

Kiefer got into the scoring column late in the second quarter, busting through the middle, faking out the safety and sprinting 52 yards to put Kenai up 22-0. Adam Creighton capped the scoring with a 7-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter.

The loss ended any hopes of a Houston home playoff game, and increased the chances the Hawks may have to travel to Barrow for the opening round of the playoffs. If the Hawks can hold on to fourth place in the NLC, they’d face the top seed from the Greatland Conference – a spot currently held by the Whalers.

“Get out your ice cleats!” cried the public address announcer moments after the final whistle sounded Saturday.

Houston has one conference game remaining, a season-ending clash with Kodiak, which is undefeated in the NLC. Houston plays non conference foe Wasilla next Saturday at Wasilla.

Bouchard promised the Hawks will put up a better fight over the next two weeks than they did Saturday.

“I don’t plan to make the same mistake twice,” he said. “We are going to come to work next week.”

Kenai greatly improved its playoff position with the victory, moving to 2-1 in the conference with games against winless Homer and undefeated Soldotna remaining.

Beeson said he was impressed with his team’s effort Saturday, saying the game was Kenai’s best performance of the season.

“It’s fun. This is the first time it’s really been fun. The kids were excited, we played together, and this is really first time all year we’ve played like we’re capable of playing.”

Kenai 28, Houston 0

Saturday, Terry Shurtleff Field

First quarter

Kenai — Rouswell 13 run (Rabung pass to Anderson), 6:58

Third quarter

Kenai —  Rouswell 24 run (Narlock kick), 7:32

Kenai —  Kiefer 25 run (Narlock kick), 3:22

Fourth quarter

Kenai —  Creighton 7 run (kick blocked), 6:02

 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing – Kenai: Kiefer 17-111, Chappell 19-86, Rouswell 7-64, Creighton 7-23. Rabung 1-9, Narlock 1-(-2), Werba 1-(-2). Houston: Sumner 15-43, Origer 2-7, Webb 2-2, Ranum 1-(-1), Sowards 1-(-2), Contreras 3-(-6). Passing – Kenai: Chappell 7-15-1-81. Houston: Webb 4-12-1-39. Receiving – Kenai: Rouswell 3-31, Rabung 2-20, Anderson 1-17, Hughes 1-13. Houston: Ranum 2-26, Sumner 1-11, Stinson 1-2.