2016 Potato Bowl: Moose defense holds strong to stop Wasilla rally

WASILLA — Late in the first half, trailing by a touchdown, the Wasilla Warriors put together a 64-yard scoring drive and tied the score with 12 seconds left in the second quarter. Late in the fourth, the Warriors, back down by seven, were on the move once again, this time with the opportunity to tie the game and force overtime.

With Wasilla facing 4th-and-goal at the 7-yard line during the final moments of regulation, Wasilla senior Sean McDermott took the ball to the right side of the field, and cut toward the end zone, but a gang of Palmer tacklers stopped McDermott 2 yards short of the goal line to allow the Moose to hold on to a 21-14 victory over the Warriors in the 38th annual Potato Bowl Friday night at Veterans Memorial Field in Wasilla.

“We were looking for the defense to get that last stop of the game, finish the game,” Palmer junior quarterback Clayton Southwick said after posing for pictures with the Mayor’s Cup, the traveling trophy awarded to the winner of a rivalry that dates back to 1979. “The defense was big in the end.”

Palmer senior Trey Witz was among the Moose in on the final stop.

“It was a big moment,” Witz, a senior defensive back, said after the win. “We knew we had to get this stop for our team, dig deep for all our seniors, play our hearts out and not let them get in the end zone.”

Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen praised the work of his defensive unit for getting the big stop against a Wasilla rushing attack that had success against the Moose Friday.

“It was great. The guys really picked it up there,” Christiansen said. “We were making some stops (in the game), but we weren’t making three in a row, four in a row, which we did right there.”

Wasilla finished with 263 yards rushing in the game on 49 carries.

“We knew they could do that,” Christiansen said of Wasilla’s run game. “It wasn’t a very good matchup for us. A lot of teams have been able to run in that fashion against us.”

The Warriors had a combined 28 carries during the final two quarters, but the Moose managed to keep Wasilla out of the end zone in the second half. In the first half, Wasilla was able to score late in both quarters to tie the score twice. Late in the first quarter, with the Warriors down by seven, McDermott broke away for a 15-yard score to help Wasilla tie the game at 7. Late in the second quarter, with the Warriors again trailing by a touchdown, Nick Alexander plowed ahead for a 5-yard rush to knot the score at 14.

Alexander rushed for a game-high 103 yards in the loss, eclipsing the 100-yard mark for the fourth time this season. McDermott added 77 yards, and Beau Cork chipped in 63 yards on the ground.

Meanwhile for the Moose, Southwick supplied a trio of touchdown runs to help Palmer improve to 4-4 overall this season and 28-10 in 38 Potato Bowls. With his 6-foot-7 frame, Southwick pushed forward for a pair of 1-yard touchdown scores in the first half. The junior signal caller added a 17-yard scamper for a score in the third quarter.

Palmer, with a balanced attack of three runners, — Nick DeBach, Jared Oviok and Larry Cutsforth — finished with 186 yards rushing.

“We have a great group of running backs. They’re all studs,” Southwick said. “We have three great running backs. We can keep fresh legs on the field.”

DeBach led the Moose with 77 yards on a dozen carries. Southwick finished with 86 yards passing. Witz led the Moose with three catches for 73 yards.

While Palmer is still waiting to officially punch its playoff ticket, the Warriors (2-6 overall, 1-3 in the Railbelt) are in. Wasilla makes the trip to Anchorage next weekend to face Bartlett, the top seed from the Cook Inlet Conference.

Palmer still needs to wait for the outcome of the Soldotna-Kenai game, slated for Saturday afternoon at Soldotna. With a SoHi win, Palmer (4-4 overall, 3-1 in the Northern Lights Conference) is in the playoffs. If Palmer does advance, the Moose would play Thunder Mountain, the top seed from the Southeast Conference, Oct. 8 at Palmer High School. PHS is the host school for the 2016 medium-schools and small-schools state playoffs.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Palmer 21, Wasilla 14

Friday, Wasilla High

First quarter:

Palmer — Southwick 1 run (Cutsforth kick) 6:40.

Wasilla — McDermott 15 run (Barnes kick) 0:27.

Second quarter:

Palmer — Southwick 1 run (Cutsforth kick) 6:08.

Wasilla — Alexander 5 run (Barnes kick) 0:12.

Third quarter:

Palmer — Southwick 17 run (Cutsforth kick) 3:09.

Fourth quarter:

No scoring.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS:

RUSHING — Palmer: DeBach 12-77, Southwick 9-7, Oviok 7-56, Cutsforth 5-30, Hale 1-9, Johnson 1-7, Witz 1-0; Wasilla: Alexander 18-103, McDermott 14-77, Cork 10-63, Hongslo 4-10, Reed 3-10.

PASSING — Palmer: Southwick 4-9-0—86; Wasilla: Hongslo 1-2-0—6.

RECEIVING — Palmer: Witz 3-73, Daniels 1-13; Wasilla: Walkenmeyer 1-6.