Back to Palmer

PALMER — J.D. Mitchell couldn’t ask for a better way to spend his birthday.

Not only did Mitchell, a Palmer senior and captain, have the chance to spend his birthday playing in the final regular season home game of his prep football career, he had the opportunity to share his birthday gift — the Mayor’s Cup trophy — with about 33 of his teammates.

Mitchell and the Moose scored a 42-14 win over Wasilla in the annual Potato Bowl and earned the right to bring back the coveted Mayor’s Cup back to Palmer High after its one-year stay at Wasilla.

“It’s awesome, the best feeling in the world,” Mitchell said, just moments after he and his teammates had the chance to hoist the Cup, the traveling trophy that Palmer earned the right to keep for the 22nd time in the 30-year history of Alaska’s greatest prep football rivalry. “After losing by one-point last year, it couldn’t be better than this — take the trophy back to Palmer.”

Fullback John Scoresby scored on Palmer’s second play from scrimmage and the Moose amassed nearly 400 yards on the ground en route to earning their six Potato Bowl win in the last seven tries.

After junior Brennan Bohman rushed for a quick 10-yard run on Palmer’s first play of the game, Scoresby shot through the left side of the Moose line and darted 56 yards for the score to give Palmer the early 7-0 lead.

“That was huge,” Mitchell said. “A big play to get some momentum going.”

Three Palmer runners hit the 100-yard mark for the Moose, who rushed for 382 yards in the win.

Junior Johnny Daly rushed for a game-high 119 yards on just six carries, Bohman rushed for 104 and Scoresby rushed for 100, hitting triple digits for the first time in his varsity career.

“We have more than one threat,” Palmer lineman Dan Contini said. “That’s what a lot of football’s about. You just can’t give the ball to one player all the time.”

Daly capped Palmer’s scoring with a 41-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Fullback Coleman Ahrens added 37 yards and scored twice.

The Moose also saw the emergence of a passing game. Senior Mitch Swetzof snagged a 12-yard grab on a jump ball in the corner of the end zone to record Palmer’s first touchdown reception of the year.

Swetzof, who caught three balls for 56 yards, now has seven catches for 170 yards in his last two games.

“He’s a huge part of our offense,” Mitchell said. “The more that kid’s got the ball, the better chance we have.”

Swetzof also had a pair of key interceptions on defense.

“He’s one of our key guys,” Contini said. “Get that ball in his hands and magical things happen.”

Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen called Swetzof’s first pick a pivotal moment in the game.

With Palmer holding the 14-0 lead late in the first quarter, Wasilla drove the ball deep into Moose territory. But with the Warriors facing 2nd-and-8 at the 10-yard line, Swetzof leaped in front of a Wasillla receiver to intercept a Cody Pfeifer pass in the end zone.

“Mitch’s pick in the end zone was a really big play,” Christiansen said, noting Swetzof’s ability to make the grab and not fall out of bounds at the goal line.

Palmer sophomore Jim McCall also intercepted a pass on a Wasilla fake punt.

Wasilla opened the game on offense with a “Wild Hog”-like attack. Just as the University of Arkansas became known to do with former Razorback standout Darren McFadden, the Warriors lined up senior running back Chris Crane behind center in the shotgun set, and overloaded the line of scrimmage on the right side.

“It stunned us at first, but the defense adjusted,” Mitchell said. “We were expecting some sort of trickery, but we weren’t expecting that.”

Wasilla used the new formation for its first offensive series, but was limited to six plays on its first drive.

Crane did get a first down, using a cut-back move to gain 14 of his team-high 63 yards.

Christiansen said he wasn’t surprised to see the Wasilla coaching staff pull something out of their bag of trips.

“They know it’s they’re last game, they’re struggling a bit, they’ve got to try something,” Christiansen said. “It was a good challenge for us.”

Crane, who topped the 800-yard rushing mark for the season in the loss, accounted for more than 100 yards in total offense, and he scored Wasilla’s first touchdown.

Crane found a whole in the Palmer defense, catching a pass along the left side line and sprinting 45 yards for a touchdown.

Senior Casey Katchinska added a 1-yard scoring run in the third quarter.

Palmer improved to 4-2 in Railbelt play with the win and stayed alive in the race for home field advantage, but the Moose had to wait until the outcome of Colony’s match against Juneau-Douglas to figure out where they’d be for the first week of the season.

But after the Potato Bowl win, the Moose were prepared to face any one of their Railbelt rivals in the first round.

“Whatever happens, we’ll be ready to go,” Contini said.

Thanks to Juneau’s 22-19 win over Colony on Saturday, that foe will be Juneau.

The Moose will host the two-time defending state champions at Machetanz Field. The date and time of the game will be announced by ASAA on Monday.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Palmer 42, Wasilla 14

Friday, Machetanz Field

First quarter

Palmer — Scoresby 56 run (Zegzdryn kick) 11:15.

Palmer — Swetzof 3 run (Zegzdryn kick) 5:01.

Second quarter

Wasilla — Crane 45 pass from Pfeifer (Kroon kick) 8:59.

Palmer — Ahrens 1 run (Zegzdryn kick) 4:07.

Palmer — Swetzof 12 pass from Silva (Zegzdryn kick) 00:15.

Third quarter

Wasilla — Katchinska 1 (Kroon kick) 9:21.

Palmer — Ahrens 1 run (Swetzof run) 3:02.

Fourth quarter

Palmer — Daly 41 run (kick blocked) 10:46.

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Wasilla: Crane 13-63, Mock 5-41, Katchinska 4-25, Pfeifer 3-(-13), Worden 1-3; Palmer: Bohman 10-104, Scoresby 13-100, Daly 6-119, Zegzdryn 8-25, Ahrens 6-37, Silva 4-2, Swetzof 2-3, Scheibe 1-2.

PASSING — Wasilla: Pfeifer 6-17-2—134, Kroon 0-1-1—0; Palmer: Silva 4-6-0—68.

RECEIVING — Wasilla: Kroon 4-76, Crane 2-67; Palmer: Swetzof 3-56, Mitchell 1-12.