Bears bury bruised Warriors

WASILLA — It was injury added to insult for the Wasilla Warriors when they met head-on with the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears’ steamroll on Friday.

Led by 6-foot, 2, 240-pound freshman quarterback Phillip Fenumiai, the Bears’ offense put up 47 unanswered points to blank Wasilla 47-0 in the Warriors’ Railbelt Conference opener at Veterans Memorial Field.

Fenumiai collected a trio of touchdown passes and fullback Jack Perkins reached the end zone three times to help the fourth-ranked Crimson Bears improve to 2-0 in conference play.

The game started well for the Warriors when their defense recovered a fumbled handoff on the first play of the game. A five-play drive had Wasilla deep inside Juneau territory, only to see its momentum deflated by a fumble recovered by the Bears.

The Bears’ offense took over at their own 12-yard line. Six plays later, at the Warriors’ 49, Fenumiai made the easy dump-off pass to Perkins rolled out in the flat. Perkins broke the initial tackles around the line of scrimmage, hit the sideline, and didn’t stop.

After a Chris Hoffman point after, Juneau took a seven-point lead midway through the first quarter.

Wasilla got the ball back around their own 20-yard line. On the first play, quarterback Cody Pfeifer made the completion to wide receiver Izaak Probasco. But a hit by the Bears caused the ball to be flipped in the air and right into the hands of linebacker La Fifita.

With excellent field position, the Bear’s drive was capped by a 6-yard touchdown run by Silver Maake.

The ensuing kickoff saw the Warriors start their next offensive drive at their own 7-yard line. They got the ball to the 40 and were forced to punt. Pressure in his face caused the kick by Kyle Welton to be short and high, giving the Bears the ball back at Wasilla’s 48-yard line.

The defense held the Bears to a fourth down with four yards to go. Electing not to punt, Perkins took the ball 44 yards into the endzone. The point after gave the Bears a 21-point lead with 51 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Warriors went three-and-out their next drive, but then their defense forced the Bears to punt. Wasilla’s offense put together a seven-play drive with a committee of running backs but was forced to punt again.

With 5:11 left in the second quarter, Fenumiai completed a pass to Matthew Maka, who ran 51 yards for the Bears’ fourth touchdown.

On the first play of their next drive, Pfeifer threw an incompletion attempted for Scott Taylor. With a late-hit flag on the field, Pfeifer was still on the ground. After an inspection from the team doctor, he walked off the field under his own power but clutching his rib cage. He sat the rest of the second quarter with a bandage wrapped just under his shoulder pads and did not return to the field after the halftime break.

A.J. Marshall was asked to take over the offense with a 28-point deficit. A drive plagued by penalties was ended with a Juneau interception on a wide receiver screen.

Again with excellent field position, penalties and a near-fumbled snap pushed the Bears back to Wasilla’s 42. With 1:02 left in the first half, Fenumiai completed a pass to Perkins who took it in for another six points. Juneau went to the break leading 35 to zero.

Defense dominated the third quarter. Neither team could mount a scoring drive, and Wasilla ended the quarter with another interception by the Bears.

Starting with the ball on the Wasilla 18-yard line, Maake made quick work of the drive, scoring on the second play with a 6-yard run. The point after was blocked by the Warriors, giving the Bears a 41 to zero lead.

Wasilla turned the ball over on downs after failing to move the chains on the next drive. Juneau ate the rest of the clock with eight runs ending with a five-yard touchdown run by Justin Brooks. The point after was blocked again, and the score was 48 to zero with 27 seconds left in the game.

The last-ditch effort by the Warriors ended with another interception as the clock ticked to zero.

Trying to stay positive after the Warriors’ second lopsided defeat in a row, Wasilla head coach Glenn Nelson said the score did not reflect how hard his team played.

“Kaulen Pevan opened huge holes and Tyler Polis ran through them really well,” the first-year head coach said.

Despite their numbers, Nelson said, “both quarterbacks played great.”

As to the status of Pfeifer, Nelson said the ribs look to be bruised, not broken.

“He’s a real tough kid. I think he will be back on Monday,” he said.

Asked how the Warriors are going to prepare for next week’s match up at North Pole, Nelson said “obviously different than we did for this week.”

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.

Juneau-Douglas 47, Wasilla 0

Friday, Veteran’s Memorial Field

First Quarter

Juneau-Douglas — Perkins 49 pass from P. Fenumiai (Hoffman kick) 6:33

Juneau-Douglas — Maake 6 run (Hoffman kick) 5:13

Juneau-Douglas — Perkins 44 run (Hoffman kick) 0:51

Second Quarter

Juneau-Douglas — Maka 51 pass from P. Fenumiai (Hoffman kick) 5:11

Juneau-Douglas — Perkins 42 pass from P. Fenumiai (Hoffman kick) 1:02

Fourth Quarter

Juneau-Douglas — Maake 6 run (kick blocked) 11:18

Juneau-Douglas — Brooks 5 run (kick blocked) 0:27

Individual Results

RUSHING — Wasilla: Polis 11-88, Chafin 4-11, Lapiz 2-2, Teeling 2-6, Pfeifer 1-4, Marshall 5-4, Griffiths 1-1, Matherne 1-8, Langendorf 1-5; Juneau-Douglas: Brooks 17-86, Maake 8-62, Perkins 2-46, Workman 1-20, P. Fenumiai 1-(-6), Costello 1-0, Wheat 1-6.

PASSING — Wasilla: Pfeifer 2-7-0—18, Marshall 2-8-3—3; Juneau-Douglas: P. Fenumiai 7-15-0—204.

RECIVING — Wasilla: Polis 1-15, Bydlon 1-3, Griffiths 1-0, Langendorf 1-3; Juneau-Douglas: Perkins 2-91, L. Fenumiai 2-24, Hoffman 1-19, Maka 1-51, Le 1-19.