BEARS ESCAPE

PALMER — During his team’s 37-15 win over West Valley last week, Eric Fagerstrom posted three touchdowns, scoring in just about every possible way.

On Friday, Fagerstrom had a modest four catches. He touched the ball only seven times and was kept out of the end zone. But the senior standout gave Juneau-Douglas arguably its biggest first down of the game.

Late in the third quarter, Fagerstrom went high to snag a Phillip Fenumiai pass to help the Crimson Bears convert on 3rd-and-long, prolong a drive and help kill a Palmer rally as Juneau-Douglas held on for a 17-7 Railbelt Conference victory over the Moose at Machetanz Field on Friday.

“That was huge,” Juneau coach Rich Sjoroos said. “It got us out of a little hole, (took) another couple of minutes off the clock. That, to me, was the play for us in the second half. That and the touchdown that put us up by two scores.”

That touchdown, a Chris Holloway 23-yard catch with four minutes left in regulation, helped seal the 10-point win over the Moose and allowed the Bears to improve to 3-0 overall and 2-0 and conference play. But Fagerstrom’s 13-yard grab on third down helped Juneau keep the momentum from swinging in Palmer’s direction.

Just a few minutes earlier, Palmer (1-2) cut into Juneau’s 10-0 halftime lead with Douglas Chadwick’s 25-yard touchdown run. Chadwick, who scored for the third straight week, broke through the Juneau defensive front and sprinted untouched up the left side of the field for the score.

Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said he felt like that score should have been what gave the Moose the momentum.

“It was our game to win at that point,” Christiansen said.

The Moose held the Bears without a first down on the ensuring Juneau drive. But the Moose offense stalled on its next drive. Palmer appeared to be in good position to get the ball back. After a Juneau holding penalty, the Bears were facing 3rd-and-long inside their own 20. But Fagerstrom’s catch gave the defending Railbelt champs new life.

Juneau found itself in those situations throughout the game. The Bears were whistled for 13 penalties for 123 yards, setting up a multitude of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th-and-long situations.

The Bears faced those situations regularly, and often found a way to convert.

“It’d be nice not to have to face those whatever-down-and-longs, but we came through and made some big catches,” Sjoroos said.

After Juneau was called for a chop block in the second, Leka Maka broke away for a 34-yard gain. Late in the first half, Juneau was whistled for an unsportsmanlike conduct call, and Holloway followed with a 22-yard reception. Two plays later, following another chop block call, Sean Collum went over the middle to snag a 26-yard grab.

“I thought they didn’t let that affect them,” Sjoroos said. “If they did, we wouldn’t have won tonight.”

While Palmer couldn’t necessarily take advantage of Juneau mistakes, the Bears did capitalize on a few Moose miscues.

Juneau recovered a fumble on Palmer’s first offensive drive and five plays later Fenumiai connected with Colin Gozelski on a 30-yard scoring strike. Midway through the second, Juneau blocked a Palmer punt and took over on the Moose 18-yard line.

Three plays later, Peter Jorgensen booted a 25-yard field goal.

The Moose defense did pick off a pair of Fenumiai passes and held the state’s highest scoring offense to just one touchdown through three-and-a-half quarters.

Palmer also put together a 14-play drive on its final offensive series of the game as the Moose marched down to the 7-yard line. With the Moose facing 4th-and-6, Juneau was able to drag Palmer quarterback Jackson Buresh down two yards short of the first down.

“(The game) wasn’t decided until we got the stop on fourth down with a couple minutes left in the game,” Sjoroos said.

The win was the Bears third straight over Palmer, but it marked the first time since 2004 Juneau managed to score a victory at Machetanz Field.

“There’s a reason why we haven’t come here in six years and gotten a win during the regular season,” Sjoroos said.

The Palmer-Juneau matchup has become one of the better rivalries in the Railbelt, regardless of geography. The game marked the ninth meeting since 2005. The foes met in the state playoffs during four connective years, 2005-08. That run includes meetings in two large-schools title games.

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

Juneau-Douglas 17, Palmer 7

Friday, Machetanz Field

First quarter

Juneau – Gozelski 30 from Fenumiai (Jorgenson kick)

Second quarter

Juneau – Jorgenson 25 field goal, 4:35.

Third quarter

Palmer – Chadwick 25 run (Wisner kick) 6:35.

Fourth quarter

Juneau – Holloway 23 pass from Fenumiai (Jorgenson kick), 4:08.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Juneau: Brooks 11-74, L. Maka 10-67, Fenumiai 6-(-11), Fagerstrom 3-14, Collum 1-8, Fifita 1-0; Palmer: Sorenson 9-42, Chadwick

8-71, Buresh 6-1, Ahrens 4-14,m McCall 2-5.

PASSING – Juneau: Fenumiai 11-19-2—152; Palmer: Buresh 6-20-1—106.

RECEIVING – Juneau: Fagerstrom 4-48, Holloway 3-55, Gozelski 2-36, Collum 2-23; Palmer: Christiansen 2-52, McCall 2-26, Ahrens 1-15, Corbin 1-13.