Bears run past Moose

ANCHORAGE --The Bartlett Golden Bears ran past the Palmer Moose 46-30 in the semifinals of the 4A state football playoffs at Anchorage Football Stadium Friday.

The Golden Bears showed why they are undefeated at 9-0 and the top-ranked team in the state, piling up more than 500 yards and scoring on seven straight possessions.

"It seemed like we could stop them for the first three plays and then they would break one," Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said.

The Moose did not struggle on the offensive side of the ball either, rushing for 341 yards, notching 18 first downs and scoring four touchdowns.

"We played hard," Christiansen added. "We took some chances and tried to make some things happen. We asked them to play hard throughout the entire game and they did."

The teams combined for 76 points, 39 first downs and nearly 900 yards of total offense.

The offensive shootout was actually a battle of two of the premiere running attacks in the state.

Unfortunately for the Moose, the Bears won the battle.

Boaz Gionson, a 5-5, 175 lb. sparkplug, led the Bears' 11-cylinder running machine -- otherwise known as their offense. The senior fullback rumbled for 187 yards and three touchdowns, including the first two scores of the game. On each of Gionson's scores, the senior not only ran past Palmer, but in many cases he ran over the Moose defenders.

Ali Larijani capped off his Palmer career with another stellar game, rushing for 163 yards and a touchdown.

The Palmer offense, led by Larijani, started off the contest by eating up 8:15 of the clock with a 14-play drive. Larijani rushed for 37 yards on the drive and quarterback Charlie Bentti had three rushing attempts on the option play worth 31 yards. The Moose drove down to the six yard line where they were stopped by the Bear defense.

Freshman kicker Devin Conroy missed a 22-yard field goal, and Bartlett gained possession.

Bartlett's lone possession in the first quarter resulted in a punt. The Moose ate up all but 1:41 of the first quarter, but were unable to reach the end zone.

The Bears regained possession at the start of the second quarter and that is where the Bartlett fireworks began.

On the fifth play of the drive, Gionson dashed off the right side of the Bartlett line and went 32 yards for the first score of the game. After a Palmer punt, Gionson again burned the Palmer defense, this time scoring from 23 yards.

Down 19-0, Palmer would put together another lengthy drive. Though this time it would result in a score.

The Moose chewed up the final 4:22 of the second quarter with a 10-play, 62-yard drive. The Moose again fed Larijani the ball and the senior fullback dove through the center of the Moose line, five times for 41 yards.

Facing third-and-goal at the nine, Bentti faked the handoff to Larijani and ran behind tackle Shane Omer for an eight yard gain.

With fourth-and-goal at the one-yard line, Palmer gave the ball to their horse. Larijani dove between the blocks created by center Tory Johnson and guard Junior Aumavae into the end zone.

Palmer was again able to chew up time in the third, but Bartlett scored on both their offensive possessions in the quarter to pad their lead.

Down 39-7 early in the fourth, the Moose made an attempt to get back into the game.

A 48-yard Larijani kick-off return gave Palmer the ball at the Bartlett 33-yard line for their first possession of the fourth quarter. On the first play of the drive, Mike Weber countered off the left side and ran untouched for the 33-yard touchdown. A Nick Pilch block opened a lane for the junior wing back to run through to the end zone.

Palmer answered another Bartlett touchdown with a 37-yard score by Kenny Waterer. The senior fullback reached the end zone for the second time this season.

The Moose added a touchdown late in the game.

Tailback Allen Franklin scored the first varsity touchdown of has career with eight seconds left in the ball game.

News and notes … Nineteen seniors including all-conference honorees Ali Larijani, Shane Omer, Brendyn Shiflea, Dustin Mason and Brent Bryant, played their final game for the Moose … The Moose will return four of their five starting offensive lineman, starting quarterback Charlie Bentti and their second leading rusher, Mike Weber … Mason and Bryant combined for a blocked extra point in the second half … Larijani ended his senior season with 1,167 yards rushing and 18 touchdowns … In wet conditions on the AFS turf, neither team lost a fumble.