Big first half helps Dimond past Wasilla

ANCHORAGE -- Though Wasilla had a new chrome look, the Warriors were a little rusty on Saturday.

The Dimond Lynx jumped out to a 28-0 first half lead and held on to defeat Wasilla 35-20 at Dimond High School on Saturday.

The Lynx spoiled the debut of the Warriors sporting their new colors. Wasilla has ditched the traditional red on their helmets for a new silver look.

Both teams showed signs of first game jitters as the two squads combined for 11 fumbles in the game. Each squad lost three fumbles.

"Fumbles killed us," Wasilla head coach Nathan Ford said.

The teams not only had similar turnover numbers, but similar totals also. Wasilla rushed for 190 yards, while Dimond ran for 193. Wasilla had 98 passing yards and the Lynx threw for 99.

The Lynx burst to a large lead in the second quarter. Dimond scored four times in the final 11 minutes of the first half.

Danny Moss scored on a pair of runs and caught a touchdown pass.

Dimond defensive back returned a Ricky Cunningham fumble 69 yards for a touchdown, also in the second quarter.

The Lynx were not able to rest with their big lead in the second half.

Warrior quarterback Danny Ament helped account for two Wasilla scores during a six-minute stretch in the third quarter.

Ament plunged in from 1-yard out with about nine minutes left in the third quarter and found George Wagner on a 15-yard strike with three minutes left in the third, to cut the score to 28-14.

"In the second half we showed a lot of intensity and pride," Ford said.

After the Warriors were able to put a pair of scores on the board, Dimond unleashed a 14-play, 79-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter to help put away the game.

Moss scored his fourth touchdown of the contest with two minutes left to ensure the Dimond win.

With about a minute remaining in the game, Ament found Warrior wideout Jeff Henry for a 43-yard touchdown pass.

Jed Wade led the Warriors with 103 yards rushing, including an 82-yard run in the third quarter that set up the Ament touchdown run.

Jake Wade added 41 yards on the ground.

Service 41, Palmer 13

Despite gaining more 300 yards on the ground, the Palmer Moose dropped a 41-13 contest to the Service Cougars Saturday in Palmer.

Service gained 215 yards on the ground and 183 yards in the air in the win.

Cougar fullback Jake Stasser gained a game-high 134 yards and scored two touchdowns in the game.

Service quarterback Trevor Jones threw for 183 yards.

Jones found V.J. Mobely on a pair of scoring strikes.

Palmer sophomore Allen Franklin rushed for a team-high 121 yards in the game.

Moose wingback Mike Weber added 113 yards and two touchdowns.

Weber scored a 12-yard touchdown in the second quarter to tie the game at 7-7.

Webber added an 11-yard touchdown score in the fourth quarter.