Champions: Huskies win Division III state football title

ANCHORAGE — During the first eight games of their season, the Redington Huskies outscored opponents 114-16 in the first quarter and 246-24 in the first half.

That trend continued Saturday as the Huskies made history.

Redington used a 24-point first quarter to earn a 46-12 win over rival Houston in the ASAA/First National Bank Division III state title game at Service High School in Anchorage.

“It’s so important to us,” Redington head coach Mathias Weinberger said of the early leads. “We started out really fast in this game. It was key for us again.”

With the win, the Huskies finished the season 9-0 and earned their first prep team state championship in any sport in school history.

“All of the hard work has paid off,” senior quarterback Wayde Bowman said. “It’s a feeling that’s unmatched. Only a small percentage of people ever get to feel it in their lifetime, and I’m going to cherish it forever.”

Redington senior running back Jaden Spaulding scored twice before the Hawks had a single offensive play,

“It was big momentum right off the bat,” Spaulding said of the early lead. “That big start was definitely needed for this game.”

Spaulding scored on runs of 2 and 5 yards within the first eight minutes of regulation. Following Spaulding’s first score, the Huskies recovered a fumble on an onside kick.

“That’s what we’ve been doing all season, trying to get onside kicks,” Weinberger said. “Trying to recover the ball, get additional offensive possessions. That was one of the keys for us during that game.”

Bowman also threw one of his four touchdown passes in the game during the final minute of the first quarter, connecting with Bryce Murdock on a 3-yard catch with 45 seconds left in the frame.

“That first half is what I really felt like set the tone,” Bowman said.

Redington led 24-0 at the end of the first quarter, and the Huskies held Houston to only three offensive plays and five total yards during the first.

“That was our emphasis going into practice last week, making sure we got a jump on them, doing the best we could on every single play,” Bowman said.

Bowman completed 14 passes for 200 yards and four touchdowns in the win. Murdock grabbed seven catches for 121 yards and a score. Logan Seymore finished with a pair of touchdown catches. Bowman also connected with Trevor Bowman on a score. Spaulding led the Huskies on the ground with 122 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

“It’s fun. Every single play there’s so many ways to go,” Wayde Bowman said of playing in Redington’s spread offense.

Houston kept the Huskies off the scoreboard in the third and limited Redington to three first downs in the quarter.

“They came out pretty strong,” Spaulding said of the Hawks in the second half. “But we adjusted and adapted.”

Houston scored on a pair of big plays in the loss. In the second quarter, Cody Wyrick returned an interception 56 yards for a touchdown. Late in the third quarter, quarterback Colton Bunn connected with Brandon Hina on a 51-yard touchdown pass.

Houston was the defending state champion, after beating Barrow 41-8 to win it all in 2019. The 2020 season was cancelled early due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Hawks also advanced to the championship game in 2016 and finished second.

Redington features 13 seniors on the championship team. Bowman said the Huskies saw their potential.

“We knew we had the assets and tools to do it,” Bowman said. “We just knew we had to work hard every single day.”

Weinberger said this is what Redington has been building for.

“This year everything came together. We stayed healthy throughout the entire season. The kids did a tremendous job in their preparation and stayed focused,” Weinberger said. “I’m tremendously proud. To close out the season like that is the sugar coating at the end of the season.”

Saturday’s game marked the first all-Valley prep football final, and the fifth time that a pair of Valley teams met in a state championship game. In 1989, Palmer edged Wasilla in the state hockey championship. Palmer and Colony played for a girls basketball state title in 1997 and 1999, with each rival winning a championship. In 2007, Wasilla beat Colony to win the boys basketball state championship.

Redington is also the third Mat-Su team to win a state football championship since ASAA sanctioned the state playoffs in 1990. Palmer won it all in 1995, when football was a single-classification sport. Houston won the 2019 crown.

Palmer (1996, 2005, 2007, 2016, 2017), Colony (2000, 2006), Wasilla (1999) and Houston (2016) also played for a state championship and finished as the runner-up.

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

Redington 46, Houston 12

Saturday, Service High

First quarter:

Redington — Spaulding 5 run (Spaulding run) 8:18

Redington — Spaulding 2 run (T. Bowman pass from W. Bowman) 4:19

Redington — Murdock 3 pass from W. Bowman (Seymore pass from W. Bowman) 0:45

Second quarter:

Houston — Wyrick 56 interception return (kick blocked) 3:51

Redington — Seymore 30 pass from W. Bowman (W. Bowman run) 0:20

Third quarter:

Houston — Hina 51 pass from Bunn (pass fail) 0:21

Fourth quarter:

Redington — T. Bowman 6 pass from W. Bowman (Murdock pass from W. Bowman) 8:33

Redington — Seymore 4 pass from W. Bowman (pass fail) 7:11

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Houston: Kolb 16-76, Hawes 6-18, Bunn 5-5, Whitted 3-(-4), Hina 2-1, Nicoll 1-4; Redington: Spaulding 18-122, W. Bowman 15-67, Mattson 1-22, Lawrence 1-(-1).

PASSING — Houston: Bunn 3-14-2--69, Seime 0-1-0--0; Redington: W. Bowman 14-29-2--200.

RECEIVING — Houston: Hina 1-51, E. Preboski 1-15, Kolb 1-11; Redington: Murdock 7-121, Seymore 3-47, Spaulding 2-22, T. Bowman 2-10.