Double the fun

PALMER — The Palmer Moose pulled out a hard-fought 13-7 victory in double overtime Friday against the visiting West Valley Wolfpack.

Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said both teams played well but cited holding on to the ball as a key to the night’s victory.

“We didn’t turn the ball over,” Christiansen said. “We almost did once but we got it back.”

Coleman Ahrens scored the game-winner, running the ball straight down the middle from the 3-yard line and was taken down just inside the end zone.

Regulation was mostly a mostly scoreless affair with West Valley striking first with 5:17 left in the first half. West Valley quarterback Sam McKinstry scored from 3 yards out to give the Wolfpack the 7-0 lead.

Palmer failed to score in the first half, but the Moose came out of the locker room strong after the intermission, recovering a fumble on the third play of West Valley’s first possession.

On their second play from scrimmage, not two minutes into the second half, Palmer’s Dustin Silva ran in from the 5-yard line with 10:05 on the clock.

Before the period was over, at 4:43, it looked like Palmer had pulled ahead when Brennan Bohman managed to carry the ball nearly half the field into the end zone on a third down.

But Bohman’s run was called back on a holding penalty against Palmer.

After the game, asked about the amount of penalties in the contest, Christiansen said there were more than normal.

“A lot of them were aggressive blocking calls,” Christiansen said, noting that few, if any, were for improper formations.

The Railbet Conference rivals battled through a scoreless fourth quarter, but the Wolfpack were within reach of upsetting Palmer, the 2007 state runner-up.

West Valley managed to get deep inside Palmer territory, and faced a late 4th-and-2. West Valley called time out with one second on the clock. Then, with both teams lined up, Palmer called their own time out.

The play went forward, a field goal attempt from the 19-yard line. Palmer’s Ransome Kelly jumped from a scrum of blue and red uniforms to block the kick, sending the game into overtime.

In overtime, each team took turns starting 10 yards from the end zone with four downs to get the ball across.

After a scoreless first overtime, West Valley won the second coin toss and chose to play offense. But their turn lasted for just one down after Palmer’s Jim McCall picked off a pass.

Palmer then had its possession on the 10-yard line but only needed two of their four downs to end it with Ahrens’ push into the end zone.

West Valley head coach Ben Johnson said it’s disappointing to lose such a close game but commended his guys for playing their best.

“We went toe to toe, it’s a great game to be involved in,” Johnson said. “You love to win close games, but at the same time you love to play at such a high level.”

Contact Frontiersman reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.