Drive-thru Service

Jeremiah Bartz/Frontiersman

ANCHORAGE — Service simply looked stunned.

Palmer put 21 points on the scoreboard before the Cougars could blink, and the Moose rode the momentum to a 28-14 win and a trip to the ASAA First National Bowl large-schools state title game for the fourth time in 12 years.

Senior Devin Konkler scored twice and seniors Shannon Sawyer and Conrad Smith added touchdowns in a first half in which the Moose powered their way to 277 yards on the ground.

Now, Palmer has the chance to earn its second state title in school history. The Moose meet Juneau-Douglas on Saturday at 1 p.m at Anchorage Football Stadium in an all-Railbelt state final. The contest is not only a rematch of a mid-season conference game, but also the 2005 state final.

Palmer senior Justin Draughon gave the Moose the early opportunity to throw the first punch in the large-schools semifinal bout.

Palmer senior kicker Will Ott sent a high end-over-end kick toward the Moose sideline, and the speedy Draughon charged down the field and recovered the ball at the Service 35-yard line. On kickoffs, the ball is considered live once it passes 10 yards.

“We planned that the whole week,” Draughon said following the win. “Will Ott’s been kicking great, and coach (Rod Christiansen) told me, ‘run down as fast as you can’. And I ran as fast as I could, and I didn’t care who was in the way.”

Christiansen said Palmer practiced that play, but not with the sole intention of getting the recovery.

“Actually getting the ball was a bonus,” said Christiansen, who has now led his team to the semifinal round seven times in the last 13 years. “We just wanted to get it down there to where we thought it would be difficult for them to return; to go tackle them and maybe make something happen. Justin really stepped up there.”

Once Draughon caught the kick after a single bounce and stepped out of bounds at the 35, the Palmer sideline absolutely erupted.

“That was just amazing,” Palmer senior lineman Everest Moore said. “That was a big momentum shift. It got us all fired up. It was huge.”

Fueled by Draughon’s special play on special teams, it took the Moose offense only four plays to score. Konkler gave the Moose the touchdown-lead with a 5-yard scoring run just 1 minute and 2 seconds into regulation.

After the inspired Palmer defense forced Service to go three-and-out on its first drive, Konkler put another dagger in Service’s hopes to get to its first title game since 1999 as he sliced to the left sideline and sprinted 55 yards for a score on Palmer’s first play of its second possession.

And with just 2:25 expired, the Moose led 14-0.

Palmer took the 21-0 lead after Sawyer shot through the center of the line untouched, and rumbled 35 yards for the score.

Sawyer’s touchdown was set up by a Rick Lecheminant interception.

It took only five minutes and eight offensive plays for the Moose to grab the three-touchdown lead. Heading into the game, the Moose knew gaining that early lead would be important.

“Nobody gave us a chance. Nobody thought we were going to win this,” Moore said. “We knew we had to come out fired up.”

In addition to Palmer’s 21 first-quarter points, the Moose rushed for 186 during the first 12 minutes of play. Konkler had 116 by himself.

“We knew Service came in here thinking we were the underdogs,” Draughon said. “Everybody in Anchorage feels the Railbelt is not that good. But we’ve proven today that we can contend with the Cook Inlet Conference.”

Service junior quarterback Kevin Reilly, who relieved starter Stephen Ferntheil in the first quarter, tossed a pair of touchdown passes in the first half.

Reilly found senior Josh Lopez in the corner of the end zone for a 26-yard score at the end of the first quarter, and he connected with Neil Miyaoka on a 15-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter to cut Palmer’s lead to 21-14.

But after Service’s second score, Draughon — Palmer’s special teams ace of the contest — returned a kick 25 yards, to the 43-yard line. That preceded a 12-play, 57-yard drive that was capped by Smith’s 2-yard touchdown.

Palmer chewed nearly all of the final 5 minutes and 46 seconds off the clock with the scoring drive.

The Moose also started the second half with the ball, and with the lead, Palmer’s primary goal was to take another chunk of time off the clock.

Although the drive ended with Service defensive back Ben Jackson’s interception of a Smith pass, the pick came on the 16th play of the drive —more than eight minutes into the third quarter.

“That drive was perfect, except we didn’t score,” Christiansen said with a slight grin. “We ran off the clock. That was the plan — get the ball and drive it, drive it and drive it.”

While the Palmer offense staked the lead, the defense kept it.

Draughon stopped a Service drive with a third-quarter interception, and the Moose defense held the Cougars to just 43 yards of total offense in the second half.

During the regular season, Service scored 289 points, the most of any team in the large-schools class. Much of that success is due to the Cougars’ potent passing attack.

Palmer’s much-improved group of defensive backs held Reilly to 97 yards passing and Ferntheil to only 27 yards.

Service senior Vladimir Gamossov, the state’s second-leading receiver, had only three catches for 16 yards.

“We just buckled down,” said Draughon, who earlier this week was named second team All-Railbelt at defensive back. “Our defense kept strong, and we prevailed.”

Palmer did suffer a loss in the win. Late in the first half, first-team All-Railbelt conference offensive guard Drew Frohling was injured. Frohling, who teams with Moore, the 2007 Railbelt Conference lineman of the year, to form one of the best right sides of an offensive line in the state, was helped off the field and was not able to play for the entire second half.

“Once Drew went down, I was kind of scared. I’m not going to lie,” Moore said.

The Moose brought in senior Thomas Rathburn to play center, and moved starting center Kevin Priestley to play guard.

“But Thomas stepped up and had a great game,” Moore said.

Palmer now prepares to face Juneau-Douglas in the state title game for the second time in three years. The Crimson Bears capped an undefeated season with a 49-29 win over the Moose in the 2005 ASAA First National Bowl.

Palmer is in the championship for the fourth time since 1995, the season the Moose captured their first state title.

“I don’t know how to describe it,” Moore said. “It’s amazing. Every fiber in my being, every cell in my body is vibrating with excitement right now.”

Palmer advances to the state title game, despite a tough 1-3 start.

Moore said he and his teammates continued to believe they were capable, despite the early losses.

“I knew since my freshman year,” Moore said. “(That) my senior class was going to the state championship.”

The win was also especially sweet for Christiansen, who posted the 100th win of his career with the victory.

“It’s satisfying to get it this year with these guys,” Christiansen said.

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

Palmer 28, Service 14

ASAA state semifinals

Friday, Anchorage Football Stadium

First quarter

Palmer — Konkler 5 run (Ott kick) 10:58.

Palmer — Konkler 55 run (Ott kick) 9:22.

Palmer — Sawyer 35 run (Ott kick) 6:53.

Service — Lopez 26 pass from Reilly (Dotten kick) 1:16.

Second quarter

Service — Miyaoka 15 pass from Reilly (Dotten kick) 5:46.

Palmer — Smith 2 run (Ott kick) 0:19.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Palmer: Konler 25-176, Sawyer 11-77, Smith 18-52, Lechiminent 2-6, Bohman 2-5; Service: Aukusitino 9-60, Reilly 7-35, Miyaoka 7-35, Straight 1-14, Ferntheil 1-(-1).

PASSING — Palmer: Smith 1-4-1—12; Service: Reilly 6-12-1—97, Ferntheil 4-9-1—21.

RECEIVING — Palmer: Draughon 1-12; Service: Sakimi 3-32, Gamossov 3-16, Miyaoka 2-29, Burton 1-7, Weedman 1-4.