First points, first win

PALMER -- The only thing more silent than the Palmer Moose offense the last two weeks has been the Moose Gooser - Palmer's cannon that sits alongside Machetanz Field. The Moose were held scoreless in their first two home games and the Gooser sat silent.

But on Friday, Machetanz Field sounded like a battle ground as Palmer earned a 40-19 victory over West Valley.

Palmer failed to score in the first two games of the season, but it only took two plays to reach the end zone on Friday. On just the second play from scrimmage Steel Tubbs took an inside handoff and ran 22 yards for the score.

"Just getting to score was a huge thing emotionally for us," Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said.

Tubbs followed fullback Jordan Ingalls and recently converted Jake Huen through the West Valley defensive line and sprinted to the score. Heun, a guard for his first two seasons for the Moose, was moved to fullback for his junior campaign, but moved back to the line following last week's loss to Eielson.

"It helps a lot having him on the line," Palmer quarterback Devon Conroy said. "He's doing it for the team."

Huen helped a young offensive line, which struggled in the first two weeks, pave the way for Tubbs and Conroy. Tubbs posted a game-high 147 yards on 26 carries and ran for three scores. Conroy ran for 94 yards in the game and posted a 53-yard touchdown run in the second half.

Though the Moose gained more than 200 yards on the ground, the key to the Palmer victory was a pair of Conroy throws and a crucial West Valley special teams error.

Late in the second quarter, West Valley punter Matthew Santana bent down to field a low snap and his knee touched the ground. Officials ruled the ball down at the Woflpack 18-yard-line with just 22 seconds remaining in the first half.

On the ensuing play, Conroy tossed an 18-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Weber. The touchdown throw gave Palmer a 20-13 lead, breaking a 13-13 tie.

In the second half, Conroy and Weber connected again, this time on a 20-yard scoring pass.

"We have a very good secondary, you wouldn't have known it tonight," West Valley head coach Jeff Patterson said. "You start running the ball on somebody, beating'em up, that's when that happens. Guys get tired, disgusted, dejected and start to blow coverages."

Conroy's second touchdown pass came on the play action. The quarterback faked the ball to Tubbs and found Weber wide open.

West Valley (1-2) has been followed by a cloud early in the season. First a cloud of smoke a haze forced the West Valley home opener to Houston last week and now a rain cloud followed the Moose into Palmer.

West Valley, which boasts a passing offense, stayed with its gameplan of establishing momentum through the air, despite playing on a wet and muddy Machetanz Field in a downpour.

"If you're going to throw the ball, you're going to have to do it in the rain, the snow, the wind," Patterson said. " I really don't think the weather was a factor here tonight."

Dustin Carlin gave the Wolfpack a 13-7 second quarter lead with a pair of touchdown passes. Carlin connected with wide receiver Bryant Saldarriaga on a 38-yard score in the first quarter after Weber, a Palmer defensive back, slipped on the wet turf. Carlin gave West Valley the lead in the second quarter with an 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end Eric Meyers. Following the two scores, Carlin struggled statistically, finishing the contest with just nine completions in 25 attempts. The senior signal caller also threw five interceptions.

"Of the five interceptions, I think only one was his fault," Patterson said. "A lot of tipped balls."

The interceptions killed five West Valley drives, and Weber was a one-man drive killer for the Moose.

After slipping and allowing Saldarriaga to catch a pass and score, Weber picked off a trio of Carlin passes. Conroy and Eric Olson also registered interceptions.

The Moose jumped to the top of the Railbelt Conference standings. Palmer is currently the lone team at 1-0 in conference play.

Palmer is scheduled to travel to North Pole for a match against the Patriots on Friday, but as of press time a ban of all prep outdoor activities is still in effect for the Fairbanks area. Fairbanks has yet to host a prep football or cross-country running event this season because of poor air quality due to Fairbanks area forest fires. Lathrop and West Valley have been forced to move their home openers to the Mat-Su area each of the last two weeks. Palmer is the first home date on North Pole's 2004 schedule. The teams expect to know by Wednesday weather or not the game can be played in Fairbanks.

Moose nuggets … Conroy finished the game completing both passes he attempted for 38 yards and two scores … Carlin had more than 20 attempts passing for the third time in three games. The West Valley quarterback now has 77 attempts in three games.