FLYING FORWARD

HOUSTON — As the Houston Hawks headed into the second week of the prep football season last year, it was like someone had just clipped their wings.

Or beat them by about 57 points.

The Hawks fluttered into Week 2 last year beaten and bruised — literally and figuratively — from a 57-0 season-opening loss to Eagle River. But this year, things are different. The Hawks were on the winning end of a lopsided margin of victory during the first game of the season last week.

“The confidence level is a huge difference,” Houston head coach Norm Bouchard said of his bunch, which grabbed a 48-24 win over Valdez last Saturday. “We’re not coming in to the second week beat up like we were last year.”

The Hawks are healthy, unlike this time last year. They also don’t have to worry about a Week 2 battle with small-schools power Kenai, like last year. First they get Ketchikan and have another week to prepare for the Kardinals, the defending small-schools champs.

“We’re able to come in more confident and do some things we want to do,” Bouchard said. “But we can’t be overconfident. We’ve got to battle that desire to just want to take it easy.”

The Hawks aim to improve to 2-0 Saturday as they host Ketchikan at 1 p.m. at Houston High School. This is the third straight year the Hawks have seen the Kings — Houston beat Ketchikan in 2008 and 2009 — but Bouchard said he doesn’t want his players to dwell on past success.

“We’re trying not to bring up what we did last year,” Bouchard said. “People get older, get better. We’re a prime example. We were 1-7 last year with the same kids we’ve got this year. But we’re a lot better football team.”

Bouchard’s boys were able to use some of that experience to score the 24-point win over Valdez. Senior Brandon Dukes rushed for nearly 200 yards and three touchdowns. Junior quarterback Beau Frank threw a touchdown pass and ran for two more. Tyler Barron had a score on the ground and Brett Lapham hauled in the Frank touchdown pass.

Bouchard said the offensive line play and depth in the backfield are strengths right now. He was also pleased with the play of his defense during the second half of the win over the Buccaneers.

Bouchard said the Hawks don’t know much about the personnel of a Ketchikan squad that opened up with a 26-24 win over Delta last week. But he is familiar with the style of football the Kings like to play.

“They like to spread it out,” Bouchard said. “They get two guys wide, really wide. They’re willing to throw the football. They might be more willing if it’s dry up here.”

West Anchorage

at Colony

The Colony Knights continue nonconference play hosting West Anchorage tonight at 7 p.m. at Colony High School.

Colony (0-1) will look to rebound after an 18-12 overtime loss to the Dimond Lynx at Dimond High School last season.

Despite being outgained by about 130 yards and recording less than half as many first downs, the Lynx managed to sneak away with the extra-periods nonconference win.

Dimond took a 12-2 lead into halftime, but Dakota Wainwright posted a 1-yard touchdown and Connor Weihs booted a 25-yard touchdown to tie the score.

Dimond used a 7-yard touchdown catch during extra time to grab the win.

The Knights outgained Dimond by more than 2-to-1 on the ground. Senior Skye Rench led the Knights with 189 yards rushing.

West, led by sophomore quarterback Conor Feckley, scored a dramatic 38-35 win over Service last week. Feckley threw for 358 yards and three touchdowns. His third touchdown toss, the go-ahead score, came with just 1:32 left in regulation.

North Pole at Wasilla

The Wasilla Warriors will be in search of their first victory of the season when they host North Pole tonight at 7 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Field in Wasilla.

Wasilla (0-1) fell to Soldotna 15-7. North Pole also fell to 0-1 with a 32-27 nonconference loss at Bartlett.

This match marks the start of the Railbelt season for both teams.

David Green opened his senior season with five catches for 112 yards during the loss to Soldotna. Green was one of six Warriors to catch passes thrown by two different quarterbacks, Braydon Kuiper and AJ Marshall. Fullback Devon Teeling, who posted Wasilla’s lone score, also had a 16-yard completion.

Teeling scored on a 10-yard run that gave the Warriors a 7-6 lead midway through the second quarter.

North Pole fell behind 21-0 during the loss to the Golden Bears before falling 32-27. Quarterback Danny Greizek led the Pats with a team-high 73 yards rushing and 77 yards passing.

Palmer at Lathrop

The Palmer Moose, also in search of their first win, have headed north to play Lathrop tonight at 7 p.m. in Fairbanks.

The Moose (0-1) watched as Chugiak used 19 unanswered points to hand them a 31-21 loss at Machetanz Field last season. Palmer had taken the 14-0 lead with a pair of scores courtesy of first-year starting quarterback Jackson Buresh.

The junior opened the scoring with a 2-yard plunge and later took off for a 48-yard score. Junior Douglas Chadwick, who led the team with 104 yards rushing, scored on a 30-yard run 14 seconds into the second half.

Lathrop extended its losing streak to 16 straight games with a 14-6 loss to Eagle River last week.

Quarterback Jonas Silva led the Malemutes with 116 yards passing and 35 yards rushing.

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