Hawks fall, but land in playoffs

Oct. 1, 2006

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

HOUSTON - The Houston Hawks were on a roller coaster Saturday afternoon.

When the Hawks stepped onto the field against the Eielson Ravens at Houston High School, they were in the driver's seat of the Great Land Conference, and one win away from claiming sole possession of the conference title for the first time in school history.

Twenty-six seconds into regulation, the Ravens were up 14-0, and well on their way to a 46-6 win.

When the Houston players slowly walked off their field, the Hawks suddenly found themselves in a possible three-way tie at the top of the standings, with that loss potentially marking the end of their season.

Thanks to Eielson's win over Houston, and Nikiski's 27-17 victory over Seward, three teams ended the regular season with a conference-best 4-1 record in Great Land play. And the only thing that would decide which two teams earned spots in the small-school playoffs was a flip of a coin.

Nikiski started its game against Seward two hours after the Houston and Eielson game kicked off, so representatives from Eielson, Houston and Nikiski waited impatiently at Houston High until they received a final from the Kenai Peninsula.

Once Nikiski's win was final, a member of each school flipped their coin. The coins of Houston and Eielson each revealed heads, while Nikiski had tails. Now the Ravens and the Hawks are headed to the playoffs, while the Bulldogs got the tail end of the deal.

&#8220I'm just excited. There are a a lot of emotions,” Houston head coach Norm Bouchard said after realizing his team is advancing to the playoffs for the first time in five seasons. &#8220It would have been a bummer to have to watch Eielson go home, but at the same time, to watch us stay home.

&#8220The tragedy of this would be if Eielson didn't go to the playoffs,” Bouchard said. &#8220I think they're probably the best team in the conference.”

Eielson is awarded the conference crown, winning the head-to-head tiebreaker over Houston. The Ravens now host Kodiak next week, while Houston travels to Soldotna to face the Northern Lights Conference champion Stars.

While Houston had a little more control over its destiny, Eielson needed some help. Going into the contest, the Ravens knew they could just do what they needed to do on the field, and have hope that things would work out.

&#8220We knew we had to win to force the tie, and the coin flip is up to God,” said Eielson senior Nick Rogers, who posted 210 yards on the ground and three touchdowns. &#8220We looked at it like any other game. Play like it was any other game, and do whatever we can to help us move on.”

Senior Tyrone Hamilton sparked the Ravens with an 82-yard return for a touchdown on the game's opening kickoff, and Eielson built a 14-point lead in just the first 26 seconds of the game.

&#8220They jumped out early. We felt that we needed to do the same thing,” Bouchard said. &#8220If a team like that gets up like that and they get the momentum going, they get to do what they want to do, instead of what they're forced to do.”

Hamilton took the ball at the 18-yard line, found a seam in the Houston defense, and sprinted up the right side of the field toward the end zone.

&#8220He's got tremendous speed,” Rogers said. &#8220Get him into the open field, and he's not going to get caught. He did his thing, the blockers did their thing and he took it to the end zone.”

On the ensuing kickoff, Eielson recovered a Houston fumble, and Rogers scored a 19-yard touchdown on Eielson's first offensive play of the game.

&#8220We were really amped,” Rogers said. &#8220the seniors, knowing any second could be our last playing, any second could be our last playing as a team.”

On Houston's first offensive play of the contest, Eielson recovered another fumble.

&#8220For high school kids, it helps to have the good happening for ya,” Eielson head coach Dave DeVaughn said. &#8220Athletes at any level - high school, college, the NFL - have trouble with momentum swings.”

Eielson posted three touchdowns in the third quarter. Rogers scored on runs of 20 and 93 yards, and quarterback Colton Growden connected with wide receiver Travis Pew on a 15-yard scoring pass.

&#8220We knew the big play was a factor,” Bouchard said. &#8220A team like that, you can stop them all game long and if you don't play four plays, you're belly up.”

Bouchard said he was happy with the effort of his players, but the Hawks just found themselves in a bad situation early.

&#8220For the most part, they kept their focus,” Bouchard said. &#8220I don't think they got down on themselves. I don't think we gave up. They fought pretty hard.”

Karl Thistle led the Hawks with 100 yards on 16 carries. The powerful running back also had a 20-yard scoring run negated by a penalty.

Despite the score, DeVaughn said he was impressed with Houston.

&#8220When Norm got the job here, I knew in a couple, three years they were going to be pushing for it,” DeVaughn said. &#8220They've got some good football players. Their linebackers are solid, an Thistle runs

hard.”

Israel Morales, one of the linebackers DeVaughn referred to, posted Houston's lone score, recovering a loose ball off a bad snap in the end zone.

Anthony Urbi and Carlton Fearon scored second-half touchdowns for Eielson. Urbi scored on a 15-yard run, while Fearon recovered a Houston fumble in the end zone.

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