Hawks have chance to host rival on new turf field

HOUSTON — Most Valley fans are going to circle three games on the prep football schedule. There’s Colony-Wasilla in Week 3, Colony-Palmer in Week 7, and of course the annual Potato Bowl, Palmer-Wasilla, in Week 8.

But there’s one Valley school typically left out of the all-Valley rivalry hype, the Houston Hawks.

But tonight, Houston will have a chance to take on a Mat-Su foe, hosting the Wasilla Warriors at 7 p.m. at Houston High School.

“There’s the Potato Bowl, Colony’s got the (Battle for the Boots), but we don’t have anything with anybody. Our nearest competition is six hours down the road,” Houston head coach Glenn Nelson said Thursday afternoon.

Nelson said his players are excited for the chance to share the field with a Valley rival, but the Hawks are also trying break free from a disastrous stretch in which they’ve been plagued by loss and injury. After starting the season 2-0, the Hawks have lost three straight. Soldotna, West Valley and Kenai have handed Houston double-digit losses in consecutive weeks. The losing streak has been further complicated by the loss of starting senior quarterback Nai Saechao for the season.

Nelson said Saechao suffered a concussion the day before the team was set to play Kenai last week.

With the team’s junior varsity quarterback also out with a concussion, Nelson was forced to move Houston senior running back Waylon Soptick, one of the state’s leading rushers, behind center.

Soptick finished with 82 yards rushing the game, but could have rushed for more than 200, Nelson said.

Soptick had five runs of 10 or more yards against Kenai called back due to penalty, Nelson said, including a 78-yarder.

Saechao is not the only Houston player out of the lineup. Fullback Billy Etuckmeira is also among those sidelined.

“Right now we’re just hurting,” Nelson said. “We’re filling holes on varsity with sophomores and a freshman or two.”

Nelson said the Hawks have moved offensive guard Zachary Tucheck to the backfield to play fullback against the Warriors.

Despite the losses, Houston is still in the Northern Lights Conference playoff hunt. The Hawks are in a three-way tie with Kodiak and Homer for third in the NLC with 1-2 conference marks. Houston travels to Kodiak in Week 7 and will host Homer in Week 8. Kenai (3-0) and Soldotna (2-0) have essentially clinched playoff spots. Houston, Kodiak and Homer will all be competing for those two final NLC berths.

Wasilla is also trying to stop a losing skid. After starting its Railbelt Conference schedule strong with a 35-26 win over Colony in Week 3, the Warriors have suffered consecutive losses to Lathrop (42-32) and West Valley (20-13).

“We need to get some wins on the board. Every win is important,” Wasilla head coach Kent Rilatos said Thursday.

Rilatos shouldered the blame for the Railbelt losses.

“A miss-call here, a miss-(substitution) here and there. My mistakes as a coach hurt us as a team,” Rilatos said.

Rilatos said the Warriors need to focus on continuing to make positive steps.

“When we do something good, we need to follow it up with something good. When we do something bad, we need to follow it up with something good,” Rilatos said.

One good thing has been the production of Devin Otto in the backfield. Otto has rushed for more than 100 yards in back-to-back games, and has 383 yards and seven touchdowns in the last three weeks.

“He’s a hard worker,” Rilatos said of Otto. “He worked hard over the summer — going to camps, lifting weights, watching film. It’s not a fluke. He’s definitely worked hard.”