Hawks remain undefeated

Houston has spent its 2022 season dominating the Division III level. In week six, the Hawks lined up against a squad in a higher classification.

Another week, another big win for the Houston Hawks.

The Hawks used big plays on special teams and defense to beat Division II Chugiak 20-9 Saturday afternoon at Houston High School.

Mark Kudryn scored on both special teams and defense to help the Hawks improve to 5-0 overall. Kudryn returned a fumble 86 yards for a touchdown. He also scored from 66 yards out on a fake punt. Josiah Bowman recovered a fumble in the end zone to add a seconds defensive touchdown for the Hawks.

Houston forced three fumbles, and held the Mustangs to 192 yards of total offense. Chugiak kicked three field goals in the loss, kicks of 30, 34 and 20 yards. They marked the first points scored against Houston this season. The Hawks have now outscored opponents 207-9 this season.

Eagle River 24, Wasilla 21

Eagle River stunned Wasilla during the final seconds Saturday, and scored a 24-21 Northern Lights Conference win over the Warriors at Wasilla High.

Eagle River quarterback Dawson Myers connected with Andrew Legenza on an 18-yard touchdown pass with six seconds left in the fourth quarter to give the Wolves the win.

Eagle River now has the edge to grab one of the NLC’s two playoff spots with a 2-0 conference record. Wasilla dropped to 1-1, and ends the season with consecutive conference dates against Soldotna and rival Palmer.

Wasilla quarterback Jaidus Huffman led the Warriors with 265 yards passing and three touchdown passes. Huffman hit Max Larson on a quick slant to put the Warriors on the scoreboard, and Wasilla took a first-half lead with Larson’s highlight reel worthy touchdown grab.

Timothy Grisso added a touchdown catch in the second half. Grisso led the Warriors with 181 yards on nine catches.

Soldotna 49, Palmer 7

The Soldotna Stars rode their running attack to another big win over a longtime rival.

The Stars stormed to a 49-7 victory over the Palmer Moose Friday night at Machetanz Field in Palmer.

Gehret Medcoff, Wyatt Faircloth and Zac Buckbee rushed for a pair of touchdowns each to help SoHi improve to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in Northern Lights Conference play.

The Stars finished with 335 yards on the ground and seven rushing touchdowns. Collin Peck also rushed for a score.

Soldotna scored on its first five possessions in the game, and seven of the nine times they had the ball. The Stars still have not punted once during the 2022 season.

Medcoff led the Stars with 131 yards on only seven carries. Faircloth also topped the century mark, added 110 yards on nine tries. Soldotna’s first three touchdowns of the game came on runs of 27, 23 and 44 yards in the first quarter.

Palmer spoiled SoHi’s shutout big during the final moments of the game with a running clock in the fourth quarter. Seth Garland connected with Reed Craner on a 23-yard touchdown catch with 1:33 left in the game. It was Palmer’s second touchdown of the 2022 season.

Kayson Asay led the Moose with 90 yards rushing on 22 carries.

Palmer dropped to 0-6.

Bartlett 46, Colony 7

The Colony Knights suffered their second straight Cook Inlet Conference loss, falling to Bartlett 46-7 in Anchorage.

The Knights are now 4-2 overall and 3-2 in the CIC. Jack Nash connected with Jayce Underwood for Colony’s lone score. Bartlett rushed for more than 450 yards, according to the Alaska Sports Report.

Kenai 27, Redington 14

The Kardinals avenged a pair of losses to the defending Division III champs last season with a victory on Redington’s homecoming night.

Kenai came back from a 14-0 deficit to claim the victory.

The Kardinals move to 1-1 in the Mid Alaska Conference and 4-2 overall, while Redington falls to 0-2 in the league and 0-5 overall.

The Huskies took a 14-7 lead at halftime.

Trevor Lawrence put Redington up 6-0 with 5:28 left in the first quarter with an 18-yard run.

With 9:14 left in the second quarter, Bryce Murdock made it 12-0 when he caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Christian Ingraham. Ingraham then threw a two-point conversion to Lawrence.

While Kenai continued to struggle on offense, Luke Armstrong gave the Kardinals a big boost when he picked off Ingraham and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown with 6:56 to play. A Wade James kick drew the Kardinals to within 14-7.

The rest of the half saw crucial turnovers. Murdock intercepted Kenai quarterback Bridger Beck and, after a Kenai penalty, that turnover set up the Huskies on the Kenai 10.

But Armstrong came through again with an interception of Ingraham in the back of the end zone.

Kenai then drove all the way to the Redington 10 but with 15 seconds left until halftime, Beck was sacked and fumbled. The Kardinals lost the ball and Beck was injured on the play.

Beck came back in the second half to hit Armstrong on a 42-yard pass, then an 8-yard touchdown pass, as Kenai, with a James kick, tied the game at 14 with 10:34 left in the third quarter.

On the next drive, Reagan Graves picked off Ingraham and returned the ball to the Redington 19. Graves would then finish a two-play drive with a 5-yard run for a 20-14 lead with 8:15 to play.

A fumble recovery by Rey Perez then set up Graves for a 10-yard scoring run and a kick by James made the score 27-14 with 2:32 left in the third quarter.

The Peninsula Clarion contributed to this report.