Houston defense leads Hawks to big win at Monroe

FAIRBANKS — The Houston Hawks made the long trip to Fairbanks, and their defense came to play.

Sparked by its defense, Houston rolled to a 38-6 win over Monroe Catholic Friday night.

Houston opened its Aurora Conference schedule with its running game and defense punishing the Rams on both sides of the ball. The Rams have an effective passing game behind senior Ryan Brantley, however the front seven for the Hawks just kept pushing the line and disrupting the flow of offense, as the Rams only had 52 yards in the game. Throughout the game, the defense kept finding ways to get to Brantley and the Rams’ offense.

“I don’t know the last time we’ve won up here in Fairbanks,” Houston head coach Glenn Nelson said after the win. “It’s been a long time. It felt pretty good. We’ve been unranked all season, we’ve been pacing that telling the kids everyday that you’re unranked. You haven’t proven anything, and you’ve done nothing. We’ll just start again, and we haven’t beat Eielson, and we’re trying to protect our turf, and that starts tonight.”

Behind the news that the defense forced three interceptions and picked up multiple fumbles, was the power running attack of seniors Ben Pelesasa and Vanu Mose. Both running backs combined for 145 yards rushing and four touchdowns, running through the holes opened for them by their offensive line.

“Because at the beginning of the year, we were skeptical about how our offensive line would block for us,” said Pelesasa. “And that we didn’t have much, but with big Tim [Timothy Sasiu] and Paul Mata’u, we had a good offensive line. I feel good running back there with them blocking for me and I feel safe.”

Mose had 116 yards on the ground, and broke off a 34-yard touchdown run early in the game.

“It just builds up our confidence, into next week’s game. We’ll be ready,” said Mose. “Good blocking, good everything, it just makes me a better running back.”

The Hawks now prepare for what Nelson has been calling their big game of the season, which is against Eielsen. Eielson hasn’t lost a conference game in almost two seasons, while the Hawks haven’t lost a home game in almost the same span of time. These types of games that are coming next week, are the one’s that could decide on who is number one in the playoffs, and who is number two.

“We’re ready, it’s going to be a hard game.” said Mose.

“I like to say it means a lot, but they [Eielsen] haven’t lost a conference game in two years. They’re so well coached, they outmatch us across the board, it’s going to be a real tough game for us,” said Nelson.

The Hawks go into their Eielsen matchup with a 3-1 record.

Aaron Walling is a UAF senior and a Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman intern.

Houston 38, Monroe 6

Friday, Fairbanks

First Quarter:

Houston — Safety, 9:52

Houston — Pelesasa 14 run (2 PT Fail) 6:49

Houston — Mose 34 run (2 PT Fail) 5:11

Houston — Pelesasa 2 run (Pelesasa Kick) 0:50

Second Quarter:

Houston — Pelesasa 21 FG 11:11

Houston — Pelesasa Fumble rec. TD (2 PT Fail) 10:00

Houston — Mose 24 run (Kick Fail) 9:22

Houston — Safety 0:45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING- Houston: Mose 6-116, Pelesasa 4-29, Sanderling 1-(-1), Croghan 7-27, Landi 3-11, Merrigan 4-(-13), Ritter 1-9; Monroe: Thomas 6-6, Brantley 4-(-15), Garcia 2-(-7)

PASSING- Houston: Ritter 2-4-1--22; Monroe: Brantley 6-18-3--68, Puryear 1-1--1

RECEIVING- Houston: Mulhaney 1-25, Pelesasa 1-(-3); Monroe: Thomas 3-13, Lohrke 2-23, Davis 1-2, Garcia 1-32