Houston's football game at Eielson postponed

WASILLA — As the team bus left Houston High School Friday, the Hawks thought they were headed north for a prep football game on Eielson Air Force Base.

But with kickoff less than 24 hours away, the Hawks sat in a parking lot of a Tesoro gas station near Talkeetna, ready to head back to Houston, as school officials scrambled to find a Plan B after winter storm warnings and travel advisories were issued for the Interior. Houston’s game against the Eielson Ravens, originally slated for Saturday at 1 p.m. was officially postponed Friday afternoon due to the weather and road conditions, Houston activities director Dave Porter said. Porter said the game has been tentatively rescheduled for Sunday at noon.

Houston head coach Glenn Nelson said the weather was somewhat mild in Talkeetna Friday afternoon, about 35 degrees with flurries, but the reports from farther up the Parks Highway are much worse.

“Some of the parents went up early and said it was pretty bad,” Nelson said by cellphone from Talkeetna. “They weren’t upset we were getting turned around.”

The Alaska Department of Transportation issued a travel advisory for the Parks Highway.

“The road conditions are so bad up north, they don’t want you driving to Fairbanks right now,” Porter said. “It sounds like there is a major storm. It sounds pretty bad.”

According to the website of the Alaska Region Headquarters for the National Weather Service, there are winter weather advisories in effect for the Denali area until Friday at 10 p.m., and the Middle Tanana Valley, which includes Fairbanks, until Saturday at 6 p.m.

Porter said the tentative plan is for the Hawks football team to depart Houston High Saturday at 10 a.m., and play just a varsity game Sunday at noon.

Porter said Alaska Schools Activities Association Billy Strickland told Houston officials ASAA would grant the approval for the Hawks to play the sanctioned football game on a Sunday.

Houston (3-3 overall, 1-1 in Aurora Conference play) is still mathematically alive in the race for one of the Aurora Conference’s two automatic berths to the small schools state playoffs. Eielson (5-1, 2-0) is the defending small schools state champion.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.