It's mashing time

Prep football in the Valley is no small potatoes.

Just as the potatoes that grow locally are buried deep in our soil, high school football is embedded deep in the culture of the Mat-Su Valley.

The Valley has a vast prep football tradition. The current Palmer and Wasilla teams are more than 20 years old, and the history of Palmer football can be dated back to 1952.

Before there was even a thought of a Colony or Houston program, prep gridiron traditions were being created.

What best represents the Valley's celebrated prep football tradition is the annual Potato Bowl.

"It is the crown jewel of Alaskan sports," said former Palmer athletic director Mike Janecek.

The Potato Bowl pits Valley foes Palmer and Wasilla against one another. The schools from the opposite ends of the Valley meet once per year with the victor earning the coveted Mayor's Cup trophy.

It will mark 24 years of competition when the Warriors travel to Palmer Sept. 27 to play in the illustrious match. The root of the Valley's prep football tradition is implanted in that annual game.

The game is celebrated as the highlight of the prep season for coaches, players and community alike. Each year when the squads' schedules are released, everyone first looks to the end and circles the date of the Potato Bowl. Fans pour into the respective field, and often seating becomes standing room only. Whether the Moose or the Warriors are hosting, it is pretty much guaranteed that there will be an equal proportion of Palmer blue and Wasilla red in the stands.

There are few other athletic events in the Valley or the state that hold the special recognition of the Potato Bowl.

"This is the number one athletic tradition in the Valley without a doubt," Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said. "The history is not as long as say Palmer basketball, but the basketball rivalry between Palmer and Wasilla is not as rich. There are some great games between the teams, but there isn't the tradition. There isn't the traveling trophy."

Other Alaskan schools such as Bartlett and East have followed the lead of Palmer and Wasilla and adopted a traveling trophy. One can argue that the Potato Bowl has a richer history than the most coveted prize on the Alaskan collegiate circuit. The Alaska Governor's Cup, which is awarded to the winner of the series between the Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks hockey teams, was instituted after the creation of the Potato Bowl.

The game

After Wasilla formed their own team in 1979, Palmer head coach Dan Strouse derived the idea of recognizing the annual match-up between the Valley's two programs. Ron Larson, the borough's mayor at the time, purchased a trophy from the Mat-Su Borough's office to represent the game and be awarded to the victor. The traveling trophy would remain in the possession of the victor.

The game was initially known as the Mayor's Cup and later dubbed the Potato Bowl by Janecek.

"The game is a part of our culture in the Valley and potatoes are also a part of our culture. When you go down to Four Corners, what do you see? Potatoes," Janecek said. "I mentioned the term to an Anchorage Daily News reporter and it stuck."

The series

The Moose hold a 16-7 record against Wasilla in the series, while the Warriors claim an 8-15 record against Palmer. With a quick look at the series standings the discrepancy is easily noticed. For an explanation of the difference, one would have to go back to 1984.

That season the squads were to play a pair of games. Wasilla won the first contest 12-8 and Palmer claimed a 6-0 forfeit later that season. Each team claims that their win was the official Potato Bowl. According to Janecek, prior to the 1984 season, the schools had agreed on the second meeting being the official Potato Bowl.

The teams have essentially agreed to disagree. Each school has their own plaque to put on the trophy when it is in their possession.

The first game

It took just 12 seconds for the first touchdown to be scored in Potato Bowl history. On the opening kickoff, Palmer's Steve Larson fielded the ball and quickly handed it off to teammate Ron Richards. The 5-9, 135-pound receiver took the ball and ran it 80 yards for the score.

"It was a reverse, and they didn't cover the backside. It was pretty much an open play," Richards said of his score.

Brad Hanson, now the offensive coordinator at Palmer High, kicked the extra point and Palmer took the early 7-0 lead.

With the early advantage, Palmer would survive a contest that is said to be sloppy.

"I think both teams fumbled 14 times," Richards said.

"The coach made us hit the sled during half-time," said John Shaw, a lineman for Palmer in 1979 and current line coach for the Moose. "He wasn't happy with our blocking."

The contest was played at 3 p.m., on a Friday, at the field behind what is now Palmer Junior Middle School.

The missing trophy

The trophy handed to the winner of the 2002 Potato Bowl will not be the same prize purchased by Larson in 1979. In 1998 the award was either lost or stolen and a new trophy was purchased.

"Someone out there could have a nice trophy sitting on their mantle," Janecek said.

The beginning of Valley football

Though 1979 was the first annual Potato Bowl, the first prep football team in the Valley was formed in 1952. The team, coached by Norm Rousey Sr., was one of three high school football teams in the state. Ketchikan and Anchorage High School (now known as West High School) also formed teams. The first official interscholastic football game in the state was between Ketchikan and Anchorage, but Palmer participated in the first football game that paired two central Alaskan teams together.

Anchorage defeated Palmer 25-0 at the Palmer Fairgrounds on Oct. 4, 1952.

To gain practice for the contest against Anchorage, the Moose took on a squad from Fort Richardson. The Army team defeated Palmer 20-18 in the first official action ever for the Palmer football program. The difference in the contest was two missed extra points.

Despite the loss, the patrons of the Valley showed their dedication to keeping the sport alive in the area. A Kiwanis committee was formed with the responsibility of building a permanent football field in Palmer.

The Palmer football program notched their first official win with a 13-6 victory over the 39th Air Depot Wing Team from Fort Richardson on Oct. 17, 1952. Running backs Bob Smith and Johnny Brown scored for the Moose in the win.

Palmer would play four times in 1952, falling to West twice and splitting with teams from Fort Richardson. The early Moose football squad would compete until 1957, with Rousey coaching through 1956 and Chip Charleton at the helm for the 1957 season.

Following that year, the Valley would go without a prep football program for more than 12 seasons.

In 1971, the Palmer-Wasilla Falcon team was formed. Players from each school in the Valley participated on the squad coached by John Switzer. The team practiced in Palmer and played at Palmer Junior High School. The team was comprised mostly of Palmer athletes. A select group of Wasilla students would make the 15-minute drive on the curvy and graveled Palmer-Wasilla Highway to practice every day.

The Falcons would compete through the 1977 season. The team went undefeated (3-0-3) in 1971 and won six games in 1972.

In 1978, Wasilla branched off and formed their own team. Palmer went back to just being the Moose, and the Warriors were spawned. Palmer joined the Anchorage schools in the Cook Inlet Conference in 1978, while Wasilla maintained a junior varsity team for the first year.

That year Wasilla High hired former Dimond High School coach Bill Sterns to guide the Warrior football program.

The Warriors earned their first win as a program Sept. 7, 1978, with a victory over the East Anchorage j.v. squad.

In 1979, Wasilla joined the varsity ranks and both the Moose and the Warriors entered the Railbelt Conference with Eielson, Lathrop, North Pole and West Valley.

After winning the first Mayor's Cup, the trophy stayed at Palmer High School for four years. It was not until 1983 that Wasilla would earn the right to display the prize on their turf.

In September 1983, the Warriors, coached by Eric Wade, defeated the Moose 21-7 for the first time in school history. The win capped off a 6-2 season in which they won the Railbelt Championship. Jamie Smith, now the Houston High School athletic director, was the reported hero of the game with a touchdown run and a pivotal interception.

Though it was only their fifth meeting, the intensity of the rivalry was increasing steadily. The drive to defeat their Valley foes was apparent in each team's attitude and one team's clothing. Prior to the game, Strouse gave his Palmer players a special pair of socks to wear during the contest. The white socks had "Beat Wasilla" printed in bold lettering.

The Northern Lights Conference Championship was decided with the 1998 Potato Bowl. It was the first time in the history of the series that the winner of the contest would not only take home the Mayer's Cup, but the conference title. Behind the running of Chuck Lincoln, the Warriors cruised to a 42-15 victory.

The following season Wasilla defeated the Moose 24-7 and rode the momentum into the state championship game.

The 1995 Moose capped off their flawless conference record with a 42-7 win over the Warriors in the annual event. Palmer would remain undefeated that season and defeat Chugiak for the 1995 state championship.

The Valley has had a great effect on the changes seen in Alaskan prep football. Through the late 1980s the Alaska state playoffs were by invitation only in the state. In 1989, the Palmer team coached by Lebron McPhail had arguably the best squad in the state. The committee of Anchorage athletic directors charged with the task of selecting the teams to compete in the state championship game snubbed the Moose. Palmer then hosted Service in what was known as the "Integrity Bowl."

Because of the controversy caused by the events, the Alaska State Athletic Association was forced to reformat the state playoff system.

Eleven games in the series have been decided by a touchdown or less. Fans have enjoyed numerous spectacular moments in the game's history. One of the most thrilling moments in Potato Bowl history came last year at Veterans Memorial Field. The All-Conference combination of Jake Carney and Travis Webb connected on a two-yard pass for Wasilla, to give the Warriors a 19-17 lead in the fourth quarter.

The Moose drove down into Wasilla territory in the final minutes of the game only to miss a 21-yard field goal with 19 seconds left in the contest to lose the game in heartbreaking fashion.

With that Warrior win, the Mayor's Cup Trophy is currently kept at Wasilla High School.

Friday's match at Machetanz field will determine whether it stays in Wasilla or goes into the hands of the Moose.

The Valley's continuing football tradition

There are a great number of current local coaches who are part of the Potato Bowl and Valley prep football history. Palmer coaches Brad Hanson, John Shaw and Jason Kepler; Wasilla coaches Tony Jenson Chris Meisler and Jason McCort; Colony head coach Tom Lincoln and Houston head coach Mat Bredburg have each played in the Potato Bowl.

Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen, Moose assistants Vince Tubbs and Keith Armstrong, Dimond head coach Duncan Shackleford and Anchorage Christian School head coach Pete Carroll all played for the Palmer-Wasilla Falcons. Palmer athletic trainer Kay Omer was on the Falcon coaching staff.

"Palmer has tradition because of these guys," Omer said of the Moose alumni on the coaching staff. "They played and they came back. They felt like they owed something to Palmer. That is how you build tradition."

Wasilla High School athletic director Doug Bean coached in a pair of Potato Bowls and Houston High athletic director Jamie Smith helped the Warriors win their first Mayor's Cup trophy.

Current Wasilla mentor Nathan Ford has coached in the Potato Bowl from both sidelines. Before taking the helm as the Warriors' head coach, Ford was on Christiansen's staff at Palmer.

Bredburg, a Wasilla graduate, and former Wasilla coach Steve Owens were instrumental in building the Houston football program. McPhail was one of the first Colony head coaches.

Recent seasons have seen familiar names on the field and the sidelines. The second generation of Potato Bowl participants can be found in father-son combinations. The Richards family is in line to have the first father-son combination to have played in the game. Ron's son Hunter is a freshman for the Moose.

"It brings back the old days when you see your son in the same colors," the elder Richards said of his son donning a Moose uniform.

Former Palmer running backs Jack and James Wade and current Wasilla linebacker Jed Wade are the sons of Eric Wade, who led the Warriors to their first Potato Bowl win in 1983.

Omer's son Shane is a senior defensive lineman for Palmer.

"The Valley is on the cutting edge. Events like the Potato Bowl help define our schools and our sports," Janecek said. "The community is attached to our high schools through these events. Now politicians are clamoring to get seen at the game. The rivalry has been there from day one. The community has taken ownership in the event."

"This event has such importance to the community," Omer said. "It is not so much who wins or loses. For so long we have been the stepchild of Anchorage. This one is ours."