Kenai QB accounts for 6 scores in win

HOUSTON — As the Houston Hawks prepared for the Kenai Central Kardinals this week, Houston head coach Norm Bouchard was a bit concerned about Kenai quarterback AJ Hull.

Throughout the first half, Hull showed why he is considered such a threat. Hull threw three touchdown passes and ran for three more to lead the defending state champion Kardinals to a 44-14 win over the Houston Hawks at Houston High School.

“He’s a pretty good athlete, and we saw that again,” Bouchard said.

Hull connected with tight end Alex Nason on a 25-yard strike early in the first, and hit Colton Hayes for a 50-yard score later in the quarter to give the Kards the 15-point lead.

Those strikes came as the Hawks defense showed its ability to slow down the Kenai running game.

“(Our run defense) came our pretty well, but they hit some pretty big passes on us,” Bouchard said.

Hull opened the second quarter with his third touchdown pass, an 11-yarder to fullback Tyler Glidden.

“They spread out the defense a little bit and it opened it up inside,” Bouchard said.

Later in the second, Hull burned the Hawks with touchdown runs of 52, 37 and 29 yards.

The stingy Kenai defense shut down the Hawks for much of the first half. Bouchard said a big reason for that was the play of Kenai linebackers Kyle Rogers and Kyle Daugherty.

“We tried to get bodies on them, but they’re good football players,” Bouchard said. “They disrupted what we wanted to do. They did a good job of that.”

Houston senior Brandon Dukes grabed a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Dukes, who eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the third straight week, broke free for an 80-yard score early in the fourth.

“He got to the corner and once he got that, the other guys worked hard to get some blocks downfield,” Bouchard said. “He was able to cut back in on that.”

Following a Kenai turnover, Dukes added a 7-yard score later in the quarter.

Despite the loss, the Hawks showed notable improvement against the small-schools power. Last year, Kenai blanked Houston 60-0. The Hawks, ranked fourth in the latest Alaska Sports Broadcasting Network Prep Football Poll, travel to Soldotna to face the Stars Friday.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Kenai 44, Houston 14

Saturday, Houston High School

First quarter

Kenai — Nason 25 pass from Hull (Hull kick) 8:23.

Kenai — Safety, Hendricks tackled in end zone, 7:29.

Kenai — Hayes 50 pass com Hull (kick failed) 5:36.

Second quarter

Kenai — Glidden 11 pass from hull (pass failed) 11:00.

Kenai — Hull 52 run (Hull run) 9:23.

Kenai — Hull 37 run (kick failed) 4:05.

Kenai — Hull 29 run (Hayes kick) 2:35.

Third quarter

Kenai — Safety, Frank tackled in end zone, 3:25.

Fourth quarter

Houston — Dukes 80 run (Hendricks kick) 9:43.

Houston — Dukes 7 run (Hendricks kick) 2:59.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Kenai: RIsung 9-49, Sandahl 9-20, Hull 5-112, Hayes 5-19, Hanson 4-5, Carlson 3-16, Glidden 3-11, Miller 1-4, Mendenhall 1-1; Houston: Frank 13-9, Dukes 12-101, BaRron 3-(-2), Hendricks 2-13.

PASSING — Kenai: Hull 4-9-0—91, Hayes 0-2-1—0; Houston: Frank 3-8-1—16.

RECEIVING — Kenai: Hayes 1-50, Nason 1-25, Glidden 1-11, Risung 1-3; Houston: Barron 2-14, Ruta 1-2.