Kodiak Bears get past Houston

HOUSTON — The upset-minded Houston Hawks battled, but big plays cleared the way for a Kodiak victory Friday night.

Kodiak’s Jay-Ar Small returned the game’s opening kick 81 yards for a score and quarterback Melvin Javier scored a pair of touchdowns late in the first half to help Kodiak score a 26-12 win over the Hawks at Houston High.

“Our kids battled, despite the score, battled to the very last second,” Hawks head coach Glenn Nelson said.

Despite allowing Small to return a kick 81 yards for the score during the opening seconds of regulation, Houston battled back to tie the score.

“I think the coaches were more upset than the kids,” Nelson said of Kodiak’s kickoff return for the touchdown. “They shook it off, went back to battle. That’s nice to see from young kids.”

Tanner Barclay plunged into the end zone from a yard out to knot the score at 6. The score remained tied until the final minutes of the second quarter. With three minutes left in the first half, Javier broke free for a 22-yard touchdown run. Less than two minutes later, at the 1:05 mark, Javier scampered 30 yards for another score.

“If you don’t contain him, he’s dangerous,” Nelson said of Javier. “We held him in check, but he got away a couple times.”

Javier also threw a touchdown pass in the third quarter.

Houston cut Kodiak’s lead to a pair of scores in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Noah Griffeth connected with Kyle Quincy on a 4-yard scoring pass.

Nelson credited the work of Houston’s defense in the loss.

“Our defense kept us in it,” Nelson said.

Houston, competing as an independent this season, dropped to 3-4 overall. The Hawks close their season with a road game at Homer.

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