Moose cruise, Knights fall

PALMER — The Palmer Moose cruised to a 48-12 win over the South Anchorage Wolverines during the first round of the ASAA 4A state playoffs Friday at Anchorage Football Stadium.

Senior fullback Coleman Ahrens pulled the Moose into the semifinals with 236 yards and five touchdowns in the win. Senior Dustin Silva and junior Jim McCall also posted rushing touchdowns for a Palmer team that amassed 441 yards on the ground.

Palmer took a 21-0 lead into halftime, and pushed it's advantage to 28-0 when McCall scored on Palmer's second play of the second half.

Palmer, the third seed from the Railbelt Conference, will now meet the winner of Saturday's Juneau-Douglas and Chugiak matchup in the semifnal round.

While the Moose move forward, Colony saw its 2009 campaign come to an end with a 34-12 loss to Bartlett at Colony High School on Friday.

Bartlett senior Jamal Hale sparked the Golden Bears with an 88-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. He added to his team's advantage with a 2-yard touchdown plunge just more than two minutes in the quarter.

Cyrus Chenault gave the Bears a 21-0 lead in the second quarter with a 15-yard touchdown run. Johnny Daly, a former Palmer starter who transferred to Bartlett last year, blocked a punt and recovered the ensuing fumble for a score in the third quarter for Bartlett.

Colony, the second seed from the Railbelt, got on the scoreboard when senior quarterback Matt Jaronik connected with Kenyon DePriest on a 66-yard scoring pass early in the third. Senior Tyler Jimanez added a touchdown run in the second half for Colony.

Bartlett, the No. 3 seed from the Cook Inlet Conference, will now move on to face the winner of Saturday's West Anchorage-North Pole match.

See the Sunday edition of the Frontiersman for complete coverage of the quarterfinal action.