Moose fall in Fairbanks

The Palmer Moose struck first Friday night, but by the end of the night it was the West Valley Wolfpack doing the howling.

After Palmer took a 7-0 lead on its first possession, West Valley scored 30 consecutive points en route to a 30-7 Railbelt Conference high school football game at Wolfpack stadium.

West Valley manufactured a 24-point second quarter, tacked on six more in the third and then played out the rain-drenched fourth quarter to improve to 2-3 on the season and 1-0 in conference play.

“It was a good win for us, but I wish we finished a little strong than we did,” said West Valley coach Norm Davis said after the two teams traded turnovers during most of the rain-soaked second half.

Justin Cummings rushed for more than 200 yards and scored on runs of 73 and 64 yards, while quarterback Shaun Conwell ran for one touchdown and threw for another to lead the way for the Wolfpack.

“Justin is just a phenomenal athlete,” Davis said of his star running back. “He has great vision and a great ability to cut back.”

With West Valley leading 8-7, Cummings busted a 73 yard scoring as he broke through the middle of the Palmer defense and then used his speed and race up the West Valley sideline to the end zone.

Cummings second score came on a 64-yard burst to cap the scoring in the third quarter.

“When you have a talented guy like that on your roster to get the ball in his hands as often as possible and good things will happen,” Davis said.

Things started well enough for Palmer as the Moose forced the Wolfpack to punt on the opening possession of the game, then marched the ball down field for the game’s first score.

Lavar Marshall scored on an 8-yard run to give Palmer a 7-0 lead, but the Wolfpack defense came to life after that.

“We needed to tighten things up a bit with our linebackers and d-line,” Davis said. “We challenged them to do a better job and they responded.”

Down 7-0, West Valley got on the scoreboard when Conwell found the end zone on a 6-yard run early in the second quarter. Conwell’s two-point conversion pass to Dylan Thomas proved to be the game-winning points.

Cummings 73-yard run and two-point conversion run gave the Wolfpack a 16-7 lead with 5:49 remaining in the first half.

Conwell’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Avery Weston and a two-point run by Reggie Mease late in the second quarter enabled the Wolfpack to take a 24-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Cummings finished things off with his 64-yard run in the third quarter.

The Wolfpack host the North Pole Patriots in their homecoming game next Saturday, while Palmer, 1-1 in the Railbelt Conference entertains the Lathrop Malemutes on Saturday.

Contact the News-Miner sports department at 459-7586.