Moose, Hawks to battle for playoff spots at home

PALMER — This weekend, the Palmer Moose and Houston Hawks are in the same boat.

Win, you’re in.

Each squad hosts a pivotal conference matchup that will decide whether they will be playing in October. Tonight at 7 p.m., Kenai Central visits Palmer in a game that will decide the final postseason berth in the Northern Lights Conference. Saturday, Houston and Barrow clash at 7 p.m. in a game that will determine which squad represents the Aurora Conference in the small-schools playoffs.

After starting out the season 0-3, Palmer is 2-1 in NLC action in the last three weeks. Longtime Moose head coach Rod Christiansen said his athletes are excited about the opportunity to play for a playoff berth, and the potential to compete in the medium schools postseason which will be hosted by Palmer High at Machetanz Field this year.

“Get to extend their season, get to play another home game, get another shot at Soldotna, those are good things to shoot for,” Christiansen said earlier this week.

Soldotna is the four-time defending medium-schools state champion.

Palmer enters the game with some momentum built from a 43-13 win over Eagle River last week at PHS.

“I thought we were better. We’ve been improving in a lot of ways,” Christiansen said.

Palmer has used a deep backfield — which includes running backs Nick DeBach, Larry Cutsforth and Jeff Glynn, and fullback Austin Farris — to have success in recent weeks. The Moose also have quarterback Clayton Southwick, who has thrown touchdown passes in consecutive weeks.

“We’ve moved the ball threw the air, on the ground,” Christiansen said of the Moose, 2-4 overall and 2-1 in NLC play.

Houston, 4-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play, is also coming off a conference victory. The Hawks needed a second-half rally to beat Valdez 26-20 in Valdez last week.

“It kept us in the playoff hunt,” Houston head coach Glenn Nelson said earlier this week.

After trailing 14-0 at half, the Hawks posted 26 second-half points. Senior Ben Pelesasa rushed for three touchdowns and the bulk of his career-high 233 yards on the ground during the final two quarters. Senior Vanu Mose used an 8-yard touchdown with 48 seconds left to provide the go-ahead touchdown.

Saturday, the Hawks draw a Barrow squad that advanced to the playoffs last year.

“This is huge. The winner goes to the playoffs,” Nelson said.

In the Railbelt Conference, a pair of Valley teams have already punched their postseson tickets. With its 45-6 rout of West Valley last Friday, Colony eliminated the Wolfpack (0-3 in the Railbelt) from playoff contention. The Railbelt has only five teams in the conference this season, but has fourth postseason berths. The Wolfpack loss guarantees playoff spots for the remaining four teams in the conference: Colony (2-0), Lathrop (2-0), Chugiak (1-1) and Wasilla (1-2).

Colony, Chugiak and Wasilla all hold the tiebreaker against West Valley, and the Wolfpack can’t jump Lathrop in the standings.

The next two weeks will decide the playoff seeding, and a pair of Railbelt games this weekend will factor heavily into that. Tonight, Wasilla travels to Chugiak to play the Mustangs at 7 p.m. Colony travels north to Fairbanks to play Lathrop Saturday at 5 p.m.

The outcome of the Colony-Lathrop match will help determine the Railbelt Conference champion.

In other action, Redington travels to Homer to face the Mariners Saturday at 2 p.m.

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