Moose host Crimson Bears in rematch of 2007 state title game

MAT-SU — After the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears dealt the Wasilla Warriors a 35-7 loss earlier this year, Wasilla head coach Jim Shetter called the Crimson Bears the fastest team the Warriors have faced during his tenure at WHS.

This week, as Palmer prepared to host the defending state champion Crimson Bears in a rematch of the 2007 state title game, Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen and the Moose were well aware of what Shetter and the Warriors saw two weeks ago against the Bears.

“That’s not a surprise,” Christiansen said of Shetter’s take on Juneau’s speed. “(Juneau) returns a lot of their skill guys (on offense) and they can be very aggressive, flying around to the ball (on defense).”

Powered by that speed on both sides of the ball, Juneau cruised to a 2-0 mark in Railbelt Conference play with lopsided wins over West Valley and Wasilla, before dropping their first decision of the season last week, a 27-7 loss to Blackfoot High School, the defending Idaho 4A state champions.

“They had that tough battle last week, but that always makes teams better,” Christiansen said.

The Crimson Bears, who surprisingly dropped from the top spot in the latest Alaska Sports Broadcasting Network Prep Football Poll despite being perfect against Alaska competition since the 2006 state semifinals, bring a deceiving 2-1 record to Machetanz Field tonight to face the 2-1 Moose at 7 p.m.

“Until they get beat by an Alaskan team, they’re the team to beat,” Christiansen said.

Christiansen said he has seen a bit of video of Juneau in action this season, but for a program that has faced the Bears in two of the last three state title games, the Moose are expecting to see the typical Crimson Bear attack come game time tonight.

“They’ve changed things up a little bit, but the like to do a lot of the same things,” Christiansen said. “They return a lot of people, and they’re the defending state champions.”

Among the returners are all-state tailback Silver Maake, all-state defensive back Lincoln Maka and Alex Fagerstrom, the 2007 offensive player of the year.

Fagerstrom has hurt teams in a variety of ways in the past, lining up at several positions on offense. He caught two touchdown passes against Wasilla early in the year, and took over at quarterback and led the Bears to their lone score against Blackfoot.

The Moose won’t be sure who will see time behind center for the Bears — Fagerstrom or starter Dakota Smith — until the teams take the field, so Christiansen said the Moose defense has to be prepared for both.

“That’s what we’ve had to do with them for a while,” Christiansen said.

While the Juneau-Douglas defense won’t have to worry about multiple quarterbacks leading the Moose offense, the Crimson Bears will have to prepare for Palmer’s potent ground game.

Junior Brennan Bohman topped the 100-yard mark for the second straight week during Palmer’s 13-7 double-overtime win over West Valley, and Palmer’s plethora of first-year runners are steadily gaining momentum in the Moose backfield.

Junior Coleman Ahrens, who rushed for 74 yards in a win over Lathrop two weeks ago, added 41 yards and the game-winning score against West Valley.

Junior Johnny Daly rushed for 55 yards on only seven carries.

Palmer cruised to a 35-0 over Lathrop in its conference opener, but needed a pair of overtimes to get by the Wolfpack.

“It was great to pick up the win, but it was an eye-opener for us,” Christiansen said.

Ketchikan at Houston

The Houston Hawks take a break from their Northern Lights Conference schedule to host the Ketchikan Kings in nonconference action at Terry Shurtleff Field at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Houston remained undefeated, 3-0 overall, and improved to 2-0 in NLC play with a 40-8 win over the Homer Mariners in Homer last week.

Senior Jordan Webb finished 16-of-25 with 242 yards passing and four touchdowns. Senior receiver Bryan Mason recorded nine catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns.

Senior Kyle Sumner led the Hawks on the ground with 122 yards.

Ketchikan, one of two independent programs in the state, is 0-1 according to Alaska Schools Activities Association.

Sitka, another independent, beat Ketchikan 20-6.

East at Colony

After spending the first three weeks on the road, Colony will finally take the field for a home game, hosting the East Anchorage Thunderbirds Saturday at 7 p.m. at CHS.

Colony (1-2) broke into the win column with a 56-6 win over Lathrop last week in Fairbanks.

The Knights used five second-quarter touchdowns to race to the win over Lathrop and rebound from losses to North Pole and Soldotna during the first two weeks of the season.

Sophomore Matt Jaronik led the Knights with three touchdowns. Jaronik rushed for a pair of scores and caught an 18-yard Collin Murphy touchdown toss.

Murphy, Colony’s senior quarterback, rushed for a pair of first-quarter touchdowns.

East is now 0-3 overall after a 19-0 loss to big city rival West Anchorage last week.

East has been outscored 102-19 in three games, and is one of only two large-schools teams to allow more than 100 points during the first three weeks of the season.

Wasilla at West Valley

The Wasilla Warriors will look for their first win when they head north to face the West Valley Wolfpack in Fairbanks on Saturday.

Wasilla is 0-2 in Railbelt play and 1-2 overall after a 34-13 loss to North Pole last week at Veterans Memorial Field.

The Warriors topped 350 yards in total offense, but five interceptions killed any momentum for the Wasilla offense.

Senior Chris Crane posted a game-high 112 yards in the loss, and has now rushed for at least 90 yards in each of Wasilla’s first three games.

Senior quarterback Adrese LaVern added 128 yards passing, but was lost due to injury in the second half for the second time in as many weeks.

For the second straight week, junior Cody Pfeifer came in relief of LaVern and completed a touchdown pass on his first throw. Pfeifer found wide receiver Tillerman Kroon in the corner of the end zone for an 18-yard scoring pass early in the fourth quarter.

West Valley is still looking for its first win of the season. After losing to Juneau-Douglas 45-7 during the first week of the season, the Wolfpack have dropped a pair of games by single digits.

North Pole slipped by West Valley 21-19 two weeks ago, and Palmer edged the Wolfpack 13-7 in double-overtime last week.

Wasilla was originally slated to face West Valley on Friday, but West Valley officials moved the game to Saturday night earlier this week.

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