Moose host Stars in Week 2

PALMER — For fans of the old Northern Lights Conference, Saturday’s Palmer-Soldotna game is a renewal of an old-school Alaska prep football rivalry. But to the Moose and the Stars, the contest is a key nonconference game on the 2011 slate.

Longtime Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said there’s tradition there, but the Moose are focusing on playing a squad that’s been among the state’s best for a decade.

“It’s a big challenge,” Christiansen said. “They’ve been good for so long.”

Soldotna is technically now a medium-schools squad, but the Stars have won four of the last five small-schools state titles.

“They’re medium, but they can play with the big guys every single year,” Christiansen said.

Soldotna won the 2010 small-schools title with an almost stupefying 77-42 win over rival last fall. The Stars jumped into the 2011 season with a 41-16 win over large-schools Eagle River last week.

Christiansen said he sees some difference between the Stars, the No. 1 ranked medium-schools team according to the latest Alaska Sports Broadcasting Network football poll, but Soldotna boasts a number of attributes typical of the program.

“They’re not as big as they’ve been in some years, but as athletes, they’ve got a lot of guys who can run,” Christiansen said. “We’re kind of like that too.”

Austin Tennis ran for 123 yards and a score during Soldotna’s win over Eagle River. Jared Duncan hit 92 yards and the end zone twice.

Palmer, ranked fourth in ASBN’s large-schools poll, opened its season with a 14-0 win over East Anchorage in Anchorage last week. The Moose scored the victory, and Christiansen was happy with the play of his defense during the shutout, but Palmer had its struggles on offense.

“We sputtered an awful lot and didn’t execute very well,” Christiansen said. “We were fortunate to win.”

Palmer lost a key player to injury in the win, senior all-state offensive tackle Ben Self. The Moose lineman will also miss Saturday’s game, Christiansen said.

With the loss of Self, the Moose had to adjust on the fly. Daniel Medina is among the linemen who are stepping in to fill the void left by Self.

All-state quarterback Jackson Buresh accounted for both of Palmer’s touchdowns in the win. Buresh connected with Jared Straight on a 36-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, and ran for a 21-yard score during the final minute of the second.

Christiansen said the Moose are focusing on becoming more fluid on the offensive end.

Senior Ian Ahrens led Palmer with 62 yards on the ground.

“We’ve got a lot of things to work on, both running and passing, trying to be more sound,” Christiansen said.

The Moose and the Stars meet Saturday at 7 p.m. at Machentaz Field.

West Valley at Wasilla

The Wasilla Warriors (0-1) kick off their Railbelt Conference season tonight at 7 p.m. against the West Valley Wolfpack at Veteran’s Memorial Field.

Both teams opened the 2011 regular season with nonconference losses. Skyview (ASBN’s medium-school’s No. 2) beat Wasilla 32-20. Bartlett (ASBN’s large-school’s No. 1) raced past West Valley 51-26.

First-year Wasilla head coach Kent Rilatos said the Warriors have rebounded from the loss with a good week of practice. Wasilla is also trying to overcome a slew of early-season injuries.

Wasilla lost sophomore Quace Wright, a two-way starter, to a season-ending arm injury during the opening minutes of the loss to Panthers. Starting defensive lineman Yuriy Makitrin suffered a knee injury the day before the game and didn’t play. Wasilla also lost starting middle linebacker Raheem Hines to injury.

Rilatos said the Warriors also had a handful of players who did not have enough practices to participate against Skyview.

“We basically had to replace four starters before the game,” Rilatos said.

The Warriors have faced early-season adversity, but Rilatos is pleased how his team is responding.

“The kids have really come together,” Rilatos said. “With all the things that have gone wrong, the kids are out there battling, up beat and ready to go at practice.”

Wasilla suffered a 12-point loss, but Rilatos said he was pleased to see his team continue to fight in the second quarter. The Warriors may have found a passing attack with junior quarterback Ben Fielder. The signal caller threw for 155 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Tyler Anderson snagged a career-high five catches for 126 yards and two scores.

Senior Braydon Kuiper also caught a touchdown pass.

The Wolfpack also had success throwing the ball during Week 1. Junior Tucker Plass finished with 193 yards and two touchdowns. More than 150 yards came in the second half.

Plass connected with tight end Chris Nuttall for both scores. Nuttall finished with eight catches for 121 yards.

“West Valley has athletes,” Rilatos said.

Lathrop at Colony

The Colony Knights (0-1) will look for their first win of the season as they host Lathrop (1-0) tonight at 7 p.m. at Colony High.

Colony, which returns only two players with varsity experience, suffered a 31-0 loss to Dimond during the first week.

“We’ve got a lot to do, a lot of learning,” Colony head coach Brian McIntosh said after the loss.

Despite the lopsided loss, McIntosh did see some positive things during the first game. Rob Lorentz threw for 106 yards, and seven different receivers caught passes.

Lathrop opened its season with a 45-0 win over small-schools Seward. Gabe Cunningham threw for 230 yards and four touchdowns.

Houston gets bye

The Houston Hawks are idle this weekend and continue their schedule Aug. 26 against the Soldotna Stars at HHS.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him at twitter.com/matsu_sports.