Moose in familiar territory against Service

PALMER — Rod Christiansen has led his Palmer Moose into Anchorage during the postseason to face some pretty tough opponents — and Christiansen and the Moose have won.

In 2009, Palmer ran away from South Anchorage 48-12. In 2007, the Moose ran through Service 28-14. Back in 2005, Palmer edged South 21-14.

Those were big wins for the Moose program. The latter two pushed Palmer into a state title game. Palmer has another big game against another Anchorage team in the big city Saturday. But Christiansen, Palmer’s longtime head coach, admits this one — a quarterfinal match with top-ranked Service — is a little bit different.

“They’re the No. 1 seed. They’re undefeated, beating everybody by a lot,” Christiansen said Thursday. “It’s in Anchorage. We’re Palmer. That’s the only parallel.”

Christiansen knows his squad will have its hands full when the Moose head to Dimond High School in Anchorage to meet the Cougars Saturday at noon. Service (7-0-1) has won seven straight since playing to a tie 34-34 with Leilehua High in Wahiawa, Hawaii, during its season-opener in August. During that seven-game winning streak, Service outscored its opponents 335-136.

The Cougars have scored 41 or more points six times and 63 or more points twice. Only East Anchorage has held Service to less than 40, and the T-Birds still gave up 33 to the Cougars.

“They’ve been a chore for everybody this year,” Christiansen said.

Christiansen noted a few of Service’s threats, but none have done more damage than Amu Aukusitino. The junior quarterback is second in the state with 1,860 yards passing and among state leaders with 15 passing touchdowns. He’s also among leaders in the Cook Inlet Conference with 682 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns.

If that isn’t enough, Aukusitino has a combined five touchdowns on defense and special teams.

Christiansen said Palmer needs to use its clock-killing ground game, with its average of 270 yards per contest, to keep the ball out of the hands of Aukusitino.

“We need to keep the ball away from Aukusitino any way possible — offense, defense and special teams,” Christiansen said.

Service also sports one of the top receivers in the state. Alan Busey leads the state with 56 catches for 898 yards.

While Service has been the talk of the Alaska football world, Palmer may sport the state’s most deceiving 4-4 mark this season.

“It’s been a different year for us, losing so many close games,” Christiansen said. “We’re two plays from being 5-1 in conference.”

Of the four teams that beat Palmer this year, only Juneau-Douglas managed to beat the Moose by more than a touchdown, scoring a 29-13 victory over Palmer in the Capital City in August.

West Valley quarterback Tucker Plass snuck into the end zone from 1-yard out to give the Wolfpack a 25-19 double-overtime win over the Moose in Fairbanks. Last week, Wasilla placekicker Kyler Perry booted a 30-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Warriors to a 23-22 win over Palmer in the annual Potato Bowl.

In nonconference action, Soldotna edged Palmer 29-28, stopping a late Moose two-point conversion attempt.

But despite the record, Christiansen likes where his team is it.

“As far as where we’re at, we’re (playing) at our best right now,” Christiansen said.

While Service has its weapons, Palmer also has a few shells to fire from its cannon. The Moose have three runners with 220 yards or more, and five with 160 yards or better.

Senior Ian Ahrens leads the squad with 674 yards and 10 touchdowns. Ahrens has topped the 100-mark in three of the last four weeks and has two or more touchdowns in four of the last five games.

Senior quarterback Jackson Buresh has about 1,000 yards of total offense, with 659 yards through the air and 344 on the ground. Buresh has thrown for eight touchdowns and rushed for eight more.

Sophomore James Nisbett has also emerged with more than 300 total yards and six touchdowns.

Seniors Steven Lee (14 catches, 222 yards, two touchdowns) and Jared Straight (9-200-4) lead Palmer at the receiver position. Many of the Palmer varsity veterans have experience against a number of these Service players. These teams met in the quarterfinals last year, with Service scoring a 31-21 win over the Moose at Dimond High.

“It helps a lot,” Christiansen said. “They’ve been on the field, playing them last year.”

Palmer, which has advanced to the state title game four times since 1995, is in the state playoffs for the 16th time in 17 years. Palmer is 3-3 in the quarterfinals since 2005.

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