Moose, Knights clash at Palmer High

PALMER — For the first time this season, the Palmer Moose took the practice field this week on the heels of a loss.

Last Saturday, the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Beares put a blemish on Palmer’s previously perfect mark with a 36-7 victory over the Moose. The win also allowed Juneau (4-1 overall, 3-0 in the Railbelt) to claim sole possesion of the top spot in the conference.

And things aren’t getting any easier for Palmer

Tonight, Palmer (3-1, 2-1) hosts Mat-Su rival Colony (4-0, 2-0) in another game that will surely have playoff implications.

“Every week’s a big week now,” Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said on Thursday.

Palmer featured a pair of players with at least 100 yards rushing, but turnovers and a monster effort from Juneau’s stable of running backs led to the lopsided defeat in the captiol city.

Senior Brennan Bohman rushed for a team-high 124 yards, and junior Jim McCall added 100 yards and a score. But Palmer’s duo was overshadowed by a Juneau offense that produced 473 yards on the ground.

“We knew we had some things we needed to work on, and Juneau reminded us of that,” Christiansen said.

While turnovers hurt the Moose, a pair of late takeaways helped Colony earn a 24-17 come-from-behind nonconference win over the three-time small-school defending state champion Soldotna Stars.

Senior Hayden Summers recovered a fumble that helped set up Connor Weihs’ 27-yard game-tying field goal.

With the score netted at 17 late in the fourth, senior Eric Fan picked off a Soldotna pass. Four plays later, Fan caught the go-ahead 7-yard touchdown pass.

Christiansen said takeaways could be key agian tonight.

“You look at the turnover column,” Christiansen said.

Palmer and Colony have shown certain similarities this season. The Moose have outrushed the Knights by nearly a 2-to-1 margin (Palmer has 1,089 rushing yards, and the Knights have rushed for 530). But both have shown the ability to pass the football.

Colony senior starter Matt Jaronik is 25-for-51 with 392 yards and five touchdowns through the first half of the regular season. Palmer senior Dustin Silva is 19-for-45 for 350 yards and seven touchdowns in four games.

Both teams have also limited oppoents’ passing yardage. Colony has allowed only 203 yards through the air, while Palmer has given up just 189.

Colony’s four opponents have managed just a total of 561 total yards.

West Valley at Wasilla

While Palmer suffered its first loss of the season, Wasilla is coming off its first win — a 53-0 victory over Lathrop in Fairbanks.

Wasilla freshman quarterback Ben Fielder threw for 290 yards and five touchdowns in his first start of the season.

Senior Cody Pfeifer, the person Fiedler replaced under center, moved outside and snagged six catches for 125 yards and three touchdows.

Tight end David Green hauled in five balls for 103 yards and a score.

Wasilla scored 53 points after finishing with a total of just six during its first three games.

West Valley dropped to 0-4 with a 53-15 loss to Service in Fairbanks last week. The Wolfpack are already 0-3 in conference play after losses to Juneau, North Pole and Palmer.

The Warriors host West Valley tonight at 7 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Field.

Houston at Ketchikan

Houston (0-4) will look for its first victory when the Hawks travel to Ketchikan to face the Kings Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Hawks dropped to 0-4 with a 56-6 loss to Homer last week. Despite the loss, Houston did post its first touchdown of the season. Colton Buzby scored on a 41-yard run.

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