Moose march into postseason

PALMER — The Palmer Moose will face a familiar foe in the first round of the Division II playoffs.

For the second straight season, the Moose will meet Thunder Mountain in the semifinals.

“It’s a rematch. We do have a lot of players who have been (in the playoffs). They have a lot of players who have been there. It should be a good contest,” Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said of the game, slated for Saturday at 1 p.m. at Palmer High School.

Last season, Palmer survived a late Thunder Mountain push, and clinched a spot in the state title game with a 28-26 win over the Falcons.

“They moved the ball against us last year,” Christiansen said. “We’re trying to re-tool, be better prepared for them this time around.”

Thunder Mountain rushed for four touchdowns last season in the loss, each coming from inside the 7-yard line. But the Falcons set up the scores with the passing game, throwing the ball 32 times in the loss.

“It looks to be a lot of the same things they did last year on both sides of the ball,” Christiansen said of the Falcons.

Based on the film, Christiansen said the Palmer coaching staff has seen a few variances in the Thunder Mountain offense and is impressed with the defense.

“They take pride a lot in their defense, really shutting people down,” Christiansen said.

Thunder Mountain has won six straight games, unbeaten since falling just short, 3-0, to South Anchorage during the first week of the year. The Falcons finished 3-0 in the Southeast en route to their second straight conference title.

The Falcons will face a Palmer squad that has won three straight. Two weeks ago, Palmer clinched a playoff spot for the second straight year with a 35-8 win at Kenai. Last week, the Moose edged rival Wasilla 27-26 in the annual Potato Bowl.

“That confidence really helps,” Christiansen said.

With that said, Christiansen said, his players know there are still things the Moose need to work on during the days leading up to the semifinal match. The manor in which Palmer beat Wasilla could be key, Christiansen said. The Moose trailed 20-6 early in the fourth quarter, and scored twice to force overtime. After Wasilla took a lead on its possession during the tiebreaker, Palmer answered with Skyler Hale’s 5-yard touchdown pass from Luke Guggenmos and a Larry Cutsforth extra point.

“Knowing they can win a close game is really important,” Christiansen said.

After starting the season 0-3, Palmer won four of its last five games. The Moose finished 3-1 in the Northern Lights Conference, and enters the postseason as the No. 2 seed for the second straight year. Palmer High School is the host of the Division II postseason. The Moose are technically the visiting team, based on seeding, and will wear the white jerseys and be the guest on the scoreboard. Palmer will line up on its home sideline.

In the other semifinal, five-time defending state champion Soldotna meets Southeast runner-up North Pole at 4 p.m.

The winners of the semifinal bouts meet Oct. 14 in the Division II state championship game.

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