Moose meet rival in state title game

PALMER — Three weeks into the 2016 season, Palmer sat at 0-3 in the standings. It was a horrendous stretch for the Moose, who were outscored 139-16 during the first three games of the season.

But the Moose have long moved pass those early-season struggles. Palmer has won five out of its last six, and will play for the medium-schools state title when the Moose host the Soldotna Stars Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Palmer High’s Machetanz Field.

“Let’s face it, the teams we played early in the season were very good teams,” Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said of the losses to East Anchorage, Bartlett and Colony, three teams that advanced to the large-schools playoffs.

But rather than folding after the 0-3 start, the Moose kept fighting, which draws high praise from Christiansen, who will coach in the fifth state title game of his career Saturday.

“The dedication to stick with it, stick with the plan, keep working,” Christiansen said of his players. “We didn’t completely change our offense. We didn’t completely change our defense. We didn’t completely change our players.”

Christiansen said the Moose knew who they were, and now they are better for it.

And now Palmer — which scored conference wins over Kodiak, Eagle River and Kenai en route to clinching a playoff spot — gets another crack at Soldotna, which beat the Moose 42-21 at SoHi midway through the year. With the matchup, the Moose get the four-time defending state medium-schools champions who are riding a state-record 48-game winning streak.

Palmer is the last team to beat Soldotna, a 27-7 victory over the Stars Aug. 11, 2012, in Soldotna. The Stars have been a wrecking crew on the gridiron since.

“On any given Saturday,” Christiansen said. “You saw that last Saturday.”

Christiansen said referring to the medium-schools division’s wild semifinal round. North Pole, the No. 2 seed from the Southeast Conference, nearly played spoiler. The Patriots led at halftime, and had the ball late, while trailing by only four. SoHi was able to hold on for the 25-21 win. Palmer was also tested. The Moose led big early, but Thunder Mountain used a 19-point second half to make it close in the other semifinal. The Moose came away with a 28-26 win.

Regardless of what happened last week, Christiansen is expecting to see SoHi bring its best Saturday.

“They’ll be much more ready to go,” Christiansen said.

Christiansen listed a number of keys points the Moose are focusing on that could allow Palmer to have success Saturday.

“We have to make some stops,” Christiansen said of his defense facing a Soldotna offense that’s averaged 42 points per game this year. “We need to play better on special teams. We need to make it a long field.”

And the Moose need to play to their potential on offense.

“There are a lot of ways to win football games. Our offense is capable of being explosive through the air and on the ground,” Christiansen said. “It’s getting harder and harder for people to account for all the different formations we’re throwing at them.”

Palmer features a variety of running backs who are getting regular carries. Nick DeBach (543 yards) and Larry Cutsforth (566 yards) have combined for more than 1,000 yards on the ground. Jared Oviok has added 238 yards rushing in the last four games. DeBach has a team-high eight rushing touchdowns.

Quarterback Clayton Southwick has also emerged as a potential dual threat. Southwick threw for 116 yards and rushed for 48 last week. He had a touchdown pass and run. The 6-foot-7 Southwick has five rushing touchdowns in the last three weeks.

Saturday marks Palmer’s first trip to the state championship game in the medium-schools class and the sixth in school history. It’s the 30th anniversary of Palmer’s first appearance in a state title game. Palmer played East Anchorage in the championship game of what was then known as the Anchorage Invitational in 1986.

Prior to this year, Palmer advanced to the large-schools state title game four times since ASAA created a state football playoff system prior to the 1990 season. The Moose won their first state football title in 1995 with a victory over Chugiak.

Palmer also has the unique opportunity to host a state championship game. Prior to the 2016 season, the ASAA Board of Directors approved Palmer High’s bid to host the state football championships for the small-schools and medium-schools levels. Palmer, the No. 2 seed from the Northern Lights Conference, is officially the visiting team in the official scorebook. SoHi is the No. 1 seed in the bracket, but will occupy the visitors’ sideline Saturday.

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