Moose muscle past Patriots

PALMER — A playoff berth was not officially handed out at Palmer High Saturday afternoon. But after a 42-21 win over North Pole at Machetanz Field, Palmer took another step toward the postseason and the Patriots fell behind in the race for the playoffs.

“This is a huge win,” Palmer senior quarterback Jackson Buresh said. “It sets us up big for playoffs.”

Palmer scored four times during the final 6 minutes and 15 seconds of the first half and twice in the final 48 seconds as the Moose improved to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in Railbelt play.

“It’s a big win, (now we) get a legit shot at the playoffs,” Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said.

Palmer moved forward in the race for one of the Railbelt’s four playoff berths and currently sit in fourth place with a 2-2 conference mark. West Valley, which blasted Lathrop 60-0 on Saturday, remains undefeated in conference play with a 5-0 mark. Wasilla and Juneau-Douglas are tied at second in the conference with 3-1 records.

As the Moose look back at Saturday’s win, they’ll likely look first at their work during the final six minutes of the second quarter.

“In the first quarter we were kind of in a lull and couldn’t put the ball in the end zone,” Buresh said. “Finally we just got it going in the second.”

Palmer intercepted a Patriot pass in North Pole territory and recovered an onside kick during that 28-point run.

“A few good plays on defense set up our offense,” Buresh said.

North Pole struck first with Ryan Johnson’s 1-yard touchdown run, but James Nisbett was able to answer with a 24-yard scoring run on Palmer’s ensuing drive.

Palmer took its first lead of the game with 2:42 left in the half, using the first of two Ian Ahrens touchdowns to jump to a 12-7 advantage.

Two plays later, Dylan Myers picked off a Moo Rogers pass to give Palmer the ball on the North Pole 20-yard line. Four plays later, Buresh connected with senior Jared Straight on a 20-yard touchdown pass.

With less than 50 seconds left in the half, Palmer opted for the onside kick after the Straight score. Kicker Branden Wisner punched the ball down the right sideline. The kick bounced past North Pole’s front line and senior Steven Lee sped down to make the recovery at the North Pole 34.

Three plays later, Buresh capped the half with a 4-yard touchdown run.

“I didn’t really think on that onside kick he could actually score. I just didn’t want them to get another return, because they were hurting us on the kickoff return,” Christiansen said. “We are good at getting down there and getting the ball. We’ve got kids on the outside who are good at getting down there and getting the ball. Steven did a nice job of getting down there and giving us a chance to score.”

Ahrens led the Moose with 106 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the game. Nisbett, who now has four touchdowns in the last two weeks, added 49 yards and a score. Buresh said Nisbett, a sophomore, has added another dimension to the Palmer offense.

“It’s great. It really relieves Ian,” Buresh said. “(Ian’s) our workhorse, and kind of a guy who gets pounded a lot. It’s good to get James in and spell him.”

Buresh rushed for 73 yards and finished 5 of 9 for 92 yards passing. More than half of those yards went to Straight, a first-year varsity player.

“It was great to convince him to come out for football,” said Buresh, a teammate of Straight on the Palmer boys’ basketball team. “He’s been one of our top wide receivers.”

Rogers, who entered the game with more than 1,600 yards of total offense, finished with 121 yards rushing and 128 yards passing.

“And he’s only a junior,” Christiansen said. “He’s definitely on the radar.”

Rogers reached the end zone twice in the second half, cutting his team’s deficit to two touchdowns, twice. Seventy-eight of Rogers’ rushing yards came in the second half.

North Pole opened the second half with a 10-play, 64-yard scoring drive. Rogers carried the ball seven times on the drive and completed an 8-yard pass to Anthony Gibson.

Later in the half, Rogers capped a six-play driving with another score.

North Pole chewed up much of the first quarter with a long 11-play drive, but was unable to score.

Gibson led the Patriots with 98 yards receiving.

Palmer 42, North Pole 21

Saturday, Machetanz Field

First quarter:

No scoring.

Second quarter:

North Pole — Johnson 1 run (Gibson kick) 9:15.

Palmer — Nisbett 24 run (kick failed) 6:15.

Palmer — Ahrens 3 run (run failed) 2:42.

Palmer — Straight 20 pass from Buresh (Nisbett run) 0:48.

Palmer — Buresh 4 run (Niekamp pass from Buresh) 0:09.

Third quarter:

North Pole — Rogers 3 run (Gibson kick) 8:18.

Palmer — Buresh 9 run (Wisner kick) 1:27.

Fourth quarter:

North Pole — Rogers 7 run (Gibson kick) 11:14.

Palmer — Ahrens 33 run (Kahler kick) 5:01.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — North Pole: Rogers 21-121, Johnson 8-18, Snelling 2-1, Davis 1-(-3); Palmer: Ahrens 21-106, Buresh 9-73, Nisbett 7-49, King 4-30, Roy 2-18, Merritt 2-2.

PASSING — North Pole: Rogers 11-24-1—128; Palmer: Buresh 5-9-0—92.

RECEIVING — North Pole: Gibson 7-98, Duncan 2-15, Bonham 2-15; Palmer: Straight 2-58, Chadwick 2-5, Nisbett 1-16, Niekamp 1-13.