Moose notch first win

PALMER — Lathrop head coach Pat Romans had only one question after his team’s loss to Palmer.

“Did you get the license plate number?” Romans asked.

The Moose offense repeatedly rumbled through the Lathrop defense during a 48-14 Railbelt Conference win over the Malemutes Friday at Machetanz Field in Palmer.

“That’s like getting hit by a bus over and over,” Romans said.

In vintage Palmer style, the Moose carried the ball on 50 of its 54 offensive downs, and amassed 397 yards on the ground.

“We’re a better team than that. And I don’t think anyone would believe us after tonight,” Romans said. “We didn’t show that. We don’t usually get run over that bad. And they just pounded us.”

Senior running back Devin Konkler and senior quarterback Conrad Smith each posted a pair of rushing touchdowns for the Moose, as Palmer (1-2) notched a victory for the first time this season over the still winless Malemutes (0-3).

Konkler ran for a game-high 199 yards in the win, and added an 85-yard return for a touchdown on the game’s opening kickoff.

Sophomore Brennan Bohman also scored on the ground for the Moose, and senior Justin Draughon hauled in a

37-yard scoring catch.

Romans said he almost had to laugh during the game, as the Moose pounded running play after running play. The Malemutes spent time during practice preparing for Palmer to potentially throw the ball.

“We were ready for them to throw,” Romans said. “We had a good scheme, and I don’t think they completed more than one or two passes. We put in a lot of time to stop the pass. I guess we should have focused on something else.”

Smith had only four pass attempts in the game.

“But why should they (throw)?” Romans said. “Why would you move away from (the run)?”

For the last several seasons, Palmer had been using the shotgun set, triple option offense, but brought a different look to the field on Friday.

“We decided we’d be better doing things a little more conservatively,” Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said.

Rather than lining up in the shotgun, the Palmer coaching staff moved Smith back under center, and instead showed the ‘I’ formation for most of the game.

Even though the Moose showed a different look at the line of scrimmage, results proved to be similar. The Moose scored six times on the ground, average nearly eight yards per carry and produced a season high for total rushing yards.

“A lot of the things that we are doing, are things that we do, just scaled down,” Christiansen said.

Konkler averaged an astonishing 16 yards per carry. He sparked his squad with the long return for a score on the game’s opening kickoff, and posted his 67-yard touchdown run just six minutes later. Konkler also had a 78-yard touchdown run negated by a Palmer penalty.

The senior was one of four Palmer backs to average more than six yards per try in the win. Reserves Bohman (6.1 yards per carry), Rick Lechiminant (5.1 yards per carry) and Lucas Secoy (9.6 yards per carry) also had success against the Lathrop defense.

“And of course the (offensive) line was there pushing the whole way,” Christiansen said.

Lathrop was able to move the ball early in the game. The two teams combined for more than 400 yards of total offense in the first half.

Lathrop junior A.J. Allen posted 75 of his team-high 91 rushing yards in the first two quarters, and senior Kenny Lewis had 62 yards by halftime. Lewis posted a 3-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, and Allen cut the score to 28-14 with a 6-yard run in the second.

But the Malemutes were not able to put together a drive in the second half.

“Defensively we were able to make some adjustments and stop some really good speed,” Christiansen said, specifically noting the abilities of both Allen and Lewis.

Lathrop had a few costly penalties in the second half, and Palmer senior defensive lineman Everest Moore recovered a key fumble in the third quarter.

“We’d have some periods of success, then we’d have some unusual penalties,” Romans said.

The Moose and Malemutes each entered the game with identical 0-2 records. But Romans said Palmer was the team that was the most hungry for the first win of the season.

Lathrop suffered losses to Bartlett and Juneau-Douglas in the first two weeks, while Palmer fell to Dimond and Soldotna.

“I thought that we’ve already played some teams that might have been a step up from them, but they sure put a patting on us we haven’t felt before,” Romans said. “They were 0-2 too,” Romans said. “But you wouldn’t know it by playing them.”

Contact sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com

Palmer 48, Lathrop 14

Friday, Machetanz Field

First quarter

Palmer — Konkler 85 kick return (Ott kick) 11:44.

Palmer — Konkler 67 run (Ott kick) 6:10.

Palmer — Bohman 6 run (Ott kick) 2:50.

Lathrop — Lewis 3 run (Lucceshi kick) 1:22.

Second quarter

Palmer — Draughon 37 pass from Smith (Ott kick) 7:29.

Lathrop — Allen 6 run (Lucceshi kick) 7:22.

Palmer — Konkler 6 run (kick failed) 00:38.

Third quarter

Palmer — Smith 3 run (Ott kick) 2:28.

Palmer — Smith 1 run (Ott kick) 11:14.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Lathrop: Smith 15-67, Allen 15-91, Austin-Cruz 4-38, Richard 2-(-13); Palmer: Konkler 12-199, Bohman 11-67, Lechiminant 10-51, Sawyer 6-17, Secoy 5-48, Smith 5-13, Swetzof 1-2.

PASSING — Lathrop: Richard 9-12-0—74; Palmer: Smith 2-4-0—37.

RECEIVING — Lathrop: Smith 3-25, Allen 2-12, Lucceshi 1-16, Higgenbottom 1-16, Moran 1-5, Austin-Cruz 1-0; Palmer: Draughon 1-37, Mitchell 1-0.