Moose run over Warriors, into playoffs

PALMER — If Brennan Bohman is the thoroughbread of the Palmer Moose backfield, call Coleman Ahrens Palmer’s mudder.

And during a wet night on a sloppy Veterans Memorial Field, Ahrens carried his team to victory.

Ahrens rushed for a game-high 146 yards and scored four times to lead the Palmer Moose to a 48-7 win over the Wasilla Warriors at Wasilla High School on Friday.

The senior fullback scored twice in the first half and twice in the third quarter to help Palmer win the 2009 Potato Bowl, the storied annual meeting between the two Mat-Su Valley rivals. But not only did Ahrens and the Moose have the chance to hoist the prize of the Potato Bowl, the coveted Mayor’s Cup, for the 23rd time in 31 seasons, Palmer punched its postseason ticket with the win.

Palmer finished the regular season 4-2 in the Railbelt Conference with the victory, and will move forward to play South Anchorage in the first round of the playoffs this week.

Ahrens pulled Palmer into the playoffs with touchdown runs of 15, 7, 11 and 32 yards in the victory.

“He’s a great back, we love blocking for him,” Palmer senior lineman Evan Parsons said, as he had a white knuckle grip on the Mayor’s Cup after the win. “He just runs the ball hard.”

Amid a constant downpour, Palmer threw the ball only six times during the win.

Instead, the Moose fed their horses.

Ahrens carried the ball 19 times for 146 yards. Bohman, who entered the contest with a state-best 859 yards rushing, added 14 carries for 93 yards.

Senior John Scoresby added 24 yards rushing and a touchdown. Quarterack Dustin Silva ran for a 15-yard score.

“Wet weather, hard-nosed football. That’s where it’s at,” Parsons said.

Greeted during the pregame by the wet weather, Ahrens expected Palmer to keep it on the ground.

“I knew we’d run it a bunch more,” Ahrens said. “I didn’t know how much I’d get it. It was either me or Brennan, or put in Scoresby for a few carries. I figured (Wasilla) would key on Brennan, with him being the state’s leading rusher and everything.”

Wasilla head coach Glenn Nelson said the Warriors did put on an emphasis on limiting Bohman.

“Our key all week was to stop Bohman,” Nelson said. “If we could hold him under 100 yards, we thought we’d have a good chance of winning the game. We did that. But we just didn’t take care of it on the offensive side.”

While Ahrens carried much of the load on offense, it was the Palmer defense that kept giving him opportunities.

The Moose forced six fumbles, recovering three, and intercepted a pair of passes.

Palmer junior defensive back A.J. Corbin returned one of those interceptions 34 yards for a touchdown, early in the third quarter.

Later in the third, an interception and return by sophomore defensive back Douglas Chadwick gave the Moose the ball deep in Wasilla territory. Silva followed with a 15-yard touchdown on the next play.

Defensive lineman Shayne Sawyer and defensive back Kris Merritt also recoverd fumbles for the Moose.

In all, four of Palmer’s six scores were set up by Wasilla turnovers.

“Turnovers are tough, it took us out of our game plan,” Nelson said.

A fifth touchdown was set up by a Wasilla special teams miscue. After the Warriors’ first drive of the game stalled out, the long snap was sent far over the head of punter Kyle Welton. That gave Palmer the ball deep in Wasilla territory, and Ahrens notched the first of his four scores five plays later.

Wasilla did put a score on the board late in the third quarter, when reserve quarterback Eric Washington snuck into the end zone from two yards out.

Welton helped set up the Washington touchdown with a 48-yard run during the five-play, 59-yard scoring drive.

Welton led the Warriors with nine carries for 67 yards in the loss.

Washington played in relief of starter Ben Fielder who was lost in the second half due to injury. Fielder completed 3-of-6 passes for 30 yards.

While Wasilla (3-5 overall, 2-4 in the Railbelt) saw its 2009 campaign come to an end, Palmer moves into the postseason for the 15th time in 16 years.

The Moose, the third seed in the Railbelt, meet South Anchorage, the second seed from the Cook Inlet Conference, during the upcoming weekend.

Exact date and time is expected to be determined by Monday afternoon.

South suffered a 26-21 loss to CIC champ West Anchorage on Saturday.

Palmer 48, Wasilla 7

Friday, Veterans Memorial Field

First quarter

Palmer — Ahrens 15 run (Zegzdryn kick) 7:51.

Second quarter

Palmer — Ahrens 7 run (kick blocked) 1:42.

Third quarter

Palmer — Ahrens 11 run (Ahrens run) 11:04.

Palmer — Corbin 34 interception return (Zegzdryn kick) 10:43.

Palmer — Ahrens 32 run (Bohman kick) 6:50.

Palmer — Silva 14 run (kick blocked) 5:42.

Wasilla — Washington 2 run (Sliwa kick) 3:17.

Fourth quarter

Palmer — Scoresby 17 run (Bohman kick) 7:56.

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Palmer: Ahrens 19-146, Bohman 14-93, Silva 4-11, Scoresby 3-24, Sorenson 2-17, McCall 1-0; Wasilla: Welton 9-67, Washington 6-16, Polis 5-3, Bydlon 3-18, Hall 3-9, Langendorf 2-11, Fielder 2-(-10), Edwards 1-2.

PASSING — Palmer: Silva 2-5-0-(-4), Bohman 0-1-0-0; Wasilla: Fielder 3-6-1—30, Pfeifer 1-1-0—38.

RECEIVING — Palmer: Bohman 1-4, Ahrens 1-(-8); Wasilla: Bydlon 3-49, Pfeifer 2-20, Polis 1-7, Green 1-7.