Moose run to win over Houston

PALMER — Palmer went through a rough mid-season stretch with consecutive losses to Bartlett, Eagle River and Soldotna. But the Moose bounced back in a big way.

Palmer ran to a 40-6 win over Houston Friday night at Palmer High School’s Machetanz Field.

“We needed a win,” Palmer head coach Tim Popwski said after the victory. “These kids have put in a lot of time, a lot of energy. We’ve played some tough teams, some really good teams.”

The Moose finished with 270 yards rushing in the win.

“We wanted to run the football,” Popowski said. “We dedicated this week to that. Get better up front, better on the edge.’

Junior Kayson Asay rushed for 46 yards and four touchdowns on only six carries. Senior Isaiah Perkins led the Moose with 130 yards on the ground, and added a touchdown. Senior Lucas Frank chipped in 91 yards on eight carries.

“Our running backs ran hard tonight, which was fun to watch,” Popowski said. “We’re not the biggest team, so our speed kind of showed up, up front.”

Houston, a Division III program, has dominated teams within its division — with big wins over Nikiski, Kenai and Homer recently — thanks in part to the size of its athletes on the offensive and defensive line. Popowski said battling that size was a big part of the game plan for the Moose.

“They’ve got some real big kids, some kids who can move,” Popowski said.

Houston finished with 123 total yards in the game, but 87 of those yards came on the final drive. Houston freshman Noah Whitted broke free for a 70-yard touchdown run on the final play of the game to put the Hawks on the scoreboard.

Asay rushed for touchdown runs of 2, 10, 11 and 8 yards in the win. Perkins had a 2-yard score on the ground.

Senior Norm Godfrey returned an interception 18 yards for a touchdown late in the first quarter.

Palmer improved to 2-4 with the win. The Moose cap their regular season with Northern Lights Conference games against Chugiak and Wasilla.

“Just some old school rivalry games,” Popowski said. “We want to have a lot of momentum going into those games.”

Houston also plays in conference for the next two weeks with games at Barrow and Redington.

In other action Friday, Colony got past Dimond 21-14, Wasilla beat Chugiak 21-7 and Redington raced Past Nikiski 62-12.

Contact Frontiersman managing editor Jeremiah Bartz at editor@frontiersman.com.Palmer 40, Houston 6

Friday, Palmer High

First quarter:

Palmer — Asay 2 run (kick fail) 2:29

Palmer — Godfrey 18 interception return (pass fail) 0:12

Second quarter:

Palmer — Asay 10 run (Asay run) 10:11

Palmer — Asay 11 run (Godfrey kick) 1:24

Third quarter:

Palmer — Asay 8 run (kick fail) 7:51

Fourth quarter:

Palmer — Perkins 2 run (Godfrey kick) 10:19

Houston — Whitted 70 run (pass fail) 0:36

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Houston: Whitted 8-81, Seime 5-(-19), Wyrick 4-13, Hina 3-8, Sasiu 1-5, Nicoll 1-5, Cork 1-(-4), Bunn 1-(-5); Palmer: Perkins 14-130, Frank 8-91, Asay 6-46, Simmerman 2-7, Chandler 1-6.

PASSING — Houston: Bunn 2-8-2--7, Seime 3-4-0--32; Palmer: Simmerman 0-2-0--0, Godfrey 0-1-0--0.

RECEIVING — Houston: Cork 2-28, Nicoll 1-7, Craig 1-4, Whitted 1-0; Palmer: none.