Palmer dominates Lathrop to snag Railbelt lead

PALMER — Welcome back, James Nisbett.

In his first full game action since suffering an injury against East Anchorage in Palmer’s third contest of the season, the senior led a dominating Moose ground attack that piled up 426 yards rushing Friday in a 42-19 win over Railbelt Conference rival Lathrop.

Nisbett carried the load, grinding out 213 yards on 30 carries, and was part of a potent one-two punch with senior Vincent Aumavae, who added 152 yards on 15 carries.

That punishing ground attack also proved an effective defense against the Malemutes, who only managed four first-quarter plays to Palmer’s 20.

“Oh shoot,” Nisbett said after learning Palmer racked up 300 yards rushing in the first half along. “That’s a lot for one half. That’s all the linemen, though. Me and Vincent can’t thank the linemen enough, that’s all the line.”

After falling behind 20-0, Lathrop quarterback Robert Tanner tried to rally the visiting Malemutes at Machetanz Field in Palmer, often throwing out of the shotgun in five-receiver sets. Except for a 70-yard touchdown strike to Derrick O’Neal, the passing attack was inconsistent. Tanner finished with 147 yards in the air on 7-17 passing, but also threw a pair of interceptions.

That first interception was a momentum killer for Lathrop. Already trailing 12-0 less than two minutes into the second quarter, Nisbett came up with a diving interception at the Palmer 33-yard line. On the next play, Nisbett popped through the line and sprinted downfield 67 yards for the first of his three touchdowns on the night. With a 2-point conversion, the swing gave Palmer a 20-0 lead.

The senior said he feels 100 percent and was glad to see significant playing time again.

“It feels great to finally get in that end zone again. It’s been a long time,” he said, adding the ball-control offense was key to Friday’s win. “We knew Lathrop is a good team with great athletes, so we just wanted to charge the ball and eat up some clock. The clock was our friend tonight.”

Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen agreed, saying the 20-to-4 play difference in the first quarter set the tone for the rest of the game.

“We ate a lot of clock,” he said. “I’d like to see how many plays we ran, maybe as many as Oregon, huh? Not the same style, though. That first quarter, I think they rand four plays — three plays and a punt. That was exactly what we needed.”

The Malemutes would answer with their best drive of the game, covering 61 yards on 11 plays capped by a 10-yard touchdown strike from Tanner to Terrell Ford. That cut the lead to 20-7.

The teams traded big plays to finish off the first-half scoring, with Aumavae springing up the west sideline 72 yards on the next possession to give Palmer a 28-7 lead. Lathrop’s next play was that 70-yard connection from Tanner to O’Neal to cut the lead again to 28-13.

With Nisbett’s physical running style and Aumavae’s breakaway speed, Nisbett said the pair pose a challenge for opposing defenses.

“It’s damage,” he said. “It’s going to be good and Vincent, man he showed up tonight.”

The Moose dynamic backfield duo are tough to stop when healthy, Christiansen said, adding they worked hard Friday night.

“The boys put in a day,” he said. “It was a good win for us. We were very concerned about their speed and they were platooning, the were playing 22 and we were playing 11.”

Along with ball-control offense, the Moose defense also held Lathrop speedster Chris Seminario in check. The running back finished with a team-high 53 yards rushing. The speedy senior came into the game with a pair of long kickoff returns on the season, including an 83-yard return of the opening kickoff against Colony the previous week. With that explosive potential, Christiansen said Palmer intentionally kicked away from Seminario.

“No, he wasn’t getting the ball if we could help it,” he said. “He wasn’t going to get the ball kicked to him.”

After a scoreless third quarter, the Palmer offense kept the ball on the ground, eating up yardage and clock. Palmer quarterback Zeth Merritt scored his second rushing touchdown of the night to start the fourth, then Nisbett capped his night off with 55 seconds remaining. Sandwiched between those Moose drives — 12 and 10 plays respectively — the Malemutes put together a nice 11-play drive of their own, finished off by another Tanner-to-Ford connection from three yards out.

The win gives Palmer (5-1 overall, 2-0 conference) sole possession of first place in the Railbelt Conference. Lathrop (4-2, 2-2) drops to second.

Palmer 42, Lathrop 19

Friday, Palmer High School

First quarter:

Palmer — Nisbett 9 run (kick failed) 8:05.

Second quarter:

Palmer — Merritt 5 run (2-point failed) 11:18.

Palmer — Nisbett 67 run (Schneider 2-point) 10:45.

Lathrop — Ford 10 pass from Tanner (Barnett kick) 4:28.

Palmer — V. Aumavae 72 run (Nisbett 2-point) 3:01.

Lathrop — O’Neal 70 pass from Tanner (2-point failed) 2:48.

Third quarter:

No scoring

Fourth quarter:

Palmer — Merritt 5 run (Pempek kick) 11:56.

Lathrop — Ford 3 pass from Tanner (2-point failed) 7:14.

Palmer — Nisbett 2 run (Pempek kick) :55.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS:

RUSHING: Palmer — Nisbett 30-213, V. Aumavae 15-152, Schneider 2-30, Merritt 8-16, B. Aumavae 4-15; Lathrop — Seminario 8-53, Tanner 6-30, O’Neal 2-21, Keith 3-10, Phillips 2-(-3).

PASSING: Palmer — Merritt 2-4-0—30; Lathrop — Tanner 7-17-2—147.

RECEIVING: Palmer — V. Aumavae 1-23, Angol 1-7; Lathrop — O’Neal 2-107, Ford 4-34, Seminario 1-6.