Palmer, Houston make noise - Colony defense stops Lathrop; West Valley runs past Wasilla

PALMER We feel we have a chance, said tackle Jon Hillman of his team, the 3-0 Palmer Moose.

No kidding.

If Palmer can run, block and tackle all season they way they did against the Eielson Ravens Friday night in a Railbelt Conference high school football game, then the Moose should have a chance against everybody on the schedule.

Palmer whipped the visitors from Fairbanks 27-14, in a game that was close to being 27-0. As a result, Palmer took over fourth place in the weekly coaches' poll of Alaska football teams.

Hillman, a lineman, had an obvious and perhaps predictable viewpoint after the game at Machetanz Field.

The line did great, he said. And there were some great plays by the (running) backs.

Some of those great plays included touchdown runs of 17 and 44 yards by Derek Hughes and scores by Seth Skogstad of 1 and 22 yards.

Hillman, a junior, shared some post-game enthusiasm with Justin Schrader, a senior who helps anchor the Moose line.

The defense did great, Schrader said.

So great, in fact, that the defenders would have blanked the Ravens had it not been for a 75-yard megabomb that caught the Moose off guard in the first quarter and a desperation TD drive in the final minute of the game.

We were stopping them the whole game, said coach Rod Christiansen, praising the Palmer defense. We had the opportunities early, and we could have put them away.

The Moose went up by a touchdown, thanks to Hughes' first score, a 17-yarder.

But, barely a minute later, Eielson's quarterback, Eddie Clements, connected with Rodrick Hawkins for a 75-yard strike. When the first quarter ended, the teams were tied 6-6.

Skogstad's first TD came in the second quarter, and, after Michael Beeson's point-after kick, the Moose held a 13-7 halftime lead. Hughes tore around the left side of his line to score on the second play of the second half, and Skogstad culminated a Palmer drive with a 22-yard TD run about halfway through the fourth quarter.

With 51 seconds left, Tyler Ham ran 51 yards for the second Eielson TD, set up after the Ravens took over on downs well into their own territory.

Palmer's 3-0 start, including two victories in the conference, does not surprise Schrader.

That's no surprise, he said. We've got the players to do it.

Palmer hosts West Valley of Fairbanks Saturday.

Houston 46, ACS 13

ANCHORAGE With more than 300 yards on the ground, the Houston Hawks beat Anchorage Christian School 46-13 at Anchorage Football Stadium and moved into the fifth spot of the coaches' small-school football poll.

The 1-2 Hawks, now 1-1 in the Great Land Conference, got 144 yards and three TDs from running back Travis Webb.

Jeff Nagel, who was banged up in the season opener and missed a game, came back to score two TDs and rush for 97 yards.

Shaun Haragan caught a 29-yard pass from quarterback Peter Clemens with about three minutes left in the first half to put Houston up 33-0.

Jeremy Smith and Nagel both scored in the fourth quarter for Houston, Nagel on a 28-yard run and Smith on a 12-yard jaunt.

Clemens passed seven times, getting five receptions for 88 yards. His favorite target was Haragan, who pulled in his fourth TD pass of the season.

Place-kicker Billy Cannon made four of seven PAT kicks.

ACS had trouble stopping Houston's running game.

The Hawks pounded out 303 yards on 43 carries.

Counting Clemens' 88 yards in the air and 116 return yards, Houston had 517 all-purpose yards.

With the win, Houston moves into a second-place tie with Sitka and Seward in league games among Great Land Conference opponents. Top-ranked Nikiski leads the conference.

Houston plays at Soldotna Saturday afternoon.

West Valley 40, Wasilla 15

WASILLA After going up 9-0 in the first quarter, Wasilla gave up 27 points as the Wolfpack won the Railbelt Conference game at Wasilla's Veterans Memorial Field.

Jeremiah Skalisky, a senior lineman for the Warriors, tackled West Valley quarterback Danny Mireles in the end zone for a safety with less than two minutes gone in the game.

After the free kick, the Warriors moved the ball for the next five minutes, culminating with Travis Dutcher's 3-yard TD plunge. When John Egger kicked the PAT, the Warriors had a 9-0 cushion and looked confident.

West Valley woke up, though, and before the half was over had a 14-9 lead.

The Wolfpack extended that margin to 27-9 before Wasilla could score again, on James Watt's 1-yard TD dive with two seconds gone in the fourth quarter.

West Valley scored twice more to dampen any Wasilla comeback.

Watts gained 88 yards on 19 carries, while Dutcher gained 24 on nine carries.

Wasilla gained 115 yards on the ground and another 63 yards on six pass completions.

The Warriors, 2-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play, play at Eielson Saturday.

Colony 37, Lathrop 0

FAIRBANKS Josh Juice Williams scored three touchdowns, on runs of 10, 9 and 11 yards, to help Colony wipe out Lathrop 37-0 in a Railbelt Conference football game in Fairbanks.

The 3-0 Knights, which dropped to No. 2 in the coaches' poll, also got TDs from Shawn Rapphun (15 yards) and quarterback Cole Magner (6 yards), plus a safety on the first play of the second half.

Added to that, kicker Nick Van Kirk hit all five of his PAT attempts.

The Knights got 220 yards on the ground, and Magner completed three of six passes. John Fillman caught two for 33 yards, and Rapphun hauled in one for 24.

Colony hosts North Pole Friday night in a conference game.Photo: Palmer's defensive lineman Todd Beal (62) spent much of the game pestering Eielson quarterback Eddie Clements.

Photo by LEW PUMPHREY/Frontiersman.