Palmer wins Potato Bowl, playoff berth

PALMER -- Friday the Palmer Moose were looking for a little more than just a win.

In the final minutes of the fourth quarter, the Moose basically had the Mayor's Cup Trophy in their hands, but were still trying to grab a hold of one of the two Railbelt Conference playoff berths remaining.

With just 60 seconds left in regulation, Palmer defensive back Devon Conroy caught a fourth down Wasilla pass just out of bounds in the end zone. The play ensured the Moose a 24-8 win over the Warriors in the 26th annual Potato Bowl, and the fourth-seed of the Railbelt Conference.

Palmer now travels to face Railbelt champion North Pole on Saturday. Lathrop topped West Valley 28-23 Saturday and earned the conference's third seed in the playoffs.

To ensure Palmer a fifth consecutive trip to the postseason, the Moose needed to outscore Wasilla by at least 11 points in the contest. Least points allowed is among the tiebreakers used to determine playoff berths and playoff seeding.

Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen has now led the Moose to the playoffs in all but one season, 1999, since 1994.

"The way we were going, we were smelling goose egg," Christiansen said. "Credit Wasilla, they have some tough players."

Wasilla running back Jake Wade caught an 8-yard Zach Bennett touchdown pass with just more than seven minutes remaining in regulation to spoil Palmer's shutout bid. With about four minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Warriors started a 19-play drive. Though Wasilla ate up more than three minutes of the clock and more than 70 yards, Palmer was able to keep the Warriors out of the end zone.

"It was a big drive for us. Those points made a big difference -- we really wanted to keep them out of the end zone," Palmer middle linebacker Jake Heun said. "We fought real hard, it was good for us."

Wasilla converted a fourth-down play, a third-down play and was aided by a pair of Palmer penalties, but the Moose stopped the Warriors on four straight plays from the 9-yard-line.

On the Warriors final try, Bennett tried to find tight end Matt Crane in the back of the end zone, but Conroy picked off the pass just out of bounds.

Palmer almost didn't have a chance to hoist the Mayor's Cup Trophy on Friday night -- not because the Moose trailed, but due to a massive power outage in the Mat-Su area. About five minutes prior to gametime, power was lost at Machetanz Field and game officials were not able to operate the scoreboard, public address system or turn on the field's stadium lights. As the game continued into the second quarter, darkness continued to fall on Machetanz Field.

And as Palmer drove down the field with a 7-0 lead, there was question whether or not the game would even be finished on Friday.

"We had a good drive going and we really wanted to get to the end zone," Christiansen said. "The officiating crew really wanted to get to halftime."

Christiansen said there was question if the half could be finished and if the game was suspended, it would be picked up as left the following day.

As the field grew darker, Conroy caught a 4-yard Jeremy Weber pass to give the Moose a 14-0 lead.

Just following the score, as Palmer set to kick off, the scoreboard flickered and the lights slowing came on -- with 4:21 left in the second quarter.

"It was bizarre," Christiansen said.

Conroy led the Moose with a pair of touchdowns and a 27-yard field goal. The junior utility man rushed for 97 of Palmer's 234 yards and picked off a pass on defense.

Steel Tubbs rushed for a game-high 110 yards for Palmer.