Pass happy Malemutes move past run heavy Warriors

WASILLA — Playing on their home turf, the Wasilla Warriors opened the game with a 65-yard scoring drive to take the early lead within the first three minutes of play.

A little early momentum seemed to being going Wasilla’s way.

And just like that, it was gone.

Just 15 seconds later, on Lathrop’s first offensive play from scrimmage, quarterback Josh Hernandez connected with receiver Zach Kosa on a 60-yard touchdown bomb to spark Lathrop’s 41-21 Railbelt Conference victory Friday night at Wasilla High School.

“It’s one of those plays out of our back pocket,” Lathrop head coach Luke Balash said after the win. “I think we actually audibled to it. There it was. Bam. Big play.”

One of many big plays for Hernandez, who finished with a career-best 479 yards passing in the win. The signal caller completed 16 of 33 attempts, and tossed four touchdown passes.

“Tonight it was good to see the quarterback really throw the ball well a lot of the time. The receivers were making plays,” Balash said.

The night also included a 95-yard RJ Henry touchdown catch in the fourth quarter. Henry finished with 152 yards receiving and three touchdown grabs. The multipurpose threat also rushed the ball three times for 33 yards and two scores to help the Malemutes improve to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in Railbelt play.

As good as Henry’s night was, he wasn’t the top receiver of the day for the Malemutes. Kosa finished with eight catches for 242 yards and a score.

Lathrop’s passing game overshadowed Wasilla’s productive running game. The Warriors finished with 310 yards on the ground, and had a pair of players top the 100-yard mark. Aeron Milliron finished with a game-high 120 yards on only 15 carries, while Nick Alexander used 30 carries to post 115 yards rushing. Beau Cork added 78 yards on 15 carries of his own.

Milleron opened the game with a 9-yard touchdown with 9:43 left in the first, and ran in the 2-point conversion to give the Warriors the 8-0 lead. Milliron and Cork added second-half touchdowns for the Warriors.

With its double-wing run-heavy attack, Wasilla had nearly twice as many offensive plays in the loss, 69 rushing attempts and six passes. Lathrop, with its spread offense, had 41 total plays, 33 passes and eight rushing attempts.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Lathrop 41, Wasilla 21

Friday, Wasilla

First quarter:

Wasilla — Milliron 9 run (Milliron run) 9:43.

Lathrop — Kosa 60 pass from Hernandez (Wager kick) 9:28.

Lathrop — Henry 32 pass from Hernandez (Wager kick) 3:04.

Second quarter:

Lathrop — Henry 11 pass from Hernandez (Wager kick) 7:52.

Third quarter:

Lathrop — Henry 7 run (Wager kick) 9:04.

Wasilla — Milliron 38 run (kick failed) 5:08.

Fourth quarter:

Lathrop — Henry 95 pass from Hernandez (kick failed) 7:28.

Wasilla — Cork 3 run (Barnes kick) 3:36.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS:

RUSHING — Lathrop: Kent 5-60, Henry 3-33; Wasilla: Alexander 30-115, Milliron 15-120, Cork 15-78, Hongslo 4-(-2), Drumm 2-12, Kamenick 1-4, Shogren 1-3, Reed 1-(-1).

PASSING — Lathrop: Hernandez 16-33-0—479; Wasilla: Hongslo 2-6-1—33.

REEIVING — Lathrop: Kosa 8-242, Henry 4-152, Williams 2-59, Martin 1-18, Wager 1-8; Wasilla: Walkenmeyer 2-31.