Patriots edge Moose in Interior

Frontiersman

There were a handful of subplots Saturday afternoon as the Palmer Moose visited the North Pole Patriot at Patriot Pride Field in the Interior.

There were a pair of Railbelt Conference squads jockeying for playoff position. Palmer entered the game in a tie for second, while North Pole was fourth.

North Pole was also dealing with the loss of its head coach. Buck Nystrom, who led the Patriots for the last six years, died Thursday night from complications related to a heart surgery earlier in the week.

The emotion powered the Patriots to a 16-14 win.

&#8220They did a heck of a job honoring Buck,” Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said.

The North Pole crowd chanted his name, Buck was spelled out in paint on the field and there was a moment of silence before kickoff.

&#8220It's the quietest I've ever heard 2,000 people in my life,” Christiansen said.

Once the whistle sounded, it was typical Nystrom football.

&#8220They came at us hard,” Christiansen said.

Palmer took an early 7-0 lead when senior Haakan Bohman hauled in Conrad Smith's 42-yard touchdown pass. After a pair of North Pole scores in the third quarter, Bohman tied the game with a 3-yard run in the fourth.

In the final minute of the game, North Pole pinned Palmer deep in their own territory with a long punt. Near the goal line two plays later, North Pole stopped the Moose in the end zone to record the game-winning safety.

&#8220They did a very good job of stopping us defensively, and they made one or two more big plays than we did,” Christiansen said.

North Pole's win, and West Valley's upset of defending state champion Juneau-Douglas on Friday in Fairbanks have made the Railbelt playoff scenarios anything but predictable.

Now there is a legitimate possibility, that after the regular season ends on Saturday, there could be teams locked in a two, three or even four-way tie.

&#8220There are many possibilities for us, win or lose,” Christiansen said. &#8220It's kind of a mess.”

After its 35-3 win over Wasilla on Friday, Colony holds the top spot at 4-1 in Railbelt play. Juneau, thanks to a 24-22 loss to WVHS, is second at 4-2. North Pole and Palmer are each 3-2.

Colony travels to Fairbanks to face the resurgent Lathrop Malemutes on Saturday. After losing its first five, Lathrop has won two straight.

Juneau has finished its conference schedule.

Palmer hosts Wasilla in the annual Potato Bowl on Friday at Machetanz Field. North Pole faces Interior-rival West Valley on Friday.

If Colony beats Lathrop, the Knights seal the Railbelt title outright with a 5-1 record.

A Colony win, combined with North Pole and Palmer wins, would give the Knights the title at 5-1, and create a three-way tie for second, with Juneau, North Pole and Palmer each finishing with 4-2 marks.

The second tiebreaker takes results from head-to-head competition. Each of the three teams would have a 1-1 record against each other, and a third tiebreaker, defensive points allowed, would be used.

Juneau has given up 81 points in conference play, while Palmer has allowed 73. If the Moose allow eight or fewer points to the Warriors, Palmer would get the second spot. Juneau would be third, thanks to its win over North Pole, and the Patriots would be fourth.

If Wasilla scores nine or more points against Palmer, Juneau would get the second spot. North Pole owns the tiebreaker over Palmer.

North Pole has already allowed 107 points in conference play.

A Colony loss, combined with North Pole and Palmer wins, would create a four-way tie for first place.

The first tiebreaker would be head-to-head play, This would give Colony and Juneau 2-1 marks, and because of its win over the Knights, Juneau owns that tiebreaker. Juneau would take the top spot, with Colony second. North Pole's win over Palmer puts the Pats in third and the Moose fourth.

Palmer can clinch second place outright with a win over Wasilla, a Colony win over Lathrop and a West Valley win over North Pole. That would give the Moose a 4-2 record alongside Juneau, and the Moose own the tiebreaker against the Bears.

West Valley would also sneak into the postseason with that scenario, skipping over North Pole to take the fourth spot.

The top spot in the conference hosts the Railbelt's fourth seed during the opening round of the playoffs. The second seed hosts the third seed.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com