Potato Bowl’s history stocked with memorable moments

MAT-SU — Did the 2007 Potato Bowl mark the prep football pinnacle for the rivalry that annually pits the Palmer Moose against the Wasilla Warriors?

Or did the down-to-the-wire contest simply mark just another chapter in the storied tradition?

The Mat-Su foes combined for 27 points in the final 7 minutes and 29 seconds, and Wasilla scored with 25 seconds left to erase a lofty third-quarter deficit and capture the 36-35 nail-bitter over the Moose.

“That’s got to be near the top,” Doug Bean, a former Wasilla head coach and administrator said of the 2007 Potato Bowl. “It was just an exciting game.”

But as thrilling as the 29th battle for the coveted Mayor’s Cup Trophy was, it’s hard for many to point a finger at which of the meetings during Alaska’s greatest prep football rivalry does rise to the top.

“There’s been a lot of them,” said Kay Omer, a longtime coach and athletic trainer at Palmer High. “It’s hard to put one as the most exciting.”

There’s Palmer’s 7-6 win over Wasilla in the inaugural meeting, a game in which Palmer’s Ron Richards ran back the opening kick for a touchdown and teammate Brad Hanson kicked the extra point, a boot that would stand to be a difference in the first contest.

There’s Palmer’s 20-19 win in 1989, a victory sealed when the Moose stuffed the Warriors’ two-point conversion attempt in overtime.

And then there’s Wasilla’s 19-17 victory in 2001, a game not decided until the Moose missed what would have been the game-winning field goal with 17 seconds left in regulation.

Nearly half of the games have been decided by less than a touchdown, and four times, the game has come down to just one point.

Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen has been a part of the last 23 Potato Bowls, six as an assistant and the last 17 as a head coach.

“It’s hard to pick one,” Christiansen said. “There’s some bad memories, some other really exciting.”

Bean and Christiansen stood on opposite ends of the field during the ‘89 Potato Bowl.

“It came down to the wire,” Bean, Wasilla’s head coach from 1989-93 said. “We could have won the game with two, but didn’t make it.”

But in sudden-death, with questions surrounding his kicking game Bean said, he went with his gut and took the chance on the two-point conversion.

“It was really exciting when they went for two,” said Christiansen, Palmer’s defensive coordinator in 1989. “In high school, the extra point is not automatic. There are more factors than the typical big football game you watch on TV. Sometimes you’ve got a good 3-yard play that works on a consistent basis in the red zone and you’re confident it’s going to work.”

The Potato Bowl veterans also have the memories that are more personal.

“As a head coach, the first win is special,” Christiansen said, referring to his first Potato Bowl win, a 13-7 victory in 1992.

Bean scored his first Potato Bowl victory in 1987 with a 12-8 win over Palmer.

For Omer, there are particular moments that stand out beyond the wins and losses.

“Six years ago, (Fred Machetanz’) last Potato Bowl,” Omer said. “And the Potato Bowls my sons played in.”

In 2002, after Palmer scored a 21-0 win over Wasilla at Machetanz Field, a field in which the he was named for, the Moose players — led by their captains — brought the Mayor’s Cup to Machetanz. It was the final Potato Bowl the man — whom Palmer faithful call the team’s biggest fan — had the chance to see before he died.

Most have difference answers when questioned about their fondest Potato Bowl memory, but few will question the game’s place in the history of Alaska sporting events.

“I can’t think of a bigger game in the state as far as the excitement for an entire community,” Bean said. “The Potato Bowl is a true Alaska tradition.”

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