Prep football: Houston looks to add running game to passing attack

HOUSTON — Through the first five weeks of the season, the Houston Hawks lived and died with the passing game.

Now as Houston strives for a spot in the small-schools state playoffs, the Hawks are determined to not be one-dimensional on the offensive side of the ball.

“We want to get to the point where we’re not so reliant on two kids,” Houston head coach Norm Bouchard said on Thursday. “Hopefully we can do that this week.”

Houston begins a crucial stretch Saturday at Nikiski, the first of three straight Greatland Conference games.

Junior quarterback Jordan Webb and junior wide receiver Bryan Mason have taken the Greatland Conference by storm. In three games, Mason has caught 25 Webb passes for 420 yards and six touchdowns.

Webb is among the top quarterbacks in any class in the state with 60 completions, 670 yards and seven touchdowns.

He has a 7-to-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio and has completed just less than 50 percent of his passes.

But as the temperatures in the Mat-Su Valley continue to drop, Bouchard knows it’s time to start adding the running game to that passing attack.

“We’ll need that. It’s getting colder. We need to have that running game,” Bouchard said. “We need to get out of our comfort zone.”

Fortunately for Houston, the Hawks do have a couple of options in the backfield with the ability to carry the load.

Junior fullback Israel Morales leads the squad with 209 yards and three touchdowns.

“He’s really a catalyst for us,” Bouchard said of Morales.

And the Hawks also have senior Brandon Parks, who has emerged as a talent on both sides of the ball for HHS.

“He’s been a huge part of the success that we have had,” Bouchard said.

Parks is second on the squad with 158 yards and a touchdown.

The senior was a bright spot during a tough loss to small-schools power Kodiak last week. He finished the contest with a team-high 77 yards, and helped set up the Hawks’ lone score with a big 34-yard run in the first quarter.

Parks, along with Morales, has also been a leader on the defensive side of the ball, registering countless tackles.

“He’s making tackles in the backfield, tackles down field, game-saving tackles,” Bouchard said. “He’s aggressive, playing his assignment. He’s not being fancy, just playing at 100 percent.”

Houston (2-3 overall, 2-1 in Greatland Conference play) is looking to finish the season with wins over Nikiski (1-4, 1-2) on Saturday, Seward (1-4, 1-2) next week and Valdez (3-2, 3-1) during the final week of the regular season.

Houston will face both Nikiski and Seward on the road.

Nikiski suffered a 27-15 loss to the Barrow Whalers in Barrow last week. The Bulldogs held a 15-14 lead in the first half, but the Whalers returned a pair of fumbles for touchdowns to win the game.

Beau Calderwood, Nikiski’s leading rusher in the Bulldog wing-T offense, scored on a 15-yard run in the loss.

Palmer at West Valley

Battling through a brutal schedule, it has not been the easiest season for the Palmer Moose.

But after early-season losses to three ranked opponents — Dimond, Soldotna and Juneau — Palmer (2-3 overall, 2-1 in the Railbelt Conference) scored a crucial 14-13 win over the Colony Knights last week at Machetanz Field.

Palmer scored 14 unanswered points to post the win, and move into a second-place tie with Colony in the Railbelt standings.

With a win over West Valley (0-5, 0-3) tonight at 6 p.m. in Fairbanks, the Moose can stay within a game of first-place Juneau.

The Moose used big plays on defense, and steady work with the running game to score the come-from-behind win over the Knights.

In the third quarter, senior lineman Everest Moore recovered a Colony fumble on the Knights 1-yard line to set up the go-ahead score — quarterback Conrad Smith’s second touchdown of the game.

That fumble was the first of three turnovers on three straight drives for Colony. Later in the half, junior Mitch Swetzof dove to pick off a Colony pass, and Smith recovered a fumble to kill another CHS drive.

On offense, Palmer used its running game to chew up time on the clock. Smith finished the contest with a team-high 63 yards. Senior Devin Konkler added 62, and senior fullback Shannon Sawyer rumbled for 45 yards on seven carries.

Konkler leads the Moose with 502 yards. Smith (152 yards) and Konkler each have a team-high four rushing touchdowns.

West Valley has two of the top offensive playmakers in the state — quarterback Sam McKinstry and wide receiver Duane Eastman — but the Wolfpack defense has allowed 248 points in five games. That’s the highest of any team in the state this season.

Colony at Juneau

While Palmer rebounded from a loss to Juneau to beat Colony last week, the Knights aim to bounce back from that loss to Palmer when they face the Crimson Bears tonight at 8 p.m. in Juneau.

Colony (3-2, 2-1) held a 13-0 lead over the Moose, but was not able to secure the victory.

Senior running back Jaron Murphy helped the Knights get to the early lead, scoring one of Colony’s two first-half rushing touchdowns. He finished the contest with a game-high 163 yards rushing, and now is among the top running backs in the state with 636 yards.

Gino Paoletti also scored for the Moose, turning a counter play into a 24-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Paoletti posted 62 of his 137 yards against the Moose.

Juneau (5-0, 4-0) scored a slim 13-12 win over Wasilla last week at Veterans Memorial Field.

Trailing 6-0, quarterback Bubba Larson connected with wide receiver Alex Fagerstrom twice in the third quarter.

The Crimson Bears stopped a late two-point conversion attempt by Wasilla to hold onto the win.

With Fagerstrom on the outside and sophomore Silver Maake in the backfield, the Bears have shown the ability to run and throw the ball.

But while offense has been the strength of Juneau in the past, this season the defense may be the strong point.

Opponents are averaging less than eight points per game against JDHS.

Wasilla at Lathrop

Wasilla (3-2, 1-2) suffered a 13-12 loss to Juneau last week — the Warriors second straight defeat — but WHS head coach Jim Shetter said after the game he felt his squad played four complete quarters for the first time this season.

This week, Shetter hopes to get another complete game out of his squad when the Warriors travel to Lathrop to face the Malemutes Saturday at 7 p.m. at Lathrop High School.

Junior Chris Crane caught a pair of scoring catches against Juneau.

His first — a 55-yard play — came with just 24 seconds left in the first half, and gave the Warriors the 6-0 lead.

The second — a 15-yard reception — came late in the game, and gave the Warriors the opportunity to go for the win.

Juneau, the top ranked team in the state, was able to keep Crane out of the end zone on the two-point conversion to seal the win.

Crane leads the Warriors with 244 yards rushing and two touchdown, but showed he is also a weapon coming out of the backfield. As a receiver, he now has four catches for 164 yards and four touchdowns.

Lathrop (1-4, 1-3) is lead by running backs Kenny Smith and A.J. Allen. The Malemutes suffered a 25-24 loss to North Pole last week in Fairbanks

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