Prep football: Kodiak wins big at Houston

HOUSTON — The Houston Hawks faced a few obstacles on Saturday afternoon.

There were players hurt — Houston has two players out with shoulder injuries, including the state’s leading receiver, junior Bryan Mason.

There were players ill — three athletes were too sick to even suit up Saturday.

There were ridiculous rains and blowing winds that made the Houston High School field look and feel like it was somewhere on the Aleutian Chain.

And there was one of the top small-schools teams in the state lining up across from them — the Kodiak Bears.

All above made for a long day for Hawks, as Kodiak posted a 62-7 win over Houston at HHS.

“Kodiak’s a very good football team. We’d have to go in and be at our best, and we didn’t have our best team out there today.”

Kodiak senior Michael Odell returned the opening kickoff 83 yards for a score, and senior quarterback Jimmy Eggemeyer threw four first-half touchdown passes to lead the Bears (4-1) to the nonconference win.

Houston did keep it interesting in the first quarter, cutting the Bears’ lead to 13-7 with an Israel Morales touchdown.

Morales rumbled around the left side for a 4-yard run on fourth down to put the Hawks on the board. Senior Brandon Parks helped set up the score with a 35-yard run earlier in the drive.

Houston did have success on that drive. But overall, a combination of the rain and the Bears defense stopped Houston’s passing game — the strength of the Houston offense this year.

“We’ve been able to spread the ball around a little bit and force teams not to just play the run,” Bouchard said. “But with this weather today, (Kodiak) was able to play the run a lot. We weren’t able to throw the ball like we’d hoped.”

Kodiak also used the big play to kill the Hawks.

In addition to the kickoff return, all but two of Kodiak’s touchdowns were of 10 or more yards. All four of Eggemeyer’s touchdowns were for 19 or more yards, and two of those went for 40 or more.

“They’re a big play kind team,” Bouchard said. “They’ve been doing that all year long.”

Kodiak 62, Houston 7

Saturday, Houston High School

First quarter

Kodiak — Odell 83 kick return (Cratty kick) 11:47.

Kodiak — Schwantes 19 pass from Eggemeyer (kick fail) 10:06.

Houston — Morales 3 run (Contreras kick) 4:47.

Kodiak — Dittman 10 run (Cratty kick) 1:41.

Second quarter

Kodiak — Safety, Parks tackled in end zone 8:51.

Kodiak — Diocares 46 pass from Eggemeyer (Cratty kick) 7:59.

Kodiak — Bryant 41 pass from Eggemeyer (kick failed) 3:07.

Kodiak — Bryant 25 pass from Eggemeyer (Cratty kick) 2:01.

Third quarter

Kodiak — Gabor 4 run (Cratty kick) 7:19.

Kodiak — Gabor 15 run (Cratty kick) 5:35.

Fourth quarter

Kodiak — Diocares 11 run (kick blocked) 9:08.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Kodiak: 12-45, Diocares 7-36, Eggemeyer 5-5, Gabor 5-47, Schwantes 2-8, Anthony 2-8, Francisco 1-6; Houston: Parks 15-77, Morales 9-11, Webb 3-(-19), Sumner 2-2.

PASSING — Kodiak: Eggemeyer 5-10-0—145, Diocares 0-2-0-0; Houston: Webb 5-16-0—6.

RECEIVING — Kodiak: Bryant 2-66, Diocares 2-60, Schwantes 1-19; Houston: Sumner 2-0, Contreras 1-4, Morales 1-2.