Prep football: Moose wallop West Valley

FAIRBANKS — An afternoon rain didn’t leave the football field at West Valley High School in the best of conditions for the Wolfpack’s homecoming game on Friday night.

The Palmer Moose didn’t seem to mind. They churned out 331 yards rushing to overpower the Wolfpack 52-6 in the Railbelt Conference contest.

Devin Konkler could easily point to the reason for the Moose amassing more than 300 yards on the damp grass, and for himself gaining 137 yards on just six carries and scoring on back-to-back runs of 19 and 80 in the second quarter.

“It was the O-line,” said the senior running back and defensive back. “They make perfect blocks and they’re easy to read, and I just get up in the holes and go.”

Palmer head coach Rod Christensen agreed.

“We’ve had an intelligent, thinking man’s offensive line all year that finds some good things to do,” said Christensen, whose squad improved to 3-1 in conference and 3-3 overall to remain in contention for a berth in the large schools state playoffs.

In comparison, the winless Wolfpack (0-4 Railbelt, 0-6 overall) generated only 30 yards in total rushing — led by the 31 yards of 5-foot-1, 120-pound Kuani Tilliman — on what was also Senior Night and West Valley’s last home game this year.

Sam McKinstry’s 80-yard pass to Nick Herzberg with 11.4 seconds left in the first half accounted for West Valley’s only score nearly one week after the Wolfpack where drilled 65-0 by the Service Cougars in Anchorage.

The Wolfpack have been stung by injuries, but head coach William Russell attributed Friday’s loss to will — West Valley mostly didn’t have it the first half and showed more of it in the second half despite Palmer scoring 11 points on Justin Draughon’s 59-yard kickoff return sandwiched between safeties by linebacker Coleman Ahrens and defensive end Johnny Daly.

“It’s got to be a will thing,” Russell said. “They’ve got to understand that they’ve got to play will football, intensity for four quarters. That’s been our problem for the whole year.”

West Valley has learned to find positive things amid a dismal season. A couple of examples Friday were McKinstry’s 11-for-19 passing for a game-high186 yards with one touchdown and one interception, and safety Doug Templeton denying a Palmer touchdown by recovering a Rick Lechiminant fumble at the West Valley 1-yard line with 4:08 left in the third quarter.

Palmer surged ahead 14-0 in the first quarter on fullback Shannon Sawyer’s 8-yard run and quarterback Conrad Smith’s 41-yard touchdown pass to Draughon.

The Moose raised their lead to 34-0 in the second quarter in a nearly 3-minute span (from 6:32 to :34.5 seconds left), courtesy of a 3-yard run by Smith, Konkler’s two scampers and an 11-yard dash by Brennan Bohman.

Contact Martin at dmartin@newsminer.com.

Palmer 52, West Valley 6

Friday, West Valley High School

Palmer 14 27 11 0 — 52

W. Valley 0 6 0 0 — 6

First Quarter

Palmer — Sawyer 8 run (Ott kick), 8:11.

Palmer — Draughon 41 pass from Smith (Ott kick), 4:29.

Second Quarter

Palmer — Smith 3 run (Ott kick), 6:32.

Palmer — Konkler 19 run (Ott kick), 6:11.

Palmer — Konkler 80 run (kick failed), 3:07.

Palmer — Bohman 11 run (Ott kick), :34.5.

West Valley — Herzberg 80 pass from McKinstry (kick blocked), :11.4.

Third Quarter

Palmer — Safety (Ahrens tackles Tillman in end zone), 3:50.

Palmr — Draughon 59 kickoff return (Ott kick), 3:35.

Palmer — Safety (Daly sacks McKinstry in end zone), 2:16.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING— Palmer: Konkler 6-137, Bohman 13-97, Sawyer 9-62, Lechiminant 6-26, Ott 3-11, Smith 1-3, Scoresby 1-2, Swetzof 2-(-7). West Valley: Tillman 14-31, Cofield 4-9, McKinstry 6-(-10).

PASSING—Palmer: .Smith 3-6-1-76, Swetzof 0-0-0-0. West Valley: McKinstry 11-19-1-186.

RECEIVING—Palmer: Draughon 2-69, Swetzof 1-7. West Valley: Wisel 3-32, Eastman 3-15, Herzberg 2-115, Howe 2-18, Nelson 1-6.