Prep football: State champs edge Moose

Oct. 8, 2006

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

PALMER - The Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears showed Saturday why they are the defending large-school state champions, and Juneau senior Chris Hinkley proved once again he is one of the top players in the state.

Hinkley threw for two scores and posted another on defense to lead the Crimson Bears to a 19-14 quarterfinal playoff win over a hard-working Palmer squad at Machetanz Field.

Hinkley returned an interception 43 yards for a touchdown to give Juneau the early advantage, and connected with sophomore Alex Fagerstrom on a pair of scoring passes.

Working primarily the inside of the field, Fagerstrom caught seven balls for 176 yards.

&#8220Alex plays that slot. He's a prototypical wide receiver, so all the time he has mismatches,” Hinkley said. &#8220He's going against linebackers and going against safeties, with big cushions.”

Fagerstrom posted receptions of 33, 44 and 61 yards. On the 61-yard catch, Fagerstrom turned a 10-yard throw into a long score. Fagerstrom broke a number of tackles before hitting the sideline, and sprinting to the end zone.

&#8220We definitely wanted to exploit that as much as we could,” Hinkley said. &#8220It's definitely not catch and go down. He fights for those extra yards. He's a heck of a ballplayer, and had a great game tonight.”

Fagerstrom also had a 7-yard touchdown catch.

Hinkley gave the Bears the 7-0 lead, after he stepped in front of Palmer senior Tanner Grover, picked off a pass and ran to the end zone.

&#8220I read (the quarterback's) eyes,” Hinkley said. &#8220I know Grover's a key guy, and they like to get the ball into his hands.”

Grover and fellow senior running back Haakan Bohman each had mind-boggling runs in the game.

Grover cut the Juneau lead to five points with 2 minutes and 34 seconds left in regulation, with a 24-yard touchdown run. On the score, Grover knocked down defender after defender, and even ran through one of his own linemen who was blocking down field. On about the final five yards of the run, Grover carried a pair of Crimson Bears.

&#8220When you've got a player like Grover, you want to get the ball in his hands, any way you can,” Hinkley said.

Midway through the second quarter, Bohman took the ball on a reverse, end-around. He started going left, and just before hitting the sideline, the nimble senior reversed his path and went completely across to the other side of the field. The play was good for 48 yards.

Bohman led the Moose with 141 yards on 13 carries. He finished his senior season with just under 1,100 yards.

Bohman gave the Moose a 7-6 lead with a 30-yard scamper for a score in the first quarter.

After holding the Bears on a 4th-and-goal situation from the 4-yard line, Palmer had one final opportunity to try to take back the lead. But the Moose would have needed to move the ball 96 yards in just more than two minutes. The Bears defense prevented the Moose from getting a first down on the possession.

With the win over the Moose, Juneau earns the right to play South Anchorage in the large-school state semifinals Saturday at Anchorage Football

Stadium.

The Wolverines became a part of the large-school final four with a win over Bartlett in the quarterfinals.

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