Prep football: Warriors suffer first loss of season

Sept. 2, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

WASILLA - With an eight-game regular season, it seems it's never to early to start thinking playoffs.

On Friday the winless North Pole Patriots were hoping to keep their playoff hopes alive.

And they did.

Powered by the running of senior Todd McCormick and the play of its secondary, North Pole scored a 28-14 win over the previously unbeaten Wasilla Warriors at Wasilla High School's Veterans Memorial Field.

&#8220Going 0-3, that's not a good feeling,” said junior Dane Ebanez, who caught a 1-yard touchdown pass on the game's opening drive.

&#8220Of course we wanted to win.”

This win could be pivotal to any amount of postseason hope the Patriots might have. North Pole improved to 1-3 overall and 1-2 in the tough Railbelt Conference.

&#8220We wanted to prove to all of Alaska we're more than our 0-3 record,” Ebanez said. &#8220We figured that we're gong to be a sleeper team going 0-3. Nobody's going to look at us anymore.”

Chances are, teams are going to look at McCormick.

The shifty senior entered the game with 386 yards in three games, and nearly equaled that amount with a 253-yard effort against the Warriors.

McCormick had five runs of 19 or more yards, and scored three times.

&#8220He's awesome,” Ebanez said.

McCormick gave the Pats a 13-0 lead midway through the second quarter, and answered a Wasilla score with a 5-yard scoring run.

After Wasilla cut the score to 13-8, McCormick busted up the middle untouched and rumbled 53 yards. That play set up his second touchdown of the game.

McCormick added a 19-yard score in the third quarter.

&#8220He was an outstanding running back,” Wasilla head coach said. &#8220The best we've seen all year.”

While McCormick's total stood out for the Patriots, Wasilla's most glaring statistic was its five interceptions thrown. The Patriot defense consistently robbed the Warriors of any offensive momentum by picking off five Wasilla passes.

Junior Steven Wright grabbed two interceptions, while Ebanez, Andy Musgrove and Lee Jones each recorded a pick.

&#8220We were paying attention to the quarterback,” Ebanez said. &#8220We did a good job of reading their quarterbacks and wide receivers.”

The final three offensive drives of the game for Wasilla ended with interceptions.

&#8220Turnovers are turnovers,” Shetter said. &#8220They do happen in games. But we weren't able to sustain an offensive series.”

The Patriots also benefited from a lucky bounce or two. A pair of interceptions were set up by tipped balls.

Despite the picks, Wasilla did show the ability to throw the ball. Junior flanker Tim Orr snagged four balls for 110 yards, and hauled in a 39-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.

&#8220He was a key player for us in this game,” Shetter said.

Another key player was junior Chris Crane, who helped set up Wasilla's second score. Crane - Wasilla's leading rusher coming into the game - did not touch the ball during the first half, but set up a Beebo Russel touchdown with 38 yards on five carries on the Warriors' second drive of the second half.

Crane did not play in the win over Skyview last week because of an injury, but Shetter said his running back is now healthy.

&#8220He's going to be a showcase running back for us,” Shetter said.

The story of the season thus far for the Warriors had been the transition to the wishbone offense. But on Friday, Wasilla showed several different sets, including the empty backfield.

&#8220We wanted to mix it up a little bit and see how (North Pole) reacted to different formations on defense,” Shetter said.

Also notably different was the absence of Kent Rilatos. who had started the season as the Warriors' offensive coordinator.

&#8220We had some personnel changes in our staff,” Shetter said.

Before Friday, Wasilla and North Pole had been going in two different directions. Wasilla was off to its best start since 1999, with three straight wins to start the season.

Meanwhile, the Pats were off to a horrific start, suffering through a back-breaking schedule.

&#8220The first three games were our toughest games,” Ebanez said. &#8220We're happy we got those games out of the way.”

North Pole opened with a 62-42 loss to Soldotna, the defending small-schools state champion. The following week the Pats were beaten by fourth-ranked Colony, 20-7. Last week, Juneau-Douglas, the second-ranked team among the large-schools handed NPHS a 30-13 loss.

The Warriors earned wins over Eagle River, West Valley and Skyview in the first three weeks.

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

North Pole 28, Wasilla 14

Friday, Veterans Memorial Field

First quarter

North Pole - Ebanez 1 pass from Wright (Ebanez kick) 8:39.

Second quarter

North Pole - McCormick 5 run (kick failed) 5:28.

Wasilla - T. Orr 39 pass from LaVern (Russel run) 3:10.

North Pole - McCormick 5 run (Ebanez pass from Wright) 2:42.

Third quater

Wasilla - Russel 1 run (attempt failed) 5:26.

North Pole - McCormick 19 run (Ebanez kick) 9:34.

Individual statistics

RUSHING - North Pole: McCormick 32-253, Wright 6-22, Lewis 4-5; Wasilla: Crane 7-45, Russel 7-7, Barkley 3-0, LaVern 3-(-19), Katchinska 2-13, Chafin 2-9.

PASSING - North Pole: Wright 4-10-2-58, Jones 1-2-0-10; Wasilla: LaVern 6-19-5-134.

RECEIVING - North Pole: Musgrove 2-31, No. 49 1-19, McCumby 1-17, Evanez 1-1; Wasilla: T. Orr 4-110, Katchinska 1-12, Russel 1-12.