Railbelt’s top teams clash tonight in North Pole

PALMER — There have been some big games in the Railbelt Conference in recent years, but tonight’s showdown between the visiting Palmer Moose and the host North Pole Patriots could as big of a matchup as Railbelt teams have seen during the regular season recently.

Palmer and North Pole sit tied for first in the conference with identical records of 5-0 overall and 3-0 in Railbelt play. Palmer is also the No. 1-ranked large-schools team, according to the latest Alaska Sports Broadcasting Network Poll. North Pole is ranked third.

Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said tonight’s contest slated for 7 p.m. at Patriot Pride Field in North Pole is certainly a big one.

“Definitely. We haven’t been 5-0 in a long time. They’re 5-0,” Christiansen said.

Both teams are also coming off lopsided Railbelt wins. Palmer used five James Nisbett touchdowns to beat cross-town rival Colony 41-14. North Pole amassed more than 600 yards of total offense in a 46-27 win over Wasilla at Wasilla High last Friday.

North Pole features a variety of offensive threats, most notably senior quarterback Moo Rogers. Through the first five games of the season, Rogers has passed for 1,108 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also has more than 500 yards rushing.

Receiver Lance Wright hauled in a 71-yard touchdown pass against Wasilla and a 95-yard score against Kenai two weeks ago. Running back Matt Wentland rushed for 280 yards and two scores against the Warriors.

“They have a lot of big plays,” Christiansen said of the Patriots. “It seems like they score on long plays often.”

North Pole also uses a number of offensive formations, sets that range from the three-back wishbone to the four-receiver shotgun formation.

“They do run a lot of formations, but you can’t lose track of where their big players are,” Christiansen said.

Knowing the assignments on defense could be even more important tonight for a Palmer squad that boasts the top-ranked scoring defense in the Railbelt. The Moose are allowing a league-low 10 points per game overall, and 7.5 points per contest in conference games.

“They’re the best team in our conference,” North Pole head coach Richard Henert said after his team’s win at Wasilla last week. “We’re going to have to put a great week of preparation together and see where we end up.”

Nisbett led the Moose with 211 yards and five touchdowns during the win over Colony. The junior running back now has 700 yards and 12 scores this year. Palmer has also been helped by the efficiency of senior quarterback Cameron Christiansen, who is completing more than 70 percent of his passes.

Christiansen also threw at least one touchdown pass during each of the first four games of the season.

While tonight’s North Pole-Palmer game is the big one, there are three games in the Interior this weekend that will have a big impact on the conference standings and any future playoff scenarios.

Two of the games feature the bottom four teams in the conference, teams still looking to muscle their way into the playoff picture. Tonight, West Valley (1-2) hosts Wasilla (0-4) at 7 p.m. at West Valley High. Saturday, Lathrop (1-2) hosts Colony (1-2) at 7 p.m.

“A lot could be decided this week, depending on who wins those games,” Christiansen said.

Tonight, West Valley will host one of the highest scoring teams in the Railbelt. Despite an 0-4 Railbelt mark, Wasilla has scored 109 points in conference games this season, third best in the Railbelt. The Warriors have scored 30 against Juneau, 20 against Colony, 32 against Lathrop and put together 27 second-half points during a loss to North Pole last week. The problem for the Warriors though, is that Wasilla has allowed a league-high 202 points in Railbelt games.

Wasilla quarterback Ben Fielder enjoyed his best game as a senior, throwing 217 of his 257 yards passing in the second half against North Pole. He also had four touchdown passes during the final two quarters.

Junior Cash McGregor hauled in nine catches for 175 yards and two scores.

West Valley suffered a nonconference loss to Eagle River last week.

Another one of the Railbelt’s top quarterbacks, Rob Lorentz, will lead the Colony Knights into Lathrop High Saturday.

Lorentz has completed 74 of 141 passes for 1,056 yards and 10 touchdowns. He finished with 225 yards passing or more for the third time this season during the loss to Palmer. Lorentz connected with receivers Daniel Bilafer and Antonio Bush nine times each against the Moose. Bilafer had 129 yards receiving and a score. Bush finished with 105 yards receiving.

Lathrop suffered a 23-6 loss to Juneau in Juneau last week.

Houston, another Valley team in the playoff hunt, his hosting Kenai Central tonight at 7 p.m. at Houston High. The Hawks (1-2 in Northern Lights Conference play) could move a step closer to earning a playoff spot with a win over Kenai (0-2).

The Kards are winless, while the Hawks are 2-3 overall.

Houston has been led by its one-two punch ground attack of Hunter Smith and Waylon Soptick. Both eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark during back-to-back weeks against Nikiski and Skyview. Soptick also opened the season with a 167-yard effort in a 26-0 win over Valdez. The Hawks should also be helped by the return of senior Charlie Buzby, who made his 2012 debut during a loss to Soldotna last week.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com, follow him @matsu_sports and find him by searching Valley Sports Huddle on Facebook.