Redington a big winner in Week 1

Valley teams finished 3-2 during the opening week of Alaska’s prep football season. That’s not too bad. Above .500.

But of the three teams to grab a victory, the biggest winner just might be the most recent addition to Valley prep football.

The Redington Huskies.

Redington bounded the Nikiski Bulldogs 30-12. It was the first win for the fourth-year varsity program in four total meetings against Nikiski. The win dimmed the memory of the first three bouts against the Bulldogs, in which Nikiski outscored Redington 114-6. But Redington also bucked a trend that had plagued the Huskies throughout their 1-7 2018 season.

Despite trailing at the break, the Huskies didn’t whimper in the second half.

“The team responded really well,” head Husky Matt Weinberger said of his squad’s play during the final two quarters.

Redington scored 24 unanswered points in the second half of the win. Jaden Spaulding rushed for 152 of his 153 yards during the final two quarters. Quarterback Wayde Bowman tossed three touchdown and ran for another.

And what took me about two-and-a-half quarters to figure out, Spalding and Bowman are only sophomores. That could be a luxury for what I expect to be an emerging Division III program.

But it was not just the offense that stepped up. The Redington defense allowed only 30 total yards in the second half, and grabbed a pair of fumble recoveries. The Huskies special teams also recovered a fumble.

Great win on the field for the varsity squad. But that’s not the entire reason I call Redington the Valley’s big winner for Week 1. Redington hosted a junior varsity game for the first time, and the Huskies JV also won big. The JV win is an added bonus. The JV contest and a JV schedule could be a game-changer for the Huskies. Until this season, Redington has not had the numbers to put together a JV schedule. There have been scrimmages, but nothing official. Now the Huskies have an opportunity to develop players.

The Ken Ottinger era and Wasilla High School started with some fireworks. Ottinger and Wasilla’s new offensive coordinator, Matt Jaronik, led a Warriors attack that produced nearly 40 points in a 39-32 win over visiting West Valley.

The Wasilla mentors also got some help from Colton Lindquist, who stepped up in a big way. Lindquist made the start behind center, filling in for starting quarterback Byson Malave. Lindquist rushed for 121 yards and a couple of scores.

Hunter Hayes, who typically spends his fall as a standout on the Wasilla cross-country running team, enjoyed a stellar debut with 140 yards on the ground and a 57-yard touchdown run.

Even though Wasilla is a Division I team and West Valley is a DII squad. Both schools have a similar number of total students. West Valley typically boasts and athletic squad, and this could be a nice way for the Warriors to start the season.

Houston opened its season with a big win, a 47-0 shellacking at Valdez. Houston is an intriguing team I expected to make some noise in the Division III Peninsula Conference.

Both Palmer and Colony suffered losses on the road during the first week of the season. Chugiak beat the Moose 26-2. Defending state champion East Anchorage beat Colony 44-16 in a rematch of a 2018 state semifinal game.

Neither outcome is leading me to jump to any type of conclusion. Palmer is a Division II squad playing a DI team. Even though Colony and East are both DI, the T-Birds are seemingly at another level lately.

We could learn more this weekend. Palmer is hosting Division I Dimond Friday at 7 p.m. The Lynx bounced back from an awful 2018 season, both on the field and off, with a 36-0 win over Division II Kodiak. Colony makes the trip to the muni for the second straight week to play South Anchorage Saturday at 2 p.m. The Wolverines blanked Bartlett 37-0, in my biggest eye-opener of Week 1.

In other action, Houston is hosting Division II Eagle River Friday at 7 p.m. Wasilla will also host a DII squad, facing North Pole Friday at 7.