Rivals enter new era of the Potato Bowl

WASILLA — It’s the 37th year of the Potato Bowl.

But things will be a bit different when the Palmer Moose line up against the Wasilla Warriors in the annual battle for the Mayor’s Cup. Tonight’s game, slated for 7 p.m. at Wasilla High’s Veterans Memorial Field, is the first nonconference game in the history of the series. It’s also the first time since 1993 that neither Palmer nor Wasilla will advance to the postseason.

That basically means tonight’s Potato Bowl is the Super Bowl for the Moose and the Warriors.

“It’s like you’re playing in a bowl game. You know it’s your last,” Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said. “Both teams know it’s the last game.”

In many recent seasons, the Potato Bowl had helped to determine playoff seeds in the old Railbelt Conference. In some years, the storied Alaska football contest helped decide a conference champion. But things changed after Palmer was moved to the medium-schools Northern Lights Conference when Alaska Schools Activities Association reclassified prep football during the offseason.

Palmer and Wasilla were also past NLC rivals in the 1990s, when football was a single-classification sport, before moving, along with Colony, to the Railbelt in 2000.

Even though the game may not have playoff implications, Christiansen said there’s still the trophy and the tradition.

“Playing for the trophy will make it an exciting game for both teams. I think it’s pretty motivating,” Christiansen said.

For Wasilla, with a win tonight, it’s an opportunity to help ease the pain of a tough season.

“We want to treat this as something you’ll remember for the next five to 10 to 20 years,” Wasilla head coach Kent Rilatos said.

Wasilla enters tonight’s contest winless at 0-7, but Rilatos said Wasilla knows it can accomplish something the Warriors have not done in nearly two decades. The Warriors, who beat Palmer 47-14 in the 2014 Potato Bowl, have not beaten the Moose in back-to-back seasons since 1998 and 1999.

“The kids know how important the Potato Bowl is to the community,” Rilatos said.

Palmer holds a 26-10 advantage in 36 Potato Bowl games. Wasilla claims an 11-25 mark in the history of the series. The schools continue to dispute the true winner of the 1984 Potato Bowl. The teams were scheduled to play twice. Wasilla forfeited the second scheduled game. Each program calls its victory as the Potato Bowl win for 1984.

Palmer enters tonight’s game with a 4-3 mark. The Moose finished 2-2 in NLC play, and was eliminated from playoff contention with a Week 6 loss at Kenai Central.

Hawks host Valdez

Houston will cap its 2015 season tonight, hosting Aurora Conference rival Valdez at 7 p.m.

The Hawks (4-3, 1-2) will also celebrate their senior night tonight. Houston was eliminated from playoff contention with a loss at Eielson last week.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.