Rivals have plenty to play for

WASILLA — Players or coaches who can’t find motivation to win tonight’s game at Wasilla High School, might just want to leave football and take up something else — like knitting.

In what’s expected to be one of the series’ better match-ups in years, there’s plenty riding on the annual showdown between the Palmer Moose and the Wasilla Warriors.

Both teams have advanced to the playoffs, but the four Railbelt Conference squads heading into the postseason are still jockeying for position. Wasilla could win a conference championship with a win in the game that kicks off tonight at 7 at Wasilla High, or fall as low as fourth with a loss. Plus the Warriors are celebrating their senior night.

And if that’s not enough, the teams are meeting in the annual Potato Bowl, and will battle for the coveted Mayor’s Cup trophy.

“It’s exciting for it to be a game where both teams are in the playoffs already,” Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said. “Both teams have got a little bit to play for. Then you’ve got the trophy to play for.”

Palmer is looking for its fourth straight win over Wasilla and 25th in the 33-year history of the Potato Bowl series. The Warriors are in search of their first win over the Moose since a thrilling 36-35 victory in the 2007 Potato Bowl. On top of that, Wasilla could clinch its first Railbelt title since 1999.

Currently West Valley (5-1) sits on top of the Railbelt, a half-game ahead of Wasilla (4-1) and Juneau (4-1). The Wolfpack, who play at Skyview tonight, have completed their Railbelt schedule. Juneau is in Fairbanks to play Lathrop (1-4) tonight. Palmer is 3-2 in conference play.

There is potential for the following scenarios.

• Wasilla and Juneau wins tonight would force a three-way tie for first. The conference has a new system for breaking ties in the standings, and since each of the three teams is 1-1 against the other two, it would come down to point differential among the three teams.

If that is the case, Wasilla would finish first with a plus-17 point differential. The Warriors suffered a three-point loss to West Valley (30-27), but beat Juneau (53-33) by 20.

Juneau, a 29-8 winner over West Valley, has a plus-1 differential. West Valley sits at -18.

According to conference officials, this scenario would leave Wasilla first, Juneau second, West Valley third and Palmer fourth. The top two teams host first-round playoff games.

• A Wasilla win and Juneau loss would give West Valley the title. West Valley holds the head-to-head tiebreaker against Wasilla. The Warriors would be second, Juneau third and Palmer fourth.

• Juneau and Palmer wins would push the Warriors to fourth in the standings. Juneau would finish tied with West Valley, but win the title due to the head-to-head tiebreaker. West Valley would be second, Palmer third and Wasilla fourth.

• Most likely, the best Palmer can finish is third with a win. In one more wild scenario, a Palmer win and Juneau loss could leave Palmer, Juneau and Wasilla tied for second at 4-2. This would force another three-way tie and Palmer would have to beat Wasilla by at least 37 points to jump to the second seed. When taking only the Juneau games into account, Juneau is a minus-4, Palmer is minus-16 and Wasilla is a plus-20.

Last week, the Palmer seniors earned their first win during their four-year careers over rival Colony. Tonight, the Wasilla seniors will try to beat Palmer for the first time during their four years.

“I know our seniors want to come out and give it our all right from the start,” Wasilla senior Tyler Anderson said.

First-year Wasilla head coach Kent Rilatos, who has been on the sidelines during the Potato Bowl as an assistant at Palmer and Wasilla, said there are a number of reasons why the Warriors want to win this game.

“The kids know how important the game is, not just football-wise and school-wise, but community-wise,” Rilatos said.

Christiansen said his players know the importance as well.

“Everybody’s taking it real serious,” Christiansen said. “We’re expecting it to be a dogfight.”

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him at twitter.com/matsu_sports.