Senior sparks Redington during win over Voznesenka

WASILLA — An addition to the lineup helped spark Redington during a conference game on the road.

Senior Brian Horne scored a pair of touchdowns to lead the Huskies to a 20-8 Peninsula Conference win over Voznesenka Sept. 15 in Homer.

Horne hauled in a touchdown pass and returned an interception for another score to help Redington improve to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

“Adding his speed to the passing game is huge for us,” Redington head coach Tony Brooke said by cell phone earlier this week.

Brooke said Horne used that speed to help the Huskies break a scoreless tie late in the first half. Redington quarterback Sam Reed connected with Horne on a 30-yard score to give the Huskies the 6-0 advantage. Midway through the third, Horne struck again. The senior picked off a Voznesenka pass and returned it for a touchdown to give the Huskies the 14-0 lead.

Later in the game, Reed scampered for a 15-yard touchdown run.

With the addition of Horne, who played his first game of the season against Voz, Redington was able to expand its passing game.

“The passing game up to this point had been a lot of short stuff. It’s nice to have that element out there for us,” Brooke said of Horne, who also played for the Huskies last season.

Brooke said that was crucial, considering Voznesenka’s work against the Redington running game.

“They pretty well shut down our bread and butter plays,” Brooke said. “It was a little bit more of a battle that we anticipated.

Redington now looks ahead to Homer. The Huskies host the Mariners Friday at 7 p.m. at Redington. Homer is 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the conference.

“I told the guys. Hey, we have a really short football history here. Other than probably our first game as a program, this is our biggest game in program history,” Brooke said.

The Huskies need a win to stay alive in the race for one of the conference’s two playoff spots. It’s also homecoming week at Redington.

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