The Last Great Game

Nearly 40 years ago, the Palmer Moose took the field against the Wasilla Warriors in a prep football game for the first time. A series with a modest beginnings — Palmer scored a 7-6 win on a field behind Palmer Junior Middle School — is now known as the most storied annual prep football rivalry in the state. Whether it’s the Mayor’s Cup trophy, originally purchased by former Mat-Su Borough Mayor Ron Larson or the game’s name, an annual contest dubbed the Potato Bowl by former Palmer High activities director Mike Janecek, the game is as rich in tradition as any sporting event you’ll find in Alaska.

Tonight, the Warriors will host the Moose in the 38th annual Potato Bowl. Tonight also marks the first varsity football game against Houston for the Redington Huskies, the Valley’s newest squad.

If Houston and Redington follow the lead of Palmer and Wasilla, the Hawks and the Huskies have the opportunity to create a legacy of their own.

For Palmer and Wasilla, the schools used something as simple as the potato, a crop that has been central to the area’s growth, development and culture for generations, to serve as a symbol of tradition. On the other side of the Valley, Knik, Houston, Big Lake and Willow celebrates something just as important.

Dog mushing and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Redington Jr./Sr. High School serves Knik, the birthplace of dog mushing in Alaska. The school is named for Joe Redington Sr., the father of the Iditarod. Houston High serves the communities of Big Lake, Houston and Willow. The area is a dog mushing mecca, and Willow is the home of the Iditarod restart.

The Iditarod is the Last Great Race.

The Houston-Redington rivalry should be called, “The Last Great Game.”

Invite members of the Redington family and a few of the dozens of Iditarod mushers who live in the Houston High boundary zone to be part of the coin toss. Make one of Redington’s old dog harnesses part of the traveling trophy.

Embrace just how important mushing is from Knik all the way to Willow. Create a tradition that can be unmatched in Alaska high school football.

Schedule kickoff for Saturday at 8 p.m. on the final weekend of the regular season. Cap the night with the annual fireworks show.

Ensure that Houston-Redington is the final Alaska high school football game of the regular season.

Make it, the “Last Great Game.”

The concept goes against the current trend of scheduling varsity home games on Friday night. Every school in the Valley has turf and field lights. There’s no longer a need for the Saturday matinee game. Typically the average attendance in the Valley is much better on Friday nights than Saturday.

But this will be an exception to the rule.

The Potato Bowl is that game that we all look forward to. If you go to one game a year, it’s the Potato Bowl.

And it can be exactly the same with the Last Great Game. Each fall, the Potato Bowl helps remind us about our past, and gives us another way to embrace the culture in our community.

Create that tradition with this new rivalry.

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