Valley gridiron teams playoff bound

It may be hard to top the combined success of the local football squads this season.

The four area schools, Colony, Houston, Palmer and Wasilla, not only all clinched playoff berths, but each school earned at least a portion of a conference title.

This weekend each of the four schools and conference champions will participate in the opening round of the 2002 ASAA Football playoffs.

Thanks to Palmer's 21-0 win over Wasilla in the Potato Bowl last weekend, each of the three Valley 4A schools earned a portion of the Northern Railbelt Conference title.

Colony, Palmer and Wasilla each finished at 5-1 in the conference and were crowned co-champions. Colony was awarded the first seed in the playoffs by virtue of the least points allowed in conference games. The Knights will host the fourth seed Lathrop Malemutes, who earned a trip to the postseason with a win over West Valley.

Palmer earned the second seed with its win over Wasilla. The Moose will host the Warriors for the second consecutive week.

Houston not only advanced to the playoffs for only the second time in school history, but earned their first conference championship ever. A win over Anchorage Christian School, gave the Hawks the 3-1 record they needed to get into the playoffs, but it was a win over Homer early in the season that helped give Houston the championship.

Houston, Seward and Nikiski each finished with a 3-1 conference record. The deciding tiebreaker was common opponents outside the conference. The Hawks defeated Homer, while Nikiski and Seward each lost to the Mariners. Houston's 60-6 win over Seward gave the Hawks the title outright.

Lathrop @ Colony

The Malemutes finished 3-3 in the Northern Railbelt Conference to earn the fourth conference seed and slip into the playoffs. Lathrop was 0-3 against the Valley schools, but finished 3-0 against their fellow Fairbanks schools. The Malemutes hit the .500 mark after finishing 1-7 in each of the last two years.

Last week Lathrop clinched its playoff berth with a 37-18 win over West Valley.

Though the Malemutes finished without a win against the Valley schools, Lathrop had the potential to win each game.

The Malemutes led at Wasilla at halftime and if it were not for the special teams heroics of Colony, Lathrop could have beaten the Knights.

Quarterback Brock Graziadi threw for more than 170 yards against Colony and Palmer.

In their first contest, Colony defeated Lathrop 24-14. Rhett Magner returned both a kickoff and an interception for touchdowns to give Colony the edge in a close battle.

Wasilla @ Palmer

This will be the grudge match, part two. For the first time in the schools' histories, Wasilla and Palmer will meet in the playoffs. The Moose and the Warriors have 24 career regular season meetings.

It will mark the second year in a row that Wasilla will have to play an opponent two weeks in a row. Last season the Warriors ended the regular season and began the postseason with contests against Colony.

Last week Palmer defeated Wasilla 21-0 behind the running of Ali Larijani. The senior fullback rumbled for 241 yards and three touchdowns.

The Palmer defense held Wasilla senior tailback Abe Salmon to only 35 yards on the ground. Salmon will also be looking to eclipse the 1,000 yard mark Saturday. Currently Salmon is four yards shy.

Kenai @ Houston

Houston earned its first ever Greatland Conference championship and has garnered the right to host a playoff game at Houston High Field. The Kenai Kardinals will come to town.

The Kardinals were shut out by foe Soldotna last week in what basically was the Northern Lights Championship game.

With the win, the Stars won the conference title and home-field advantage.

To advance to the playoffs, the Hawks flew past Anchorage Christian 41-12.

Taylor Richey continued to dominate with 103 yards receiving, two touchdown catches and two interceptions on defense.

Quarterback Peter Clemens passed the 1,000 yard mark with 117 yards in the air against the Lions. Clemens threw a trio of touchdown passes and ran for another.

Jed Martinson has established himself as the Hawks go-to guy in the running game, with 144 yards and a touchdown.

Houston tallied over 300 yards in total offense and 200 return yards in the contest.