Valley prep football at a crossroads

HOUSTON — As Alaska prep football teams approach the midway point of the 2012 season, Valley squads are hitting a crossroad.

With a win over Skyview tonight, Houston could jump into the wide-open Northern Lights Conference playoff race. Palmer and Colony are both eager to leap into the top spot of the Railbelt Conference, alongside North Pole. And Wasilla needs a conference win to avoid an 0-3 start to its Railbelt season.

“This is a really big week. There are a lot of playoff implications,” Houston head coach Todd Whitehurst said Thursday afternoon.

Despite a 1-2 overall record, Whitehurst’s Hawks are very much alive in the NLC playoff race. Heading into Week 4 of the eight-week season, Houston, Kenai and Skyview are all tied with 0-1 conference marks. The other half of the NLC (Soldotna, Kodiak and Homer) are locked in a first-place tie at 1-0. With Houston hosting Skyview and Soldotna traveling to Homer this weekend, and Kenai and Kodiak playing in nonconference action, there will be only one team in the NLC standing at 2-0 at the end of the weekend. But there will also be one squad sitting in the cellar at 0-2.

Whitehurst sees his squad’s game against Skyview — which is slated for tonight at 7 p.m. at Houston High — as the Hawks’ opportunity to make a move in the conference. The first-year head coach is also optimistic about his young team’s chances.

“We think we match up really well against them,” Whitehurst said.

Skyview (0-1, 0-3) is still in search of its first win of the season after suffering lopsided losses to Colony, Kodiak and Soldotna. Last weekend, the Soldotna Stars dealt Skyivew a 73-7 defeat.

Houston dropped its second game of the year, a 49-25 nonconference loss to Nikiski. But despite the 24-point scoring margin, the Hawks coaching staff could take away a number of positives from the game.

Houston had a pair of runners eclipse the 100-yard mark. Hunter Smith led the Hawks with a team-high 132 and Waylon Soptick added 108. Soptick is now ranked second among Valley running backs with 352 yards rushing. Smith found the end zone for the second straight week.

In addition to the hard-nosed running of Houston’s duo in the backfield, Whitehurst said quarterback Nai Saechao is a big reason why the Hawks are having success with the ground game.

“Nai is really at the center of all that, with his ability to make the read and put the kids in the right situations,” Whitehurst said.

Whitehurst has also been impressed with the work of his starting offensive linemen — Zack Tucheck, Tim Davis, Doug Hepler, Arrin Paul and Hunter Pease. Whitehurst said the Hawks spent a great deal of time last week focusing on the offensive line, and he saw improvement against the Bulldogs.

Whitehurst was also pleased to see his squad continue to work against Nikiski, which used its Wing-T attack to amass 424 yards rushing. Hunter Smith scored a 5-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, and River Ross hauled in a 12-yard Saechao touchdown pass as time expired.

“We kept battling,” Whitehurst said.

Juneau at Colony

The Colony Knights felt they made a statement with a 39-20 win over rival Wasilla at Wasilla High last Friday. But Colony head coach Brian McIntosh knows his players will have to be ready to do it again when they host the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears tonight at 7 p.m. at Colony High.

“Every conference game is a statement game,” McIntosh said after his team’s win over Wasilla.

Colony (1-0, 3-0) has already eclipsed its win total from 2011 and could move into a first-place tie with North Pole (2-0, 3-0) with a win tonight. North Pole hosts Kenai Central in nonconference action this weekend. In order to do so, the Knights will have to knock down a Juneau-Douglas team that has paired a big win with a big loss during the last two weeks. Juneau (2-1, 1-1) downed Wasilla 69-30 two weeks ago in Juneau, but suffered a 46-27 home loss to North Pole last week.

Juneau lost first-team All-Railbelt Conference quarterback Phillip Fenumiai to injury during Week 1, but junior varsity signal caller Dorian Isaak stepped in to enjoy a record-setting night during the Week 2 win over Wasilla. Isaak set a pair of school records, throwing for 398 yards and seven touchdowns during the win over the Warriors. Last week, North Pole held Juneau without a passing touchdown. Demetrius Campos ran for a pair of scores.

Colony’s starting quarterback, senior Rob Loretnz, is also putting together some eye-catching numbers. Through Week 3, Lorentz has completed 38 of 68 passes for 654 yards and eight touchdowns, while throwing just one interception. Wide receiver Antonio Bush has 16 catches for 341 yards and five touchdowns, and receiver Daniel Bilafer has 14 catches for 156 yards and two scores. Jacob Hall, another option for Loretnz, has six catches for 107 yards and a score.

Running backs Wyatt Peltier and Bryce Niver have combined for more than 400 yards rushing. Peliter missed Week 3 due to injury.

West Valley at Palmer

Like Colony, Palmer (1-0, 3-0) could also jump into a first-place tie with North Pole, with a win over West Valley tonight at Palmer High.

The Moose debuted their new artificial turf field last Saturday, and the Palmer offense took advantage of the state-of-the-art surface.

Junior running back James Nisbett rushed for a game-high 226 yards and three touchdowns.

“No question everybody looks faster,” Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said after the game, referring to his players’ speed on the new turf. “Guys like (Nisbett) who can cut, it’s pretty easy for them.”

Nisbett ran for scores of 15, 86 and 68 yards in the win. His 86-yard touchdown came on the final play of the first half.

Palmer didn’t pass much, but senior quarterback Cameron Christiansen took advantage of his few opportunities. Christiansen finished the game 3 for 3 with 88 yards and two touchdown passes. Senior Dylan Myers grabbed both touchdown throws.

Christiansen and Myers hooked up early, and penciled their names into the Palmer football record books in the process. The pair connected on a 43-yard touchdown pass and catch early in the first quarter, marking the first touchdown in history to be scored on turf at PHS.

Christiansen and Luke Heun also rushed for touchdowns in the win. Five different Moose now have a rushing touchdown this season.

West Valley (1-1, 2-1) needs a win to stay in the top half of the Railbelt. The Wolfpack edged rival Lathrop 13-12 last week, but were beaten by fellow Interior program North Pole 34-25 in Week 2.

West Valley has been a rising program in the Railbelt in recent seasons, but lost the head coach that helped rebuild the program. Former head coach Daniel Esparza left to take the helm of his alma mater, Bartlett, during the offseason. Despite the loss of Esparza, the Wolfpack returned a deep group of veterans that includes senior quarterback Tucker Plass, and running backs J.C. Cummings, Dominick Anderson and Larenzo Graham.

Graham was named the state’s utility player of the year last season.

Plass threw for 1,045 yards and 14 touchdowns as a junior.

Lathrop at Wasilla

Wasilla hosts Lathrop Saturday at 4 p.m. in a must-win game for both teams. Wasilla (0-2, 1-2) and Lathrop (0-2, 1-2) are tied for last place in the Railbelt, and the loser Saturday will be sitting by themselves at the bottom.

Wasilla is 0-2 in conference despite scoring a combined 50 points during its first two conference games. The Warriors have also more than 500 yards of total offense during their 0-2 Railbelt start.

Juneau-Douglas and Colony beat Wasilla in back-to-back weeks, and both used the passing game to do it. JDHS reserve quarterback Dorian Isaak set school records with 398 yards passing and seven touchdowns in the 69-30 win over the Warriors. Last week, Colony’s Rob Lorentz threw for 226 yards and four scores in the 39-20 win over Wasilla.

The Warriors did stop the run against the Knights. Colony entered Week 3 with more than 500 yards rushing, but was held to 72 yards on 33 carries against Wasilla.

Wasilla also ran the ball effectively, averaging 4.3 yards per rush. Junior Mitchell Rilatos led the team with 166 yards and a touchdown. Rilatos leads Wasilla with 401 yards in three weeks.

Lathrop, which opened the season with a 44-41 nonconference win over Nikiski, has suffered two straight Railbelt losses. Palmer downed Lathrop 50-16 in Week 2, and West Valley edged the Malemutes 13-12 last week.

Chris Seminario scored in the fourth quarter to cut West Valley’s lead to 13-12. Lathrop opted to go for the two-point conversion, but failed, and West Valley held on for the victory.

Lathrop is led by first-year head coach Rusty Ham. But like six of the seven teams in the Railbelt, the Malemutes returned their starting quarterback. Senior Gabriel Cunningham threw for 174 yards against West Valley.

Kaelen Lee led Lathrop with 44 yards rushing.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com, follow him @matsu_sports and find him by searching Valley Sports Huddle on Facebook.