Valley teams finish 0-4 during first weekend of prep football playoffs

The 2023 prep football season in the Mat-Su is over. Valley teams finished 0-4 in three different divisions during the opening weekend of the ASAA postseason.

Bartlett upset Division I defending state champion Colony. Palmer and Wasilla both suffered losses in the Division II quarterfinals. Houston fell short in the Division III semifinals against Barrow.

Sixth-seeded Bartlett stunned Colony, the No. 3 seed, 35-28 Oct. 6 at CHS.

The Golden Bears built a 28-7 lead in the win. Colony rallied with a 21-point fourth quarter, but fell just short.

Senior Jack Nash, the 2022 Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year, returned to action for the first time in more than a month after suffering a midseason knee injury. Nash threw for a pair of touchdown passes and ran for another during the final quarter. Nash hit Bryce Guzman on a 17-yard scoring pass to cut the score to 35-14. Nash added a 1-yard touchdown run. The senior signal caller made it a one-possession game with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Ridge Spencer later in the fourth.

Colony finished the season 5-4 overall.

In the Division II quarterfinals, second-seeded Lathrop blanked seventh-seeded Wasilla 64-0 in Fairbanks, and third-seeded Eagle River got past sixth-seeded Palmer 49-34.

Palmer finished the season 3-6 overall. Wasilla was 2-7.

Second-seeded Barrow held on for a 22-18 home win over third-seeded Houston in the Division III semifinals.

Barrow built a 22-0 lead through the first three quarters, but Houston charged back with three scores in the fourth. Quarterback Carter Seime scampered for a 21-yard touchdown run to put the Hawks on the scoreboard. Noah Whitted followed with a 42-yard touchdown run. Later in the quarter, Seime connected with receiver Hunter Craig on a 33-yard touchdown pass.

The Hawks finished the season 7-2 overall.

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