Warriors blank Juneau

WASILLA — With the defense pitching a shutout late, Wasilla head coach Will Stout knew his offense needed to come through with at least one more long scoring drive.

And his Warriors delivered.

Senior Jordan Quenga capped an 11-play that spanned more than four minutes with a 3-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter that helped cement a 15-0 win over Juneau Saturday afternoon at Wasilla High School.

“We went back to the bread and butter of our offense,” Stout said after the win. “Run right at you. That’s what we’re built for. We want to eat the clock up and go down the field.”

Quenga ran the ball seven times for 56 yards on an 80-yard drive that began with more than eight minutes left on the fourth-quarter clock. Quenga scored with 3:53 left in the final quarter.

“He had a tremendous game,” Stout said.

Quenga finished the game with 33 carries for 209 yards and two touchdowns.

“He seems to get stronger and stronger as the game goes on,” Stout said.

While Quenga was a standout, Stout was quick to praise the defense.

“It’s huge for the defense to come in and really shut them down,” Stout said. “The kids put in a lot of hard work and it was evident on the field.”

Stout also lauded the work of Wasilla defensive coordinator Danny O’Neill, who put together the game plan for the Wasilla defense against the pass-happy Juneau offense.

“Danny O’Neill did a great job planning this week. He changed things up,” Stout said. “We knew they were going to come in here wanting to pass. We had to make a little change to the defense and it paid off.”

Wasilla held Juneau’s quarterback duo of Max Wheat and Cooper Kriegmont to 5 of 16 passing for 28 yards. Juneau was also held to 83 yards rushing.

The Warriors recovered a pair of Juneau fumbles in the win. Gavin Conant also grabbed a key interception for Wasilla near the goal line.

Wasilla began the week 0-1 in Chugach Conference play. But within a 24-hour period, the Warriors jumped to 2-0 in the standings. Late Friday, the Anchorage School District announced Chugiak would have to forfeit its 17-14 win over Wasilla last week for the use of an ineligible player during the game.

Wasilla continues its conference schedule traveling to Colony to play the rival Knights Friday at 7 p.m.

“Colony’s a tremendous team, very well-coached,” Stout said.

Contact Frontiersman editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com

Wasilla 15, Juneau 0

Saturday, Wasilla High

First quarter:

No scoring

Second quarter:

Wasilla — Quenga 10 run (Wake pass from Malave) 5:07.

Third quarter:

No scoring

Fourth quarter:

Wasilla — Quenga 3 run (kick good) 3:53.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS:

RUSHING — Juneau: Kriegmont 11-46, Traxler 6-2, Soto 5-26, Wheat 4-15, Hinckle 1-(-6); Wasilla: Quenga 33-209, Matthews 8-78, Drummond 5-10, Malave 7-4.

PASSING — Juneau: Wheat 3-4-0—(-1), Kriegmont 2-12-1—29; Wasilla: Malave 1-2-0—8.

RECEIVING — Juneau: Traxler 3- (-1), Hinckle 1-24, Mojica 1-5; Wasilla: Conant 1-8.