Warriors falter

WASILLA -- Following the Wasilla Warriors 31-0 loss to the West Eagles at Veterans Memorial Field Saturday, a dazed look masked the Warrior coaches and players.

The stunned and frustrated Wasilla troop slowly walked off the field as the Eagles roared in the opposite end zone.

Mental mistakes and lack of consistency plagued Wasilla throughout the afternoon.

"We got whipped," Wasilla assistant head coach Dan Michael said. "Every way you can get it, we got our butts whipped.

"We are in for a miserable year if something does not change."

The stifling West defense forced five Wasilla turnovers and sacked Warrior quarterback Danny Ament three times.

Ament spent most of his afternoon running from the likes of Piliki Mapauni. The west linebacker was just one in a terrorizing Eagle front seven that haunted Ament and the Wasilla running backs throughout the day.

Wasilla gained 77 yards on the ground and 93 through the air, but could not sustain a drive.

"I never felt like we could consistently gain on offense," Michael, who is also team's offensive coordinator, said. "It makes it tough to call a game.

"We would make a tough catch and then throw an interception. We would make a good run and then get stopped for a loss."

Four of Wasilla's five turnovers resulted in West scores. The Eagles capitalized on the Warrior miscues with three touchdowns and a field goal.

Wasilla running back Ricky Cunningham coughed up the ball after a Mapauni hit with 20 seconds left in the first quarter, and James Maloney caught a 7-yard touchdown pass 10 plays later.

On the next Wasilla offensive play, Ament tried to hit George Wagner on a pass down the left sideline. Eagle defensive back Cliff Ivy stepped in front of Wagner, picked off Ament's pass and returned the ball 47 yards to the Warrior 8-yard line.

Three plays later the Eagles booted a 21-yard field goal to give West a 17-0 advantage.

With just less than three minutes to go in the half, Wagner dove in front of a West receiver and picked off a Ricardo Pena pass at the Warrior 5-yard line.

The Warriors owned the momentum for just seconds as Jed Wade fumbled on the next play.

Maloney folowed with his second touchdown catch of the afternoon.

West was further able to drive the final nail into the Warrior coffin as they picked up a Jake Wade fumble at the 7-yard line.

A West pooch punt bounced off the chest of Wade and a host of Eagles were within the 10-yard line and pounced on the ball.

Remy Martin dove in on the next play to seal the game for West.

Palmer 31, West Valley 30

The Palmer Moose scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to earse a 30-14 deficit and defeat the West Valley Wolfpack 31-30 at West Valley High School in Fairbanks on Friday.

Moose quarterback Charlie Bentti scored his second touchdown of the contest with just under three minutes in regulation to give the Mose the lead.

Sam Zimmer returned a fumble for a touchdon midway through the third quarter to spark the Moose.

Mike Weber followed with an 18-yard run to cut the score.

Palmer gained more than 320 yards on the ground for the second straight week. The Moose ran for 329 yards against Service last week and 323 in the win over West Valley.

Allen Franklin, in his second career varsity start, notched his second career 100-yard performance. Franklin rushed for 121 yards. Weber, a senior wingback,also topped the 100-yard mark for the second straight week.

Bentti and Weber notched first half touchdowns for the Moose.

Palmer improved to 1-1 and 1-0 in the Northern Railbelt Conference.

Seward 6, Houston 0

The Houston Hawks suffered a 6-0 double-overtime loss to the Seward Seahawks in Seward on Saturday.

Houston outgained Seward but was not able to reach the end zone.

Hawk running back Matt Bertling led the squad with 138 yards rushing. Bertling already has nearly 300 yards rushing in two games this season.

Seward's Coty Beck connected with Sean Chase on a 10-yard touchdown pass to break the five-quarter scoreless tie and and the game.

Houston dropped to 1-1.