Warriors, Hawks host key conference games

WASILLA — As the Wasilla Warriors prepare for the biggest game of the Will Stout era, thus far, the Warriors will be carrying some momentum with them, fresh off a 36-28 win over West Valley in Fairbanks last week.

“The kids were thrilled we were able to go up there and grab the win,” Stout, Wasilla’s first-year head coach, said earlier this week. “

Wasilla (2-2 overall, 1-0 in the Railbelt Conference) jumped out to a lightning-fast lead, scoring on three of its first four offensive plays from scrimmage, but West Valley answered with 20 points of its own in the first half. Wasilla led 27-20 at halftime, and led 30-27 late before junior Aeron Milliron put the game away with 2-yard touchdown with 1 minute, 32 seconds to play in the game.

“Second and third quarters we relaxed too much and they came back,” Stout said.

Stout said it was good for his squad to face some adversity.

“It’s huge for this team,” Stout said. “We didn’t fold when things got rough. We fought back and made sure we came out with the victory.”

Wasilla’s next test is Colony (3-1, 0-0), which makes the short trip to Veterans Memorial Field to face the Warriors in their second home game of the season. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m at Wasilla High.

“Colony’s a tough opponent. They do an amazing job, coach-wise,” Stout said. “We’re going to have our work cut out for us.”

The Knights improved to 3-1 overall last week with a 43-14 drubbing of Dimond.

“We’ve seen a few games of the Knights on film. They execute extremely well. Their offensive line fires off the ball, and they play very aggressive defense. They’re a tough team,” Stout said.

Senior Cade Havel rushed for 125 yards and three of Colony’s five rushing touchdowns in the win. Junior Jake Hessinger returned an interception 20 yards for a score against Dimond.

“It’s a huge statement for us,” Hessinger said after the win. “It’s a huge confidence booster for us.”

Tonight’s contest is the Railbelt opener for Colony. Wasilla and Lathrop sit at the top of the conference, both at 1-0. West Valley and Chugiak are at the bottom, each at 0-1.

Palmer at Soldotna

Like Wasilla, Palmer found its first conference victory on the road last week. The 35-18 win at Kodiak was also the first of the season for the Moose, who improved to 1-3 overall and 1-0 in the Northern Lights Conference.

Palmer stays on the road, this week traveling to Soldotna to face the Stars tonight at 6 p.m. at Soldotna High School.

Soldotna used a 22-21 come-from-behind victory over East Anchorage last week to improve to 4-0 and extend its state-record winning streak to 43 straight. The streak is the fifth-longest active winning streak in the nation, according to maxpreps.com.

The last team to beat Soldotna was Palmer, which handed the Stars a 27-7 loss Aug. 11, 2012, at Soldotna High.

During the win over Kodiak, Palmer running backs Larry Cutsforth and Nick DeBach rushed for 156 yards and two touchdowns each to help the Moose rally to the NLC win. Palmer trailed 12-8 at halftime, but used a 20-point third quarter to get the win.

Eielson at Houston

The Houston Hawks host arguably their biggest game in recent memory tonight. The Hawks face Eielson at 7 p.m. at Houston High. Both teams are 3-1 overall and 1-0 in Aurora Conference play, and tonight’s winner is expected to have the clearest path toward a potential conference title.

Since dropping their season-opener at Kodiak, the Hawks have soared. Houston has won three straight, outscoring opponents 112-12. The stretch includes wins over Eagle River, Voznesenka and Monroe Catholic.

Eielson has cruised to wins over Homer, Seward and Valdez. The Ravens loss came in Week 2 to large-schools West Valley.

Nikiski at Redington

After narrowly missing its first chance to score its first victory in program history, Redington will get back to the field hosting Peninsula Conference rival Nikiski tonight at 7 p.m. at Redington Jr./Sr. High School.

Seward used a go-ahead touchdown with 40 seconds left in regulation to slip past the Huskies 36-34 in Seward last week. Kyler Rumfelt and Brian Horne each had a pair of touchdowns for Redington.

Defending small-schools state champion Nikiski is off to a 2-2 start. After dropping consecutive games to Valdez and Thunder Mountain, Nikiski posted wins over Monroe and Voznesenka.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.