Warriors, Hawks join Moose in latest football poll

WASILLA — The Wasilla Warriors were getting tired of only seeing their Valley rivals in the football polls. But with a 24-14 win over West last Saturday, the Warriors have earned their spot.

Wasilla and Houston moved into the large-schools and medium-schools top 5, joining Palmer on the latest Alaska Sports Broadcasting Network Prep Football Polls.

“We watch the news. We see the top 5. You see Palmer and Colony, and you don’t see Wasilla anywhere,” Wasilla senior Cash McGregor said after helping lead the Warriors to a win over the Eagles. “We put a chip on our shoulder. We really felt like we needed to send a message. Not just today, but all year.”

Wasilla, unranked since 2011, jumped to No. 3 on the large-schools list with the big win over the Eagles. Palmer, which opened with a 21-15 win over Bartlett, actually dropped from No. 2 in the preseason list to fourth in the latest poll. Defending state champion South Anchorage held its top spot after its 65-6 drubbing of East Anchorage. Service jumped a spot to second after a 52-21 win over Colony. Chugiak moved into the poll, and is ranked fifth after a 17-6 victory over West Valley.

Colony and East both fell out of the top 5 with Week 1 losses.

Houston is now ranked fifth in the medium-schools list after a 47-0 win over Seward last Saturday.

North Pole also stayed at No. 1 after a 40-8 win over large-schools Eagle River. Soldotna and Juneau remain at second and third respectively. Kenai moved into the poll and is fourth after beating Nikiski.

Homer and Kodiak, both idle in Week 1, fell out of the poll.