Warriors host, Moose on road to start postseason

PALMER — The newfound success of the Bartlett Golden Bears has been one of the state’s top prep football storylines in 2014. Bartlett has as many wins this year, six, as the Bears had in the previous three years combined.

But Bartlett has lost two straight, and tonight face one of the hottest teams in Alaska. Wasilla, winners of five straight games, hosts Bartlett in quarterfinal playoff action at 7 p.m. at Veteran’s Memorial Field.

“I’m very pleased with our performance,” Wasilla head coach Kent Rilatos said earlier this week. “Call it peaking. We’re playing good at the right time. We’re going into the playoffs playing good at the right time.”

Wasilla, the No. 2 seed from the Railbelt Conference, enters the postseason 6-2 overall and 3-1 in conference play. Since starting the season 1-2, the Warriors are winners of five straight. And Wasilla has won those games in convincing fashion. Wasilla is outscoring its opponents 215-117. That’s an average of 43 points score per game, and 23 allowed.

Wasilla opened its season with a 14-6 loss to Service. Following a win over Juneau, Lathrop topped Wasilla 21-10.

But after the Lathrop loss, Wasilla rebounded with a pair of tough road wins. The Warriors went north and beat West Valley 49-25, and traveled South for a 20-10 victory over Kenai.

The regular season ended with three lopsided wins: 50-20 over Colony, 49-21 over North Pole and a 47-14 victory over Palmer in the annual Potato Bowl.

“Week 1 to Week 8, we are by far the most improved team in the state,” Rilatos said.

Thanks to its viscous running attack, Wasilla led the Railbelt with 266 total points. Wasilla has two of the top rushers in the state. Senior Devin Otto is third among large schools running backs with 1,095 yards, and leads the state with 16 rushing touchdowns. Sophomore Mosiah Renk is eighth in the state with 603 yards and fourth with 10 touchdowns. His 13.1 yards per game is also best among all large schools runners with at least 10 carries this year. The Warriors, who run a Wing-T based offense, also have a third legitimate option with senior Zack Garnett, who has 333 yards and three touchdowns. Otto, Renk and Garnett each topped 100 yards rushing during the win over Palmer, and combined to score all seven Wasilla touchdowns in the game.

Renk has also been a beast catching the ball out of the backfield. He has 190 yards receiving, and five of his 10 catches have led to touchdowns.

The Warriors have also improved on the other side of the ball, finishing with the top scoring defense in the conference The Warriors allowed 18 points per game this season.

“Part of our success this year, we’re playing very well on offense, defense and special teams,” Rilatos said.

Bartlett also features one of the top scoring teams in the state, boasting an average of 34.6 points per game. Like the Warriors, the Bears also have multiple options in the backfield. Ethan Falaniko is fourth in the state with 957 yards. Vincent Lobendahn is sixth with 755 yards, and tied for third with 12 touchdowns on the ground.

Bartlett has also allowed the second-fewest points in the state this year, 142. Bartlett defensive lineman Archie Lemana was recently named the Cook Inlet Conference Defense Player of the Year.

With its 6-2 record, Bartlett scored the CIC’s No. 3 seed. The Bears won six straight to open the season. The streak was snapped with a 35-32 loss to West in Week 7. South beat Bartlett 35-14 last week.

Wasilla and Bartlett have not played in an official game since 2009, but there is some familiarity. The teams met in a preseason scrimmage at Wasilla High School.

“It gave us an idea about their speed and power,” Rilatos said. “We have a little bit of knowledge about what they do.”

Wasilla is in the playoffs for the first time since 2011. The Warriors are also in search of their first playoff win since 2001. Bartlett is in the postseason for the first time since 2009. The Bears won the state title that season.

Palmer at South

The Palmer Moose set a state record with their 15th straight trip to the postseason.

The reward?

A first-round matchup against the top team in the large schools class. Palmer, the No. 3 seed from the Railbelt, opens postseason play against South Anchorage tonight at 7 p.m. at Anchorage Football Stadium.

“It’s a tough spot for us,” Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said earlier this week.

The Moose finished the season 2-6 overall and 1-3 in the Railbelt. Palmer’s 27-20 win over Colony in Week 7 was key to earning the playoff spot. The Moose officially clinched with West Valley’s loss to Lathrop in Week 8. The Palmer loss and the West Valley loss left a three-way tie with Colony at 1-3 in the Railbelt standings. A series of tiebreakers was used to award the conference’s third seed. It came down to common opponents outside the Railbelt. The common opponent was North Pole. Palmer beat North Pole in Week 3, but North Pole beat both West Valley and Colony during the regular season. The Palmer win over North Pole pushed the Moose into the playoffs.

Palmer will enter the postseason beat up. Two of Palmer’s top players, senior Ben Button and junior Chase Ferris, are done for the season, due to injuries. Button was recently named the Railbelt Lineman of the Year. Ferris currently leads all large schools runners with 1,311 yards on the ground.

Despite the rough season and the injuries, the Palmer coaching staff spent the week rallying the troops.

“We told the guys, you’ve got nothing to lose. It’s a good position to let loose and go, and go out there and go for it,” Christiansen said.

Palmer has had success against South in the playoffs. The Moose are 3-1 in four postseason meetings against the Wolverines.

“We have a little bit of history with South,” Christiansen said.

Winners of the Palmer-South and Bartlett-Wasilla games will meet next week in the state semifinals.

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