Warriors take Potato Bowl

A capacity crowd filled Veterans' Memorial Field Friday night and witnessed the closest Potato Bowl in 12 years. The Wasilla Warriors narrowly defeated the Palmer Moose 19-17 in a classic game that was not decided until the final 17 seconds of the contest.

In a pregame ceremony, a small contingent of Palmer and Wasilla players, cheerleaders and principals joined together to carry the United States flag to the center of the field. A tribute to the fallen Americans killed in last week's tragedy followed, with the singing of "America the Beautiful" and the national anthem, along with a moment of silence.

When the game began, Palmer received the opening kickoff and immediately pounded the ball into Wasilla territory. Palmer's ground game started strong and was moving the ball until a fumble recovered by Wasilla's Sam Widner put an end to the drive and gave the Warrior's the ball on their own 34-yard line.

The remainder of the first quarter consisted of stalled drives and punts that indicated this might be a defensive game played between the 30-yard markers.

Defensive dominance continued midway through the second quarter until a flurry of plays produced scores with less than six minutes in the half.

With Wasilla in possession at its own 47-yard line, quarterback Jake Carney dropped back and connected with Travis Webb for a short pass over the middle. Webb shook a tackler and bolted down the right side for a 50-yard gain, where he was eventually tackled at the 3-yard line.

Senior running back Lafe Martyn rushed the ball into the end zone on the next play, capping a drive that started on Wasilla's 34-yard line. Adam Billings added the extra point to give the Warriors the lead at 7-0.

Palmer responded by driving the ball into Warrior territory, then striking with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Charlie Bentti to Chris Abbott down the right sideline. The point after was good, tying the game at 7-7 with 56 seconds left in the first half.

Wasilla attempted to pass on its first play from scrimmage, but the ball was intercepted by Ben Conroy and returned to Wasilla's 21-yard line. Palmer moved the ball deeper into Wasilla territory, but was running out of time.

With six seconds left in the half, Palmer's Tim West kicked a 30-yard field goal that cleared the crossbar by two feet.

Palmer took the 10-7 lead into halftime.

Wasilla received the ball to start the second half, starting its drive on the 24-yard line. On the second play of the drive, Palmer's Ali Larijani stepped in front of a Carney pass for an interception that gave Palmer the ball on Wasilla's 27-yard line.

Runs by Larijani and Adam Norton quickly moved the ball down to the 1-yard line where Bentti punched it into the end zone. The point after touchdown was good, giving Palmer the biggest lead of the game at 17-7.

Following a stalled drive by each team, Palmer was pinned deep in its own end of the field. Palmer's punt from its own end zone and subsequent penalty on the play allowed Wasilla to start its drive on Palmer's 15-yard line.

A quick pass to Webb moved the ball down to the 8-yard line. Two plays later, Carney ran the ball into the end zone on a quarterback keeper through the middle of the line. The point after was blocked, making the score 17-13.

The score remained unchanged until a bad Palmer punt put Wasilla in great field position, starting on Palmer's 30-yard line halfway into the fourth quarter.

Wasilla wasted no time, capping a 30-yard scoring drive with a two-yard touchdown pass from Carney to Webb in the right side of the end zone. The extra point was blocked. Wasilla now led 19-17.

With five minutes and 33 seconds left in the game, it was far from over. Palmer's running game had excelled all night and was poised for one last drive.

Following the kickoff and a good return, Palmer started its drive on its own 46-yard line. Larijani and Norton exchanged a series of rushes to move the ball, highlighted by a 19-yard run around the left side by Larijani. Palmer kept driving until Wasilla's defense was able hold them at the 4-yard line with fourth down and two yards to go for a first down, with 19 seconds remaining in the game.

Palmer brought in the field goal unit to attempt a 21-yard kick that would give the Moose the lead and most assuredly the win. The attempt was long enough but sailed left of the uprights. Warrior players and fans erupted.

Final score: Wasilla 19, Palmer 17.

"You don't always win the game when you win the line of scrimmage," said Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen. "I felt like we won the line of scrimmage but we had a few breaks go against us tonight."

Palmer dominated the line of scrimmage and allowed its punishing rushers to grind out yardage all night. Larijani finished with 142 yards and Norton with 100 yards rushing.

"They have two phenomenal running backs who were breaking tackles for six or seven yards on first down," Webb said of Palmer running backs Larijani and Norton. "We had a much harder time with them than we did against West Valley."

Webb attributed the total team effort of the Wasilla defense as the key to stopping Palmer from reaching the end zone in its final drive.

Palmer will host Bartlett Saturday at 2 p.m. Wasilla goes to Colony Friday at 7 p.m.