Wasilla seniors lead Warriors past Juneau

WASILLA — Wasilla head coach Kent Rilatos has been pleased with the play of his defense. The Warriors special teams have been outstanding. Rilatos knows the Warriors have their workhorse running back, senior Devin Otto. But during the early portion of the 2014 season, Wasilla has been looking for that extra spark on offense.

Enter Blake Marks.

The senior, and longtime quarterback in waiting, came off the bench to ignite the Wasilla offense, and lead the Warriors to a 35-22 nonconference win over the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears Friday night at Veterans Memorial Field in Wasilla.

Otto rumbled for a game-high 174 yards and three touchdowns. Zack Garnett added 38 yards and a score. And Marks led the Warriors on five touchdown drives, helping the Warriors not only earn their first victory of the year, but snap a three-game losing skid that dates back to 2013.

Marks also helped lead the Warriors to their first home win since the field turf was installed prior to the 2013 season. The Warriors were 0-4 at home last year.

“It felt great to get that win,” Marks said.

Marks, a former junior varsity starting quarterback and varsity reserve at the position, entered the 2014 season in a battle with junior Dylan Simons for the job. Simons made his second start of the year Friday, and was the signal-caller for Wasilla’s first two offensive possessions in the game, including an 11-play drive capped by Carson Reed’s 37-yard field goal.

In the second, Wasilla opted to insert Marks behind center.

“Dylan and I have been working back and forth in practice. I got my shot today, and tried to make the most out of it and help my team win,” Marks said. “Each day in practice both me and him are trying to work as hard as we can, doing our best out there to get the best 11 (players) out there. Whether it’s him or me, it doesn’t matter, we just want to get the best 11 out there for the team.”

The Warriors trailed 7-3 when the team made the switch.

“Blake’s been a quarterback a long time, kind of waiting. He’s been doing the right things, working hard, keeping his nose to the grindstone, waiting his turn,” Rilatos said. “His turn came in the second quarter. We went to him, gave it a try. With him we scored two times in a row. We kept with the hot hand. That’s not saying Dylan wouldn’t do good, but (Blake) had the hot hand.”

Behind Marks, Wasilla built a 22-7 lead. But the Warriors needed a pair of late Otto touchdowns to cement the victory.

Juneau senior quarterback Dorian Izaak led the Crimson Bears on pair of scoring drive during a five-minute stretch of the fourth quarter to help Juneau tie the game. Izaak scampered into the end zone from 6 yards out to cut Wasilla’s lead to 22-14 with 9:36 left in the fourth. About five minutes later, Izaak connected with flanker Adam Empson on a 56-yard scoring strike. Izaak ran in the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 22.

With Otto running the ball, Wasilla answered Juneau on the ensuing possession. A long Justin Lee kickoff return gave the Warriors the ball at the Juneau 48-yard line. After running for gains of 15 and 2 yards, Otto broke to the left sideline and scored a 30-yard touchdown run to put the Warriors ahead.

“It felt really good. It help put the game away,” Marks said of watching Otto run into the end zone. “It lit a fire on defense. We wanted to make sure we got that ball back.”

And that’s exactly what happened.

On the ensuing kickoff, Juneau fumbled the ball at the 5-yard line. Wasilla’s Caleb Wolfe recovered. Four players later, Otto darted into the end zone from 2 yards out to score his third touchdown of the game.

Rilatos and Marks both noted the play of the offensive line after the win.

“We spent a lot of time with the (offensive line). The young men really stepped up to the plate, and did the blocks they had to do,” Rilatos said.

The Wasilla special teams also excelled. Reed hit the 37-yard field goal, and also placed about every kickoff inside the Juneau 10-yard line.

“He’s done a lot of work over the summer,” Rilatos said.

The special teams came up with a number of big plays, including the fumble recovery by Wolfe. Rilatos said speed is a key, and improving speed was a priority during the offseason.

“Special teams is a speed event. We have that much speed, that’s something (our opponent) really has to pay attention to,” Rilatos said. “They can’t key on one guy. We have 10 guys down there ready to make a play.”

Wasilla took its first lead, a 9-7 advantage, with Otto’s first score of the game, a 2-yard run, midway through the second quarter. The Warriors added to the advantage with a 20-yard Garnett touchdown.

In the third quarter, Marks connected with Mosiah Renk on a 3-yard touchdown pass.

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

Wasilla 35, Juneau 22

Friday, Wasilla

First quarter:

Juneau — Maake 26 pass from Isaak (kick good) 5:18.

Wasilla — Reed 37 field goal, 0:50.

Second quarter:

Wasilla — Otto 2 run (Reed kick) 7:50.

Wasilla — Garnett 20 run (Reed kick) 5:16.

Third quarter:

Wasilla — Renk 3 pass from Marks (kick blocked) 4:08.

Fourth quarter:

Juneau — Izaak 6 run (kick good) 9:36

Juneau — Empson 56 pass from Izaak (Izaak run) 4:26.

Wasilla — Otto 30 run (kick blocked) 2:53.

Wasilla — Otto 2 run (Reed kick) 0:57.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS:

RUSHING — Juneau: Izaak 12-79, Mallinger 9-33, Tupou 6-26; Wasilla: Otto 32-174, Garnett 10-38, Simons 1-18, Marks 1-7.

PASSING — Juneau: Izaak 11-19-2—128; Wasilla: Marks 3-4-1—17, Simons 0-2-0—0.

RECEIVING — Juneau: Muir 4-20, Stevens 3-19, Empson 2-60, Maake 2-29; Wasilla: Garnett 2-14, Renk 1-3.