Week 2 football: Warriors aim to build on 1st win since 2014; Colony, Houston host; Wasilla, Palmer, Redington on road

WASILLA — Following a 29-14 victory over Eagle River Aug. 12, Will Stout earned his first win as head coach of the Wasilla Warriors. But Stout wasn’t the only Warrior celebrating their first varsity win.

The nonconference victory was also the first varsity win for every player on the Warriors current roster.

“They finally got that monkey off their back,” Stout said of his players by phone earlier this week.

Prior to the Week 1 win over the Wolves, Wasilla would have look back to the final week of the 2014 season to find its last victory, a 47-14 win over rival Palmer in the annual Potato Bowl. The week following the 2014 win over the Moose, Wasilla’s season came to an end with a 31-29 playoff win to Bartlett. In 2015, the Warriors finished 0-8. In total, the Warriors would play nine games and go 678 days without a win.

This week has presented another first for the 2016 edition of the Warriors — preparing for their next game following a win.

“I see some confidence building,” Stout said of his team.

Stout, a veteran coach at the high school level in Texas before making the move to Alaska to during the offseason, has been frank about his approach since taking the reins of the program.

“We just have to stay focused on getting better week by week. That’s going to be our goal the whole year, probably the next few years, week by week,” Stout said.

Wasilla draws a tough test in Week 2, traveling to Anchorage to face Dimond (1-0) Saturday at 7 p.m.

“We know we have a tough opponent in Dimond. They’re a good team, well-coached. They’re big on the offensive and defensive lines. We know we have our work cut out,” Stout said of the Lynx, who advanced to the large-schools semifinals last season.

The Warriors obviously want to continue winning ball games, but Wasilla showing continued improvement is a priority for Stout.

“We improved from (the Bartlett scrimmage) to Eagle River, and we want to improve from Eagle River to Dimond,” Stout said of his week-by-week approach. “As a team, we’re still discovering who we are. But (the players) are buying into the systems. They’re excited about what they’re doing.”

Wasilla had success running the ball against Eagle River, finishing with 39 carries for 313 yards. Wasilla fullback Sean McDermott led the team with 14 carries for 131 yards and a touchdown. Aeron Milliron, a wing, ran a dozen times for 134 yards and two scores. McDermott averaged 9.4 yards per rush, and had a 28-yard run. Milliron averaged 11.2 yards per carry, busting one attempt off for 60 yards.

“It was a good night for two running backs,” Stout said, also noting Beau Cork and Jaden Walkenmeyer, who rotated at another wing position.

The Warriors visit a Dimond team that scored a 21-14 win over Chugiak last week.

East Anchorage at Colony

The Colony Knights steamrolled into the 2016 season with a 47-6 thrashing of Bartlett last week. The Knights scored on offense, defense and special teams en route to the lopsided nonconference win.

“We harp on it all the time that offense should not score all of the points all of the time,” Colony head coach Rhett Magner told the Frontiersman following the win. “Our defense should score points just by the schemes, and our special teams — we call them special forces — they’re a whole third of the game and we take it seriously.”

Junior Jon Pomrenke scored on both special teams and defense. He returned a punt 40 yards for a score late in the first quarter and added an 18-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second.

The Knights also ran through the T-Birds defense, rushing for 337 yards on 46 carries. Cade Havel accounted for the bulk of the total, finishing with 175 yards. He scored three times, a total that included a 91-yard run.

Colony continues nonconference play tonight lining up against East Anchorage at 7 p.m. at Colony High. The T-Birds are also 1-0 after blanking Palmer 33-0 in Week 1.

East led just 7-0 at the half, but scored 26 points in the second half. Johnny Afuvai led the T-Birds with 59 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries, all of which came in the final two quarters. The T-Birds defense also forced a pair of Palmer turnovers in the second half.

Palmer at Bartlett

The Colony Knights and Palmer Moose trade Week 1 opponents in Week 2.

After hosting East (1-0) last week, the Moose (0-1) travel to Anchorage to face a Bartlett team tonight that was trounced by Colony last week. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.

Palmer trailed by just a touchdown at the halftime, before East was able to turn a 7-0 lead into a 33-0 final.

“At halftime I was very happy with our team as a whole, and our defense,” Longtime head coach Rod Christiansen said after the loss. “And I think we kind of hit the wall as for as being able to play a whole game.”

On the positive end, running back Nick DeBach rushed for 83 yards in his Moose varsity debut.

“Nick DeBach, on both sides of the ball, really showed he’s come to play,” Christiansen said.

Palmer starting quarterback Clayton Southwick completed 5 of 7 passes for 42 yards.

Bartlett finished with 237 yards on 56 carries. Colony intercepted a pair of Golden Bears passes. Bartlett’s lone touchdown came with just 3:15 remaining in the game.

Eagle River at Houston

Like Palmer, Houston is still in search of its first points of the season after suffering a 14-0 shutout loss to Kodiak last week in Kodiak. Houston, which finished a perfect 4-0 at Houston High last year, opens its 2016 home slate tonight against Eagle River at 7p.m.

It marks just the second time in program history Houston has faced Eagle River. The Wolves opened the 2009 season with a 57-0 win over the Hawks.

Last week during the loss to Kodiak, Houston trailed just 7-0 for much of the game. Kodiak was able to tack on a late touchdown, with about 90 seconds left in the game.

Houston finished with 66 yards rushing and 40 yards passing, but the Hawks defense was also able to limit Kodiak. The Bears finished with only 47 yards rushing and 85 passing.

The teams combined to throw five interceptions.

Ben Pelesasa led Houston with 40 yards on the ground.

Eagle River (0-1) allowed more than 300 yards rushing during a 29-14 loss to Wasilla in Week 1. The Wolves did lead 6-0 in the first and 14-7 in the second, before allowing 22 unanswered points to the Warriors.

Redington at Ketchikan

A week after making its first varsity debut, Redington embarks on its first varsity road trip.

The Huskies are on the long trek to Ketchikan, and are slated to face the Kings Saturday at 1 p.m. Redington (0-1) opened its season with a 59-6 loss to Monroe at Redington. Ketchikan (1-0) kicked off its year with a 34-14 victory over Seward last week.

Brian Horne scored the first varsity touchdown in school history, a 3-yard sweep with 1:05 left in the first quarter. The play capped a 55-yard drive.

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