Widmer, Warriors blank Knights

WASILLA -- "Sam Widmer, Sam Widmer, Sam Widmer."

Those are the first words that came out of the mouth of Wasilla head coach Nathan Ford following the Warriors' 16-0 victory over Valley rival Colony at Veterans Memorial Field Friday.

Widmer, Wasilla's senior nose guard, posted three sacks and totaled double-digits in tackles leading the Warrior defense to their first shutout of the season.

"Our nose guard won it for us, their offense couldn't block him," Ford said.

There were periods during the game that Widmer spent as much time in the Colony backfield as their running backs. Colony tried a variety of blocking tactics against Widmer. Whether he was presented with the double team or the cut block, Widmer fought through and led the defensive charge.

The Knights lost a total of 33 yards on Widmer's three sacks. Two of Widmer's sacks came on third down.

Facing third-and-15 on the 36 yard line, Colony's best field position of the night, Widmer wrapped up Colony quarterback Preston Pickett for a 10-yard loss.

In the fourth quarter, with Colony running of out opportunities, the Knights faced fourth-and-four near midfield. The Knights gave the ball to Joe Reza and Widmer stuffed the senior running back for a loss. In a desperate attempt, Reza pitched the ball back to Pickett who was driven out of bounds by a storm of Warrior defenders.

Widmer was also a great help on the offensive side of the ball, opening holes for the Wasilla runner. He also saved a drive for the Warriors, recovering a ball fumbled on a poor center-quarterback exchange.

Widmer's fellow Wasilla defensive lineman Brandon Halverson, Brady Washburn and Josh Nelson greatly aided in the Warriors' control of the line of scrimmage.

The four down lineman helped Wasilla hold the Knights to only 104 yards on the ground. The Warrior defense shutdown a squad that unleashed for 35 points and more than 300 total yards last week against Palmer.

With the win, the Warriors are in line to win the Northern Railbelt title. A victory over Palmer in the Potato Bowl next week will give Wasilla the conference crown and a top seed in the state playoffs.

It took only a matter of minutes for the Warriors to post their points in the game. Senior running back Abe Salmon ran for two touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions in the first quarter to give Wasilla their 16-0 lead.

On their first offensive drive of the game, Wasilla had a simple game plan -- run up the center of the line.

"Tonight, conservative was the way to go," Wasilla offensive coordinator Dan Michael said.

The Warriors ran 10 times on the drive. With first and goal and the two yard line, Salmon ran right behind Widmer and Nelson into the end zone.

Salmon went around the right side and slid past the orange pylon in the corner of the end zone to notch the two point conversion.

On the ensuing kick off, Colony's Rhett Magner fumbled the kick and the ball rolled into a pile of Knight and Warrior players. Wasilla's Jimbo Ressler, wrestled around the bottom of the pile and found the ball for Wasilla.

The Warriors regained possession and scored just 1:49 later in similar fashion.

After four runs and a Colony unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, Salmon again broke through the center of the line for a four-yard touchdown plunge.

His second score and two-point conversion of the night gave Wasilla a 16-0 advantage, a lead they would hold for the last 40 minutes of the game.

Salmon led the Warriors with a game-high 143 yards in the contest. Fullback Jed Wade added a season-high 49 yards from Wasilla, to give the Warriors a balanced ground attack.

"Jed did an excellent job for us tonight," Michael said. "He did his role. He blocks well and he is hungry."

"Jed kept us balanced," Salmon added. "We would dive up the middle with him and when they plugged the center we could kick it out and run the option."

The combination of Wade through the middle and Salmon on the option for the Warriors worked, as Wasilla kept the Colony defense on their heels for virtually the entire game.

The Wasilla offensive line of Widmer, Nelson, Ressler, Jeramiee Meisler and James Marquis paved the way for the Warrior running backs.

"The game of football is won and lost on the line of scrimmage," Ford said.