Young Hawks fly

HOUSTON — When Brandon Dukes woke up Saturday, he had no idea that he would end the day as the leading rusher of the Houston Hawks.

“No, not at all,” Dukes said after Houston’s 47-8 win over Delta in its season opener at Terry Shurtleff Field.

But when the final gun sounded, the sophomore running back, who saw limited varsity time as a freshman, had a team-high 25 carries for 87 yards and a touchdown.

“It was great,” Dukes said. “I scored a touchdown. That was awesome.”

Dukes is part of a second-team Houston offense that saw an abundance of playing time after the Hawks were able to build a 21-0 lead within the first eight minutes of play.

While Dukes may have not known quite how much he’d be carrying the ball in the nonconfernece contest, Houston head coach Norm Bouchard said the Hawks’ plan to rotate reserves was certainly premeditated.

Bouchard said the Delta coaching staff had called Houston early in the week to talk about potentially forfeiting the varsity game. With only 20 players on the roster — 14 of whom are underclassmen — the Huskies wanted to make the nonconfernece game a junior varsity contest.

“But [Alaska Schools Activities Association] wouldn’t let them. They said we had to play them,” Bouchard said. “So I said, I’ll play my varsity for three touchdowns and if, and when, we get up three, I’ll call off the dogs and rotate kids in.

“It’s a deal we made ahead of time and we stuck to it.”

Sophomore Micah Ranum and senior Kyle Sumner posted rushing touchdowns within the first five minutes to give the Hawks the 14-0 lead, and senior Bryan Mason hauled in a 23-yard Jordan Webb pass to give the Hawks the 21-point lead with 5:24 remaining in the first quarter.

With the healthy lead, the starters hit the sidelines, Ranum moved from running back to quarterback and the second unit took the field.

“It was fun,” Ranum said. “I’m the second-team quarterback behind Jordan Webb, but I’ve got to get some practice in.”

Ranum finished with 48 yards on six carries, and connected with senior tight end Russell Barney on a 10-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.

Sumner opened the second half with a 64-yard kick return for a touchdown and David Dilley capped the game with a 35-yard burst through the middle for a touchdown, but it was Dukes who supplied much of the offense for the Hawks.

“He’s a good runner, a hard runner. He doesn’t like to go down, he keeps his legs going,” Bouchard said of Dukes, who scored on a 29-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. “He’s just not real big yet, so we’re going to get him in the weight room, get him out on the track team maybe and then next year and the year after, he’s going to be a tough back.”

Houston held Delta to -6 yards of total offense in the first half, but the young Huskies were able to find some success on the ground in the final two quarters.

Sophomore Jake Gebauer led Delta with 83 yards on 18 carries, and sophomore Justin Hjelm added 42 yards on 11 tries.

Hjelm put the Huskies on the scoreboard with a 35-yard scoring scamper late in the third quarter.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Houston 47, Delta 8

Saturday, Houston

First quarter

Houston — Ranum 1 run (kick failed), 10:10.

Houston — Sumner 12 run (Mason catch), 7:11.

Houston — Mason 23 pass from Webb (Stone-Jirik kick), 5:24.

Second quarter

Houston — Barney 10 pass from Ranum (Stone-Jirik kick), 0:26.

Third quarter

Houston — Sumner 64 kick return (kick failed), 11:47.

Houston — Dukes 29 run (Stone-Jirik kick), 10:22.

Delta — Hjelm 35 run (Gebauer run), 1:13.

Fourth quarter

Houston — Dilley 35 run (kick failed), 0:25.

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Delta: Gebauer 18-83, Hjelm 11-42, Fellman 5-15, Tappen 3 (-14), DeBilsan 1-(-10); Houston: Dukes 25-87, Ranum 6-48, Dilley 5-30, Sumner 3-19, Montreuil 1-(-5).

PASSING — Delta: Tappen 1-2-0—9, Bealer 0-1-0—0; Houston: Webb 3-3-0—43, Ranum 1-6-0—10, Montreuil 1-3-0—9.

RECEIVING — Delta: Bialik 1-9; Houston: Mason 2-35, Stinson 2-17, Barney 1-10.