Then there were eight

Alaska high school football teams prepare for semifinals

October 04, 2010|by John Carpenter

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska high school football season is down to 11 days and eight teams. The quarterfinals are complete, and it's time to start thinking about Round 2: the semifinals.

In the large schools quarterfinals, the upset bug was conspicuous by its absence. All four higher seeds prevailed over the weekend: West, Juneau, Colony and Service are moving on, West Valley, Chugiak, Dimond and Palmer are done for the year.

West started slowly, but recovered to beat a tough West Valley team 20-12. The Eagles improved to 9-0 on the season, and avoided a repeat of the 2009 season, when West entered the playoffs 8-0 only to be sent home in the first round by North Pole. The Eagles will meet Juneau in the large school semifinals. The Crimson Bears beat Chugiak 24-7 Saturday, avenging last season's first round playoff loss to the Mustangs.

Service won its eighth-straight game, knocking off Palmer 31-21 on Saturday. The Cougars' only loss of the season came in Week 1, 38-35 to West, but Service can’t get caught daydreaming about a rematch with the Eagles in the state title game. The Cougars will face Colony in the semifinals, and the Knights have won their last seven games, including a 27-14 victory over Dimond in Round 1 of the playoffs Friday night.

In the first round of the small schools playoffs, Homer's 34-0 pasting of Nikiski was somewhat a surprise. The Mariners, at 5-4, have the lowest winning percentage of any team, large or small school, remaining in the playoffs. Of course, ask the Bulldogs what that statistic means to them. Homer gashed Nikiski for 343 rushing yards in that rout. Next up for Homer, a rematch with Kenai. The Kardinals edged the Mariners 21-16 back on Sept. 18.

Kenai also reached the semifinals with a shutout victory in the quarterfinals. The Kards blanked Barrow 25-0. Kenai can run the ball too-- Kai Risung ran over the Whalers for 160 yards in the Kardinals' first-round victory.

That Soldotna beat previously undefeated Thunder Mountain was no surprise, though it is notable how easily the Stars took care of the Falcons. As crazy as it sounds, the 55-20 final score makes the game look closer than it actually was. Soldotna faces Eielson in the small schools semifinals. The Ravens edged Skyview 12-6 to advance in the playoffs. The Stars and Ravens met in the regular season back on Sept. 18, with SoHi winning easily 50-14. A win Saturday would put the Stars back in the small schools state title game for the eighth time in the 11 years Alaska has had a small schools state title game.

Both the large schools and small schools will play their semifinal matchups at the Anchorage Football Stadium this Friday and Saturday. The winners this weekend will meet in their respective state championship games at AFS Saturday, Oct. 16.

Alaska Large School State Semifinals:

Colony (7-2) versus Service (8-1) 7:30pm Friday, Oct. 8

Juneau (7-2) versus West Anchorage (9-0) 1pm Saturday, Oct. 9

Alaska Small Schools State Semifinals:

Eielson (6-3) versus Soldotna (9-0) 4pm Friday, Oct. 8

Homer (5-4) versus Kenai (6-3) 4:30pm Saturday, Oct. 9

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