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Due to wildfires in the Fairbanks area, Eielson has been on the road for every game this season. For the past three weeks, nearly every practice session has been held inside a junior high school gym.
That didn't stop the Ravens from traveling to Nikiski and topping the Bulldogs, who had been 3-0 in the conference, 42-21 Friday night.
Eielson moves to 2-0 in the conference and is tied atop the GLC standings with Houston, which also is 2-0.
Quarterback Evan Skinner was the difference for the Ravens Friday. Skinner rushed for 87 yards and one touchdown and passed for 185 yards and another touchdown. Add in 125 rushing yards from Nick Rogers, and the Ravens outgained Nikiski 458-253. The Bulldogs were led by Justin Tumbaga's 121 rushing yards and two touchdowns and Travis McGahan's 81-yard kickoff return.
The Ravens showed some effects of gym life by piling up 100 yards in penalties and losing two touchdowns to yellow flags, but Eielson turned the ball over just once and was more explosive on offense than the Bulldogs. Eielson had four plays from scrimmage over 30 yards, while Nikiski, which turned the ball over twice, had just one play from scrimmage over 30 yards.
The biggest turning point in the game came at the end of the first half. Eielson had a 21-8 lead, but Nikiski got the ball with 4:39 left in the half and started driving from its own 35-yard line. After eight straight running plays, the Bulldogs moved the ball to the Eielson 22.
Nikiski looked ready to cut the lead to one score at halftime, but Travis McGahan had his pass picked off by Nick Scales on the 6-yard line with 56 seconds until half. Nikiski coach Ned Clooten said he called pass on the play because he thought he saw Eielson's safety cheating toward the line of scrimmage as the Bulldogs continued to run the ball.
"That decision rests on my shoulders," Clooten said. "We were marching the ball running it, and I'm the one who decided to pass."
On the next play from scrimmage, Skinner hit a streaking Scales in stride for a 90-yard touchdown and a 28-8 halftime lead. Eielson coach David DeVaughn said he considered taking a knee after the interception and heading to the locker room, but his coaches convinced him to run the pass play.
"My quarterback, Evan, placed the ball perfectly," Scales said. "It was just a footrace to the end zone."
After the touchdown, Eielson drove the ball from its 35-yard line to the Nikiski 10, but turned the ball over on downs with 4:04 left in the third quarter. Nikiski had a chance to drive and get within one score, but went three-and-out. Eielson got great field position on the Nikiski 25 after the punt, and it took the Ravens only two plays to reach the end zone and grab a 35-14 cushion.
"I have a problem with how we were stopped," Clooten said of the three-and-out. "We ran our bread-and-butter play there and didn't execute it like we should have."
The Bulldogs showed resolve by again fighting back in the fourth quarter, scoring on their first drive to make it 35-21 with 9:20 left. After a stop on defense, Nikiski drove to its 39-yard line before it failed to make a first down by inches. Eielson drove for a touchdown to ice the victory.
"We have a motto: Every person, every play," Clooten said. "We didn't follow through on that as much as we could have."
Ravens 42, Bulldogs 21
Eielson 15 13 7 7 ‹ 42
Nikiski 8 0 6 7 ‹ 21
1st Quarter
Eie ‹ Rogers 50 run (Broussard kick), 5:01
Nik ‹ Tumbaga 15 run (Holloway pass from McGahan), 2:12
Eie ‹ Skinner 15 run (Skinner run), 1:37
2nd Quarter
Eie ‹ Holt 22 pass from Skinner (kick failed), 4:46
Eie ‹ Scales 90 pass from Skinner (Broussard kick), 0:40
3rd Quarter
Nik ‹ McGahan 81 kickoff return (kick failed), 11:43
Eie ‹ Rogers 17 run (Broussard kick), 1:03
4th Quarter
Nik ‹ Tumbaga 1 run (Blatchford kick), 9:20
Eie ‹ McKee 2 run (Broussard kick), 3:46
Eielson Nikiski
First downs 12 13
Rushes-yards 39-263 50-211
Passing yards 195 42
Return yards 14 0
Passing 7-13-0 4-5-1
Punts-avg 1-31 3-14.3
Fumbles-lost 1-1 3-1
Penalties-yards 11-100 1-5
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing ‹ Eielson: Wright 5-19, Rogers 17-125, Skinner 9-87, McKee 6-29, Horn 2-3. Nikiski: Mazurek 13-82, Tumbaga 24-121, McGahan 12-7, Hemphill 1-1.
Passing ‹ Eielson: Skinner 7-13-0-195. Nikiski: McGahan 3-4-1-20, Hemphill 1-1-0-22.
Receiving ‹ Eielson: Finney 1-35, Holt 2-39, McKee 1-17, Scales 2-99, Rogers 1-5. Nikiski: Blatchford 1-4, Holloway 1-20, Hemphill 1-(-4), McGahan 1-22.
The turn of events at the end of the half put Nikiski in a big hole, but McGahan's touchdown return to start the second half showed the Bulldogs had plenty of fight left.
