Brantley Jr. runs record to 160-9 to take over top of Alaska football wins list

There’s no place like home.

On a field where he played his high school football, on homecoming, with family members in attendance as they always are, Soldotna head coach Galen Brantley Jr. got a 57-21 victory over West Valley on Friday to move to the top of the wins list for Alaska coaches.

Brantley Jr., who has spent all of his 18 years as a head coach at SoHi, is now 160-9, passing the 159 of Rod Christiansen, who spent his whole career at Palmer and retired in 2018 after 28 seasons.

“There’s no place I’d rather be than right here,” Brantley Jr., a 1993 SoHi graduate, told the crowd in a ceremony after the game. “I couldn’t be part of a better community. I’ve been surrounded by phenomenal coaches for a long time.

“I just can’t thank you guys enough.”

The game was delayed 20 minutes by a thunderstorm, but the Stars wasted little time assuring Brantley Jr. would not have to wait another week for the record.

SoHi led 49-0 when the starters were pulled with 4:25 left in the second quarter in the Railbelt Conference contest. SoHi is 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the league, while West Valley is 3-1 and 1-1.

After SoHi lost the Division II state title game to Lathrop in 2022 for Brantley Jr.’s ninth loss, then-sophomore Wyatt Faircloth shook his coach’s hand, looked him in the eye, and told him a 10th loss would not come on Faircloth’s watch.

So far, it’s a promise kept.

“I love Brantley like a father, man,” Faircloth said. “He’s been there for me when other people haven’t been.

“I would have done the world for Brantley.”

When Faircloth was asked what the primary factor is for Brantley’s sprint to the wins record, he said it’s relationships like that.

“He loves every player the same,” Faircloth said. “If a player needs him, he’ll be there for him.”

In the first quarter, Andon Wolverton had scoring runs of 53 and 17 yards, Matthew Schilling caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Owen Buckbee and Faircloth scored from 36 yards out.

In the second quarter, Lokeni Wong scored from 30, Jaykob Kemp scored from 52 and Wolverton scored from 20.

“We’re as talented as we’ve ever been backfield-wise,” Brantley Jr. said. “We’re calling normal stuff, and eventually one of those guys just breaks a play and scores a touchdown.”

The coach said the Stars also get a lot of leadership out of the backfield in captains Wong, Kemp and Faircloth. Lineman Kenai Lepule also is a captain.

“They’re all products of our program who understand the culture,” Brantley Jr. said. “They’re really trying hard to bring everybody with them in the right direction.”

West Valley head coach David DeVaughn is fourth on the wins list with 147 in a combined 25 seasons at Eielson and West Valley. He is in his fifth year with the Wolfpack.

DeVaughn said it’s that SoHi culture that makes the Stars so hard to beat.

“He surrounds himself with great staff,” DeVaughn said. “He connects with the kids. He holds them to a higher standard that has grown into an even bigger monster, if that’s even possible.”

Christiansen, reached earlier in the week, said he wished he could have been there for Brantley Jr.’s accomplishment.

“He’s kept one thing that’s led to success,” the former Palmer coach said. “He hasn’t jumped at, in the fishing terminology down there, every little worm that comes by, or every new thing.

“A lot of those coaches want to do a bunch of fancy college and pro football stuff. You’re coaching high school football.”

Brantley Jr. said he’ll change about 20% of what the Stars do every year to keep opponents honest, but the systems stay the same.

“Football’s a weird game that you can make really complicated and confusing for kids if you let it,” Brantley Jr. said. “The thing we really grasp ahold of is to make it less confusing for them, so they can play fast and physical.”

SoHi athletic director Phil Leck started the postgame ceremony by giving Brantley Jr. a plaque commemorating the achievement.

Brain Walden, father of former SoHi players and now assistants Trent and Trevor Walden, gave Brantley Jr. a display box for 13 SoHi state championship rings — 12 won as head coach, the other as assistant.

Brantley Jr. then addressed the crowd before posing for photos with his family, current and former players and staff, and current and former administrators.

The coach said the best thing for him was the inclusion of family and extended family in the ceremony.

“Anybody that’s really sacrificed a lot to run a program like this one — it’s a big undertaking,” Brantley Jr. said. “My wife, my kids, my parents, my brothers and sisters — I’ve got a great support network.”

In addition to wife, Stacy; and son Elias; Brantley Jr. said other family present were niece and former manager Annie McKean; father, Galen Sr.; mother, Patty; sister, Brenda Quinn; and brothers Josh and Jeremy Brantley.

Both Josh and Jeremy also played SoHi football, with all but one of those years coming when Brantley Jr. was not coaching yet. So the SoHi head coach said the neat thing is his mother had over 10 years volunteering for the program before her son started coaching.

Evan Harris had a 62-yard run for the Wolfpack, while Zaire Stebbins scored from 18 and Greyson DeVaughn scored from 13.

Schilling and Dax Walden had interceptions for the Stars, while Liam Peck recovered a fumble.

Like Brantley Jr., David DeVaughn has no idea how long he’ll keep coaching. He said it’d be an honor to be in the same conversation as Buck Nystrom, the former Eielson and North Pole coach third on the list at 150 wins. DeVaughn played for Nystrom.

“25 years has been awhile, so I don’t know,” DeVaughn said as he was preparing to spend a second night in the SoHi weight room on an air mattress. “I promised nothing past this year, but as long as I’m still having fun, I’m going to keep doing it.”

The Stars travel to Palmer for a game at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13.

“The best part of it is next week no one will be talking about it anymore,” Brantley Jr. said. “The focus will be back on the kids and their performance instead of this.”

Stars 57, Wolfpack 21

Sol 28 21 0 8 —57

SV 0 7 7 7 —21

1st Quarter

Sol — Wolverton 53 run (Lu. Hillyer kick), 9:59.

Sol — Wolverton 17 run (Lu. Hillyer kick), 6:23.

Sol — Schilling 26 pass from Buckbee (Lu. Hillyer kick), 4:51.

Sol — Faircloth 36 run (Lu. Hillyer kick), 2:18.

2nd Quarter

Sol — Wong 30 run (Lu. Hillyer kick), 10:54.

Sol — J. Kemp 52 run (Lu. Hillyer kick), 8:36.

Sol — Wolverton 20 run (Lu. Hillyer kick), 6:36.

WV — Harris 62 run (Lassey kick), 1:10.

3rd Quarter

WV — Stebbins 18 run (Lassey kick), 10:54.

4th Quarter

Sol — Buckbee 1 run (Hall run), 11:30.

WV — DeVaughn 13 run (Lassey kick), 6:02.

Sol WV

First downs 9 9

Rushing yards 44-383 32-230

Passing yards 26 0

Comp-att-int 1-4-0 0-5-2

Return yards — 4-69 6-107

Punts 1-43 4-17.5

Fumbles 1-0 1-1

Penalties 6-55 6-40

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Rushing — Soldotna: Wolverton 5-97, J. Kemp 5-66, Faircloth 6-63, Weed 3-31, Wong 1-30, La. Hillyer 1-12, Buckbee 4-9, Walden 2-8, Estreera 1-2, Cooper 1-(-4), Piscoya 3-(-8), Z. Kemp 3-(-12). West Valley: Harris 8-93, Stebbins 10-90, DeVaughn 8-41, Nield 2-13, Glynn 1-9, Rogers 3-(-16).

Passing — Soldotna: Buckbee 1-2-0—26, Z. Kemp 0-2-0—0. West Valley: Rogers 0-5-2—0.

Receiving — Soldotna: Schilling 1-26. West Valley: none.