The visiting Seward football team defeated Kodiak 74-0 on Friday in nonconference action.
The Seahawks are now 4-0 overall, while the Bears are are 0-4.
Seward plays nine-man football, while Kodiak plays Division III 11-man football.
Seahawks head coach Tyler Mallory gave the Bears a ton of credit for making the game happen. While Kodiak played the normal 11 players on offense, Seward got to go with nine on offense.
“Nine-man is a totally different game, especially when it comes to defense,” Mallory said. “You’re trying to cover as much space as you do with 11-man, and it’s not easy to do.
“We’ve been working at it for a couple of years.”
Mallory said when the Bears allowed Seward to go with nine on offense, it eliminated the biggest weakness for the Seahawks.
“Finding offensive linemen is a difficult thing to do,” Mallory said. “I’ve got six kids in the line group this year, and two of them are freshmen.”
In a normal 11-man game, Mallory said the Bears could have matched up a really good defensive lineman on a freshman and things would have been different.
“Their coach, the players, the whole town, the AD, everyone, they were nothing but gracious,” Mallory said. “We’re super appreciative they were willing to make this work on short notice.
“Nothing but kudos to their kids. They played hard.”
In the first quarter, Emerson Cross scored on a 47-yard pass from Brett Gilmore, Noah Price scored on a 22-yard run, Hunter Forshee-Kurtz scored on a 34-yard pass from Cross, Ronan Bickling scored on a 71-yard run and Lane Petersen scored on a 10-yard pass from Gilmore.
Seward had a safety in the second quarter, then Price and Gilmore scored on runs.
Camden Schrock scored a rushing touchdown in the third quarter, while Bickling and Schrock ran for touchdowns in the fourth.
Mallory said Gilmore continues to do an expert job leading a starting offense that has not turned the ball over. The coach liked the way Price ran the ball, and said Jack Gardner continues to be a force on the offensive and defensive lines.
The Seahawks now open their nine-man Denali Conference schedule with a 5 p.m. Friday game in Seward against Nikiski. The Seahawks topped the Bulldogs 54-6 earlier this season.
The game will be the first on Seward’s new artificial turf field.
“They’re a physical team,” Mallory said. “We know that they play hard, they’re not scared to hit, and they want to win.”
Mallory also said it was nice to have football cheerleaders again. The group was in Kodiak, and will cheer again Friday.
Homer 16, Houston 8
The visiting Mariners won their Mid Alaska Conference opener Friday.
Homer is 1-0 in the league and 2-2 overall, while Houston is 1-1 and 1-3.
“It was a gritty win for our dudes,” Homer head coach Justin Zank said. “It was hard hitting, and it was a tough win.
“Houston is always a hostile environment. It’s always difficult for us to be successful there. I’m proud of the guys.”
Homer scored on its first drive. The Mariners picked up a key fourth down on a pass from Preston Stanislaw to Emelian Melkomukov. Stanislaw then punched it in from there.
However, Stanislaw was injured in the first half and CJ Burns came in to run the offense. Zank said Burns did a good job, as did Melkomukov at the receiver position.
The game was tied at 8 until Justus Grimes returned a punt for a touchdown for Homer.
With 44 seconds left, Houston had the ball on the Homer 10-yard line and Grimes made a tackle at the 1-yard line and Houston fumbled the ball out of the end zone to give Homer a touchback.
“Justus Grimes gave up that first touchdown,” Zank said. “They threw it over him. Then he came back and made some huge plays.”
The Mariners now close the season with four straight home Mid Alaska Conference contests, starting with Kodiak at 5 p.m. Friday.
SEAHAWKS 74, BEARS 0
Seward 36 16 8 14 —74
Kodiak 0 0 0 0 — 0
First quarter:
Seward — Cross 47 pass from Gilmore (Bickling run), 11:19
Seward — Price 22 run (pass failed), 7:15
Seward — Forshee-Kurt 34 pass from Cross (Price run), 6:34
Seward — Bickling 71 run (pass failed), 2:49
Seward — Petersen 10 pass from Gilmore (pass failed), :05
Second quarter:
Seward — Safety, 11:12
Seward — Price 5 run (run failed), 7:35
Seward — Gilmore 1 run (Bickling run), 3:50
Third quarter:
Seward — Schrock 12 run (Turner run), 1:03
Fourth quarter:
Seward — Bickling 5 run (Ballard pass from No. 3), 8:29
Seward — Schrock 15 run (run failed), 6:41
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS:
RUSHING — Seward: Price 5-80, Bickling 3-87, Gilmore 6-67, Petersen 1-7, Schrock 5-46. Kodiak: Pascua 11-11, Hill 1-(-4), Anderson 3-(-6), Loya 1-(-1), Sanford 1-(-1), McCarthy 1-(-9).
PASSING — Seward: Gilmore 9-12-0 — 110, Cross 1-1-0 — 34. Kodiak: Anderson 1-11-3 — 41.
RECEIVING — Seward: Petersen 1-13, Cross 5-92, Bickling 1-5, Forshee-Kurtz 2-38. Kodiak: Peterson 1-41.
