The Soldotna football team notched a 57-16 Northern Lights Conference victory in Kodiak on Saturday.
The Stars, who moved to 2-0 in the NLC and 5-1 overall, went down early to the Bears (0-2, 0-6). Micah Bartel scored on an 8-yard run with 6:45 left in the first quarter.
After that, the Soldotna offensive and defensive machine that has become so familiar to fans over the years took over.
The Stars produced 469 yards on 39 carries while holding Kodiak to 180 yards of offense.
Wyatt Medcoff had 147 yards and three touchdowns on just six carries, while Aaron Faletoi rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown on four carries.
The Stars also were efficient through the air, with Jersey Truesdell finishing 4 of 5 for 62 yards and two touchdowns. Both of those scoring strikes went to Galen Brantley III, who had two catches for 38 yards.
Also scoring for the Stars were Cam Johnson and Dennis Taylor.
Monroe Catholic 22, Nikiski 6
Senior safety Isaac Minnema had three interceptions as the host Rams notched a nonconference victory over the Bulldogs on Friday.
Monroe, which celebrated its homecoming, moves to 4-2 with the victory, while Nikiski sits at 3-3.
Minnema returned his first interception of the night 37 yards to give the Rams a 6-0 lead with six seconds left in the first quarter. Late in the third quarter, Minnema returned an interception 54 yards for a 22-6 lead.
Minnema’s third interception didn’t put points on the board, but kept them off the board. He had the interception in the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Minnema’s incredible game helped the Rams win a game where the offense turned the ball over on its first five possessions of the evening.
Nikiski’s lone score of the night was a 29-yard touchdown pass from Noah Litke to Michael Eiter. That score put the Bulldogs down 8-6.
As usual, Litke and Eiter would cause problems all game. Litke was 9 of 22 for 142 yards, but had three interceptions. Eiter caught five balls for 101 yards.
Sam Berry paced Nikiski with 56 yards on 14 carries.
For Monroe, Josh Gray had 131 yards on 17 carries and Isaac Garcia had 75 yards on 12 carries.
Houston 38, Seward 0
The Hawks used 26 points in the second half to cruise past host Seward in Peninsula Conference play Friday.
Houston was coming off a big 22-20 victory over Ketchikan. Seward served notice early that it would be a tough game by marching more than 70 yards on their opening drive only to be stopped 1 yard short of a touchdown.
Houston led 12-0 at half, then upped the tempo in the second half to pull away. Apete Sasiu had a pair of touchdowns for the Hawks.
The Hawks are now 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the league, and can win the conference title next week whey they host Nikiski. However, Houston also could still finish out of the playoffs.
Seward drops to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in league play.
The Mat-Su Frontiersman and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner contributed to this report.
Ketchikan 48, Homer 12
The visiting Kings went down early but stormed back for a Peninsula Conference victory over the Mariners on Saturday.
The Kings moved to 2-1 in the league and 4-1 overall, while Homer fell to 0-2 and 0-6.
Anthony Kalugin got the Mariners on the board first with a 10-yard run with 5:51 left in the first quarter.
Kalugin would also score in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach. He had 76 yards rushing on 21 carries and also was 7 of 22 through the air for 180 yards and three interceptions.
Ketchikan’s dynamic passing game would quickly restore order to the affair. Brendan Wong finished 11 of 23 for 325 yards, five touchdowns and an interception. His best target was Brandon Wieber, who grabbed six balls for 179 yards and three touchdowns.
After Kalugin’s early score, Ketchikan scored 42 unanswered points.
Saturday
Kings 48, Mariners 12
Ketchikan 6 15 14 13 — 48
Homer 6 0 0 6 — 12
1st Quarter
Hom — Kalugin 10 run (kick failed), 5:51.
Ket — Byron 6 run (kick failed), 4:53.
2nd Quarter
Ket — Wieber 10 pass from Wong (Wong run), 9:41.
Ket — Roof 16 pass from Wong (Malouf kick), 5:18.
3rd Quarter
Ket — Wieber 25 pass from Wong (Jasper kick), 4:45.
Ket — Jasper 52 pass from Wong (Malouf kick), 1:32.
4th Quarter
Ket — Wieber 88 pass from Wong (Malouf kick), 8:25.
Hom — Kalugin 9 run (pass failed), 5:29.
Ket — Malouf 58 run (kick failed), 4:32.
Ket Hom
First downs 20 17
Rushes-yards 24-175 43-161
Passing yards 325 205
Comp-att-int 11-23-1 8-23-3
Return yards 70 0
Punts-avg 1-45 3-29
Fumbles 0-0 3-3
Penalties 5-49 8-50
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Ketchikan: Wong 3-13, Malouf 1-58, Jasper 3-21, Pihl 2-7, Roof 8-73, Morris 1-(-3), James 1-2, Byron 2-4, Carlson 3-0. Homer: Dash 1-2, Bradshaw 2-7, Kalugin 21-76, Konev 0-0, Gaona 6-4, Wood 2-(-8), Mann 11-80.
Passing — Ketchikan: Wong 11-23-1—325; Homer: Kalugin 7-22-3—180, Mann 1-1-0—25.
Receiving — Ketchikan: Jasper 2-85, Pihl 2-45, Roof 1-16, Wieber 6-179. Homer: Hrenchir 1-31, Kalugin 1-25, Konev 6-149.
Saturday
Stars 57, Bears 16
Soldotna 23 21 7 6 — 57
Kodiak 8 0 0 8 — 16
Sol Kod
First downs 14 9
Rushing 39-469 36-171
Comp-att-int 4-6-0 3-10-1
Passing yards 62 99
Total yards 531 270
Punts 0 2
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1
Penalties-yards 9-70 4-30
First quarter
Kod — Bartel 2 run (Brewer pass from Barton), 6:45
Sol — Faletoi 65 run (Metcalf pass from Truesdell), 6:33
Sol — Medcoff 42 run (Truesdell run), 4:40
Sol — Medcoff 23 run (Truesdell kick), 1:21
Second quarter
Sol — Brantley III 15 pass from Truesdell (Truesdell kick), 9:48
Sol — Brantley III 23 pass from Truesdell (Truesdell kick), 6:02
Sol — Medcoff 55 run (Truesdell kick), 5:29
Third quarter
Sol — Johnson 14 run (Truesdell kick), 9:08
Kod — Bartel 73 run (Manivong pass from Finley), 1:54
Fourth quarter
Sol — Taylor 50 run (run failed), 10:50
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Soldotna: Faletoi 4-104, Medcoff 6-147, Metcalf 2-33, Truesdell 4-18, Brantley III 1-1, Johnson 2-23, Updike 1-(-1), O’Reagan 5-19, Taylor 3-57, Johnson 5-38, Escott 3-24, No. 30 3-6. Kodiak: Bartel 13-128, Finley 14-39, Brewer 1-2, Ekin 1-(-1), Orloff 1-(-4), Barton 6-7.
Passing — Soldotna: Truesdell 4-5-2-0 — 62, Johnson 0-1-0-0 — 0. Kodiak: Finley 3-8-0-1 — 99, Arndt 0-1-0-0 – 0, Barton 0-1-0-0 — 0.
Receiving — Soldotna: Brantley III 2-38, Medcoff 1-15, Metcalf 1-9. Kodiak: Brewer 1-15, Manivong 2-74.
