Homer knocks off Kenai for 2nd DIII title in 3 years

The Homer football team won its second Division III state title in three years by knocking off defending state champion Kenai Central 16-0 on Saturday at Veterans Memorial Field at Wasilla High School.

The matchup featured two squads which had to battle adversity all season, so it’s no surprise the victor had to persevere on a sunny day in the low 30s.

Homer (5-5), the No. 4 seed in the playoffs, had senior captain quarterback Preston Stanislaw get injured in Week 4 of the season. He didn’t start working his way back into the lineup at quarterback until Week 8, when the Mariners were closing the season with three straight losses that all occurred at home.

Kenai (5-5), the No. 3 seed, had 22 seniors in the program to help author a state title defense. A constant string of injuries depleted that depth throughout the season, but the Kardinals still had won four of their last five heading into the championship game.

“I think both Homer and us were just kind of playing on borrowed time, and our time ran out before theirs did,” Kenai head coach Jake Brand said.

Included in Homer’s three-game losing streak was a 39-8 loss to Kenai in Week 8. That came after a 21-0 loss to the Kards in Week 1 and two losses to Kenai last season.

“This is just the most perfect way to end the season, especially as a senior,” Homer wide receiver Irimey Reutov said. “Losing to these guys twice in the season, just overcoming all those mistakes, and getting the win in the end.”

Homer head coach Justin Zank said a 6-0 victory at No. 1 seed Barrow in the semifinals had his team believing coming into the final.

“We were 0-4 against Kenai the past two years,” Zank said. “This year, 0-2, with that beatdown two weeks ago.

“It’s hard to beat a good team twice, let alone three times in the season. That gave our guys a little incentive to come out and play the way they did today.”

Just as against Barrow, Homer won primarily due to defense.

“I have the best defensive coaches in the state, and they drew up back-to-back shutouts,” Zank said.

Kenai won the field position battle, starting four of its 11 drives in Homer territory. The Mariners started just one of their 10 drives in Kardinals territory.

In preserving the shutout, Homer stopped drives at the Mariners 5-yard line (turnover on downs), 10-yard line (missed field goal) and 16-yard line (missed field goal).

“We just kept playing as a team and making good tackles and playing like it was in the middle of the field,” Homer senior safety Austin Briscoe said. “We stopped them every time.

“We just knew that we would do it and believed that, and we achieved it.”

The Kardinals rushed 35 times for 62 yards and had 47 yards of passing. The longest play Homer allowed was 16 yards.

Through three quarters, Kenai’s defense was just as dominant. The deepest Homer drove was to the Kenai 24.

Stanislaw, also a middle linebacker, got to play three possessions on offense before injuring his left ankle on defense and leaving the game for good. A right ankle injury had plagued Stanislaw during the regular season.

“I was on the sidelines and had a little moment,” Stanislaw said. “But I got to them, I was like, ‘Just keep pushing, just keep going.’

“I had full confidence in them as soon as CJ stepped in there.”

Junior CJ Burns had filled in for Stanislaw in the regular season. The offense did not get off to a good start with Burns at quarterback, with two straight three-and-outs that featured four fumbles, all of which Homer recovered. The Mariners fumbled six times in the game and recovered all of them.

“Our kids did an amazing job this year, and their luck just kind of ran out,” Brand said. “They forced a bunch of fumbles. We just couldn’t get our hands on it.”

Under Burns, the Mariners gained 23 yards in their first five drives. Then, with 16 seconds left in the third quarter, Homer got the ball on its own 20 after Kenai missed a field goal.

“We just knew we needed to get a touchdown,” Burns said. “I think everyone just locked in a little bit more and just dug down.”

Homer marched to the end zone in 15 plays. Burns capped the drive with a 15-yard scoring plunge with 4:28 to play. Justus Grimes tacked on the two-point conversion.

“We got CJ settled down at quarterback, and then the O line and wide receivers started blocking in the run game,” Zank said. “We just kept overcoming adversity, just like the season.”

On the next drive, Homer’s Jackson Snaric made an interception at the Kenai 40.

The Mariners offense kept right on rolling — after recovering a fumble on the first play of the drive — with Burns scoring from 1-yard out with 0:11 to play to cap a nine-play drive. Burns had hit 1 of his 7 passes prior to the final two drives, then went 4 of 4 on the final two drives.

Yet the Mariners were strangely subdued in their celebrations. Or, perhaps, not strangely subdued when one thinks back to Kenai scoring twice in the final minute for a 21-16 victory over Homer in last season’s semifinals.

“Ever since that game, it’s not over until you see :00 on that clock,” Stanislaw said.

The Mariners also were helped by their 2022 title — the first in school history. That year, Homer lost to Houston 46-0 in the regular season before pulling off a 22-20 upset in the state final.

“We talked about it as a team leading up to this game the entire week, how it was very similar,” Zank said. “We got beat down by this team the entire season.”

Brand said he’s proud of how his team kept fighting through all the injuries this season. He said three of the team’s players were actually having surgery over the weekend.

“All of those seniors, they’re just great people,” Brand said. “The champions last year, runner-up this year. That’s two pretty distinguished years of football.”

The Mariners won the academic award with a team grade-point average of 3.37.

The players of the game were Rohan Hansen, Bobby Hayes and Sawyer Vann of Kenai, and Joaquin Jackson, Donovan Milstead and Burns of Homer.

Saturday

Mariners 16, Kardinals 0

Hom 0 0 0 16 —16

Ken 0 0 0 0 —0

4th Quarter

Hom — Burns 15 run (Grimes run), 4:28.

Hom — Burns 1 run (Burns run), 0:16.

Hom Ken

First downs 12 6

Rushing yards 46-143 35-62

Passing yards 82 47

Comp-att-int 8-16-0 4-11-1

Return yards 43 49

Punts 4-34.5 4-32.0

Fumbles 6-0 1-0

Penalties 7-58 2-10

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing — Homer: Stanislaw 8-8, Jackson 18-48, Burns 14-66, Grimes 3-9, N. Reutov 3-12. Kenai: Hayes 18-38, Perez 5-(-8), Campanella 5-13, McCanna 7-19.

Passing — Homer: Burns 5-11-0—51, Stanislaw 3-5-0—31. Kenai: Perez 4-11-1—47.

Receiving — Homer: Jackson 3-14, Pearson 1-16, Burns 1-12, I. Reutov 3-40. Kenai: Vann 3-31, James 1-16.

Missed FG — Vann 28 blocked, Vann 35 wide right.