Kenai defeats Barrow for Division III football crown

Long odds best beware when they are faced by Zeke Yragui and the Kenai Central football team.

The Kardinals defeated Barrow 20-8 for the Division III state title Saturday on a rainy afternoon at Service High School in Anchorage.

The Kardinals (8-2 overall) won their seventh state championship and first since 2011, while the Whalers (6-3) failed to add to their lone title in 2017 and also lost in a state final for the fourth time.

Kenai has a proud football tradition, with three of the top eight coaches on the state all-time wins list having spent time at the school.

After losing the medium-schools state final to Soldotna in 2015, though, the Kardinals only made the playoffs once from 2016 through 2022.

In 2021, Kenai was 1-2 in the Mid Alaska Conference and 2-4 overall, but was aided in getting a postseason spot when Barrow shut its season down due to the pandemic.

“We just got cheated in,” Yragui said. “We didn’t deserve that.”

Last season, Jake Brand’s first as head coach, Kenai missed the playoffs, finishing 4-4 overall. The coach said the team lost 25 or 26 seniors and every starter on both sides of the ball.

“We looked up to a lot of the seniors and they left, obviously,” Kenai running back William Wilson said. “So I thought it was going to be — well, it is a young team — but a really young team.

“I didn’t have much faith in it.”

How did Kenai overcome long odds to win another state title?

“It’s the kids,” Brand said. “When you have kids that are that dedicated and love each other that much and love the sport that much, turnover is not a big deal.

“To work with these kids is a dream come true. They show up to everything. They show up to weight room. They show up to offseason camps. They started this season at spring camp at the end of last school year.”

In the Division III semifinal, Yragui and the Kardinals overcame long odds to defeat Homer, scoring twice in the final minute — on a Yragui run and then on a Yragui pass to Bobby Hayes — to win 21-16.

In the state final, it was offensive plays that overcame long odds and a dominant defense that won it for the Kards.

Neither team moved the ball consistently.

Barrow had just 127 yards of total offense, and 53 of those came on a pass play with under 3 minutes left in the game when the Kards were leading 20-0.

“We might have even overprepared a bit,” said Kenai senior middle linebacker Elliot Haakenson, who was given defensive player of the game by the coaches. “We practiced hard all week.”

The defense turned Barrow over four times. Haakenson, Cole Langham and Aasen Campanella had fumble recoveries, while Sawyer Vann had an interception.

“We have one of the best defenses in the state, or the best,” said Yragui, also a safety, of the unit that allowed 82 points in 10 games. “We’ve had the least amount of points scored on ourselves.

“We always rely on defense.”

And on Yragui’s resourcefulness as a playmaker.

Kenai had 155 yards of total offense. The Kards had three scoring drives, and other than that went three-and-out three times, got intercepted three plays into a drive, had a drive make two first downs before stalling, and had the ball at the end of both halves.

All of the scoring drives faced long down-and-distance situations. Yragui had seemingly harmless totals of 16 rushes for 32 yards and 5 of 11 passing for 62 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, but he had a hand in all the big offensive plays that decided the game.

On the opening drive of the game, Yragui hit Langham on a 14-yard pass to convert a third-and-eight, then had a 30-yard scramble on fourth-and-10 to set the Kards up at the Barrow 6-yard line.

“We’d call a play that sends everyone deep,” Yragui said. “It was just a designed QB run, and then I’d follow William (Wilson) as my lead blocker.

“They weren’t too keen on it until late in the second quarter.”

Yragui capped the drive by hitting Vann with an 8-yard scoring pass.

Kenai then went three-and-out three straight times until starting at the Barrow 38 with 6:55 left until halftime.

On the drive, Yragui faced third-and-six, and got it on a 10-yard scramble. He faced third-and-12, and scrambled 12 yards for a first down.

“He had a lot of good runs,” Wilson said of Yragui. “I’d just pick a side and go through the big gap, and he follows me. He usually got a ton of yards on it.”

Wilson capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown to give Kenai a 14-0 advantage with 1:58 to play until half.

“We just came out flat,” Barrow coach Chris Battle said. “We didn’t have momentum or juice until the end.

“We could play with those guys. We could have given a better showing for the community. It was a good run for us, but we’re better than that.”

Brand said he respects Battle a lot. That’s why, in the middle of the third quarter, Kenai started taking maximum time off the clock between each play.

With 9:20 left in the fourth quarter, Kenai started the clinching scoring drive on the Barrow 38.

On the drive, Wilson gained 15 yards on a fourth-and-2, Yragui drew a roughing the passer on a third-and-17, then Yragui hit Makai Johansen with a 21-yard pass on third-and-14 to make it 20-0 with 3:19 left.

Gabriel Ortilla would score for Barrow on a 1-yard run with 48 seconds left.

When Brand moved from Los Angeles to teach physical education at Mountain View Elementary, his first class included fifth-graders Yragui, Haakenson and lineman Wyatt Cole.

Could he have predicted a state title with the trio?

“If there were any three kids that were going to help us win a state title, it’d be those three kids,” said Brand, who has since moved to KCHS and taught the three all four years there. “They’re pretty special kids.”

Yragui was named the offensive player of the game by coaches. Haakenson and Wilson lauded the quarterback for his even demeanor no matter the situation.

“He’s always been like that,” Brand said. “He never complains. He never makes it about himself. He’s not a front-runner. He’s not a superstar, other than his ability.

“He’s just a very unselfish player, loves his teammates, and loves to play hard.”

Said Yragui: “I don’t get nervous at all. I just react to what I see.”

Yragui did see a lot of Barrow senior lineman Uatahouse Tuifua breaking into the backfield, while Ethan Goodwin had an interception for the Whalers. Battle said Tuifua had a great game, adding that he’s thankful for everything all the seniors and the community did for the team.

The Kenai Central community also was out in force, complete with cheerleaders and a marching band.

“I think this is kind of the rebirth of football culture there,” said Brand, who is in his sixth year coaching in the program. “It has not been a football school in a long time.

“So this year is probably going to turn the tide. It’s been a big community push. Obviously, the families of these players are incredibly supportive. And they’re all in for their kids.”

Barrow won the academic award for the Division III playoffs, while outstanding championship game player awards were given at the awards ceremony to Ortilla, Cole, Wilson, Kenai’s Logan Myers, Tuifua and Yragui. Yragui and Tuifua also were given player of the game awards.

Saturday

Kardinals 20, Whalers 8

Bar 0 0 0 8 —8

Ken 6 8 0 6 —20

1st Quarter

Ken — Vann 8 pass from Yragui (kick failed), 9:02.

2nd Quarter

Ken — Wilson 1 run (Hayes run), 1:58.

4th Quarter

Ken — Johansen 21 pass from Yragui (kick failed), 3:19.

Bar — Ortilla 1 run (Ortilla run), 0:48.

Bar Ken

First Downs 6 10

Rushing Yards 32-68 46-91

Passing Yards 59 64

Comp-Att-Int 3-7-1 5-11-1

Return Yards 0 0

Punts 4-30.5 4-31.8

Fumbles 0-0 6-3

Penalties 6-50 7-56

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Rushing — Barrow: Dias 7-27, Elavgak 8-(-4), Ortilla 12-64, Unutoa 4-(-19), Tuifua 1-0. Kenai: Yragui 16-32, Hayes 11-34, Wilson 19-25.

Passing — Barrow: Unutoa 3-7-1—59. Yragui 5-11-1—64.

Receiving — Barrow: Goodwin 2-56, Ortilla 1-3. Kenai: Hayes 1-12, Langham 1-14, Vann 2-17, Johansen 1-21.