The visiting Kenai Central football team defeated Kodiak 49-6 on Friday in Mid Alaska Conference play.
The Kardinals finish the regular season at 4-1 in the conference and 6-2 overall and will be in the Division III playoffs.
Kodiak, at 1-4 and 1-6, does not qualify for the playoffs. The Bears had started their season with a 37-0 loss to the Kardinals in nonconference action.
Also in the conference, Barrow defeated Homer 22-6 on Saturday and Houston topped Redington 52-0 on Saturday.
Barrow finishes 4-1 and 5-2, Houston finishes 4-1 and 7-1, Homer finishes 2-3 and 4-4 and Redington finishes 0-5 and 0-8.
Top seed Kenai will host No. 4 Homer on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Division III semifinals, while No. 2 Barrow will host No. 3 Houston at noon Saturday in the other semifinal.
The Kardinals received huge games from quarterback Zeke Yragui and receiver Sawyer Vann.
Yragui was 11 of 18 for five touchdowns and 204 yards, while also rushing for 56 yards and a touchdown on four carries.
Three of those touchdown tosses went to Vann, who caught three balls for 91 yards in the game. Vann also kicked a 29-yard field goal.
Kodiak actually took a 6-0 lead in the game, but Kenai’s defense dominated from there, giving up 42 yards on the ground and 9 yards in the air for the game.
The Kardinals led 7-6 after a quarter, 16-6 at halftime and 24-6 after three quarters.
Cole Langham and Makai Johansen also had touchdown catches for the Kardinals, while Bobby Hayes had a touchdown run.
Friday
Kardinals 49, Bears 6
Kenai 7 9 8 25 —49
Kodiak 6 0 0 0 —6
1st Quarter
Kod — Hughes 1 pass from Anderson (pass failed), 4:46.
Ken — Vann 51 pass from Yragui (Vann kick), :05.
2nd Quarter
Ken — Vann 29 field goal, 7:13.
Ken — Yragui 44 run (run failed), 2:59.
3rd Quarter
Ken — Langham 34 pass from Yragui (Hayes run), 2:26.
4th Quarter
Ken — Hayes 1 run (Vann kick), 5:56.
Ken — Johansen 26 pass from Yragui (kick failed), 5:40.
Ken — Vann 7 pass from Yragui (kick failed), 5:16.
Ken — Vann 33 pass from Yragui (kick failed), :00.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Kenai: Yragui 4-56, Wilson 12-28, Hayes 8-54. Kodiak: Macapugay 2-13, Canaveral 3-16, Anderson 13-(-30), Bungay 15-33, Loya 2-7, Timu 1-3.
Passing — Kenai: Yragui 11-18-0—204. Kodiak: Anderson 4-11-1—9.
Receiving — Kenai: Johansen 2-32, Langham 2-31, Hayes 4-50, Vann 3-91. Kodiak: Hughes 2-6, Canaveral 1-(-2), Ferris 1-5.
Barrow 22, Homer 6
The host Whalers avenged a 38-12 loss to the Mariners on the first week of the season.
Homer coach Justin Zank said his defense played well, but ultimately the Mariners made too many mistakes to win.
For instance, on the opening drive Barrow recovered an onside kick. Homer made the Whalers go three-and-out, but fumbled away the punt. Homer then put Barrow in a fourth-and-long situation, but the Whalers converted it due to pass interference and ultimately scored.
Zank said the Mariners can’t blame the Barrow weather for not putting points on the board.
“We weren’t executing,” he said. “The weather wasn’t terrible. In the third quarter, the sun even came out.”
Zank said Homer was down 16-0 pretty quick and held it there, even cutting it to 16-6 in the fourth quarter on a Chris Martishev rush.
“Barrow played a heck of a game,” Zank said. “They’re big and physical.”
The coach said inside linebacker Wyatt Counts, cornerback Landan Branstetter, outside linebacker Martishev and outside linebacker Jake Tappan all played solid games.
Barrow had 195 yards rushing and 33 passing, while Homer rushed for 109 and passed for 13. Martishev led the way with 58 yards on 11 carries. Gabriel Ortilla had 16 rushes for 100 yards for Barrow.
Kenai defeated Homer 29-8 on Sept. 2. Zank wasn’t happy with the way the Kards established the inside run game in that contest.
“If I’m Kenai, I do more of the same and try to pound it at us,” he said. “We’re going to have to make some adjustments to stop the run and play physical, but we’ve been playing pretty physical the last four weeks.”
On offense, Zank also said Homer must play better.
“We have to believe in ourselves is what it comes down to,” he said. “When things are going well, we score a bunch in the quarter.
“When we face adversity, we have a difficult time overcoming it.”
