Seward tops Nikiski to collect Fish Bowl for 3rd straight season

The host Seward football team celebrated homecoming by defeating Nikiski 70-0 on Friday at Roger Steinbrecher Memorial Field.

The Seahawks clinched the Fish Bowl — given to the winner of the final regular season game between the two schools — for the third straight time. The award began in 2019 and Seward won it for the first time three years ago.

“Fish Bowl. Homecoming. Senior year. Last time playing Nikiski,” said Seward’s Lane Petersen, who had an interception and a touchdown catch. “It was really good to be with the guys and I’m really happy with the team we have this year.”

Seward moved to 2-1 in the Denali Conference and 5-1 overall, while the Bulldogs are 1-2 and 1-4.

The Student Wrestling Development Program is 3-0 and 5-0 and has clinched the top seed in the nine-man playoffs and a first-round bye. SWDP travels to play Nikiski at 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3. The Bulldogs are eliminated from playoff contention.

Seward hosts Monroe Catholic (2-1, 3-3) at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3. The game will determine which of those two gets to host the other in a first-round playoff matchup.

The Seahawks started slow with Emerson Cross losing a fumble to Nikiski’s Brock McCaughey on the game’s first play from scrimmage. Nikiski went four-and-out, then Kaiden Parrish stopped the next Seward drive by intercepting Cross on the Nikiski 4-yard line.

Cross quickly made amends.

The next play, he made a tackle for a safety. Cross went on to pass for three touchdowns and run for another. He led Seward with 79 yards on the ground and went 7 of 10 for 58 yards through the air.

“We don’t want to start like that, but they came back and fought and did the right things to make up for it,” Seward head coach Tyler Mallory said.

Nikiski lost Rex Wittmer, the versatile lineman and running back, to injury on its first offensive play of the game. Parrish, a dynamic runner, also was lost to injury in the first quarter.

“We had a lot of young guys that had to play different positions and they played hard,” Nikiski coach Mark Smith said. “But Seward has a championship mentality. They were a little bit more aggressive and executed better.

“When you’re down two of your better players, that’s what happens.”

The Seahawks led 14-0 after the first quarter on scoring runs by Cross and Cai Turner.

“We really wanted to get our run game going tonight, and I feel like we did that,” Petersen said. “Our line was able to open gaps for our running backs — Camden Schrock and Cai Turner. They were amazing tonight — and Ridge Conant too.”

The rest of the game, turnovers piled up for Nikiski. Quinn Humbert had two fumble recoveries and an interception for Seward, while Kohana Albino and Micah Brueckner also had fumble recoveries.

The Seahawks led 54-0 at the half. In the second quarter, Cross had scoring passes to Petersen, Brueckner and Hayden Campbell. Humbert had a punt return for touchdown, while Conant scored on a run.

The clock ran throughout the second half, with Conant and Chiron Cross scoring on runs in the third quarter.

“I was super happy defensively with zero points,” Mallory said. “Even our number twos came in and fought really hard and really played well in the second half.”

Mallory liked the games of Emerson Cross and Turner. He added Hunter Price was a force on defense and blocked like a monster on offense.

Smith said Ulson Wall played with great effort on defense, while Ross McGee had great snaps at center. Smith added Mason Doth had some nice catches.

“Ryder Maguire had to do pretty much everything,” Smith said of the quarterback and linebacker. “He toughed it out and did a great job leading this team.”

Mallory said the Bulldogs don’t have any seniors and will return strong next season.

“I think in life, we get knocked down quite a bit, and stuff’s difficult, and it’s about how we respond to those things,” Smith said. “I think that’s what football teaches you. How do you respond when stuff doesn’t go the way you want it to go? When life beats you down?”

Friday

Seahawks 70, Bulldogs 0

Nik 0 0 0 0 —0

Sew 14 40 16 0 —70

1st Quarter

Sew — E. Cross safety, 8:00.

Sew — E. Cross 47 run (run failed), 7:25.

Sew — Turner 29 run (pass failed), 4:14.

2nd Quarter

Sew — Petersen 4 pass from E. Cross (E. Cross run), 10:20.

Sew — Brueckner 4 pass from E. Cross (Schrock run), 10:14.

Sew — Humbert 54 punt return (Turner run), 7:48.

Sew — Campbell 5 pass from E. Cross (E. Cross run), 6:55.

Sew — Conant 19 run (Shrock run), 2:09.

3rd Quarter

Sew — Conant 7 run (C. Cross), 8:44.

Sew — C. Cross 1 run (Price run), 0:51.

Nik Sew

First downs 6 11

Rushing yards -6 302

Passing yards 49 72

Comp-att-int 6-16-2 8-11-1

Return yards 44 96

Punts 4-35.3 0-0

Fumbles 6-4 1-1

Penalties 4-25 2-25

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Rushing — Nikiski: Wittmer 1-0, Maguire 10-0, Wall 1-2, Doth 1-1, B. McCaughey 4-(-5), Parrish 2-(-1), Nasibog 1-(-8), T. McCaughey 2-5, Broussard 1-0. Seward: E. Cross 7-79, Turner 8-60, Petersen 1-26, Schrock 8-71, C. Cross 5-33, Conant 3-33.

Passing — Nikiski: Maguire 6-16-2—49. Seward: E. Cross 7-10-1—58, C. Cross 1-1-0—14.

Receiving — Nikiski: Doth 4-23, Nelson 2-26. Seward: Campbell 3-21, Petersen 2-24, Brueckner 1-4, Schrock 1-9, Humbert 1-14.