The visiting Soldotna football team defeated Bartlett 62-19 on Friday in nonconference action.
The Stars improved to 4-0 overall, still have not punted this season, and also haven’t been held to less than 56 points. The Golden Bears are 1-3.
SoHi head coach Galen Brantley Jr. is now 27-2 against teams from the Municipality of Anchorage, having won his last 15.
Soldotna had 373 offensive yards, with 367 coming on the rush. Bartlett had 330 total, with 247 coming on the rush.
“We felt like that game could have been a lot closer,” Brantley Jr. said. “We’re pretty proud of the kids and their effort this week.
“Their level of execution didn’t allow it to be a game.”
The coach said his record against Anchorage schools is a result of the hard work of the players.
“It’s a credit to our kids buying into the system and putting work in the weight room, classroom and film,” he said. “They have a high understanding of what it takes to execute what we do.
“We feel like we’ll be in a really good spot if we continue on with the pace we set. We’ll be very dangerous at the end of the year.”
The Golden Bears got on the board first with a 46-yard run by Tavita Lauvale, but Soldotna answered with touchdown runs by Gehret Medcoff and Collin Peck.
SoHi lineman Theo Huff then made a big play when he forced a fumble on a handoff and Zac Buckbee picked it up and raced 40 yards for a 21-6 lead.
“That started to break it open,” Brantley Jr. said.
The Stars led 35-12 at the half, with Medcoff scoring on a run and Trevor Michael scoring on a pass from Buckbee in the second quarter. Simeon Sagayo caught a TD pass from Lauvale.
“We then came out in the second half and got a score and a stop,” Brantley Jr. said. “I think that kind of overwhelmed them and the game kind of broke.”
Buckbee and Medcoff had scoring runs in the third, while Peck and Jaykob Kemp scored in the fourth.
Makisi Poleo had a scoring run in the fourth for Bartlett.
Brantley Jr. was happy with both sides of the ball.
On offense, the only time the Stars were stopped was when they lost a fumble.
The coach said Koda Lepule did a great job filling in for the injured Hakoa Montoya at left tackle.
Medcoff rushed nine times for 117 yards, while Wyatt Faircloth rushed nine times for 107 yards and Peck was five for 52 yards.
On defense, Brantley Jr. was happy with the way the unit performed despite not having starting ends Luke Miller and Elijah Lee due to injury.
“We were able to stop all the basic stuff they wanted to do,” Brantley Jr. said. “They were digging into their bag of tricks and broke a few plays when we were aligned wrong.”
He said the defensive line, led by Ala Tuisaula, had a great game. Faircloth, at middle linebacker, also was all over the field, according to Brantley Jr.
The Stars get back in the Railbelt Conference when they host Wasilla at 6 p.m. Friday.
Brantley Jr. said he always respects the athletes Wasilla has available, but he added the Stars will keep focusing on themselves.
“The times we struggled tonight, it was self-inflicted wounds,” the coach said.
Brantley Jr. added the Stars got through the Bartlett game without any major injuries, which was a concern because the Golden Bears are so physical.
Friday
Stars 62, Golden Bears 19
First Quarter
Bar — Lauvale 46 run (kick failed).
Sol — Medcoff 15 run (O’Reagan kick).
Sol — Peck 21 run (O’Reagan kick).
Sol — Buckbee 40 fumble return (O’Reagan kick).
Second Quarter
Sol — Medcoff 29 run (kick failed).
Bar — Sagayo 8 pass from Lauvale (run failed).
Sol — Michael 6 pass from Buckbee (O’Reagan kick).
Third quarter
Sol — Buckbee 6 run (O’Reagan kick).
Sol — Medcoff 29 run (O’Reagan kick).
Fourth quarter
Sol — Peck 4 run (O’Reagan kick).
Bar — Poleo 43 run (Harrison kick).
Sol — Kemp 10 run (Lu. Hillyer kick).
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Soldotna: Medcoff 9-117, Faircloth 9-107, Peck 5-52, Buckbee 7-30, Kemp 2-25, Wolverton 2-10, Ohnemus 1-10, Walden 1-7. Bartlett: Kanohokula 13-85, Lauvale 7-80, Poleo 4-49, Satele 10-29, Jameson 3-4, Sagayo 3-0.
Passing — Soldotna: Buckbee 1-1-0—6. Bartlett: Lauvale 6-10-0—83.
Receiving — Soldotna: Faircloth 1-6. Bartlett: Sagayo 2-41, Satelo 2-19, Alailefaleula 1-14, Harrison 1-9.
Seward 50, Eielson 14
The visiting Seahawks improved to 3-0 overall in nine-man football by toppling the Ravens in nonconference action. Eielson is 1-2 overall.
Both Great Land Conference teams have now completed the nonconference portions of their schedule. Seward hosts Valdez at noon Saturday, Sept. 9, to open the conference schedule. Eielson hosts Nikiski at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 9.
Seward coach Tyler Mallory wrote in a text message that both Brett Gilmore and Kupono Albino scored multiple touchdowns.
Gideon Schrock also ran for a score, while Jerick Senecal scored on defense. Mallory also wrote that Judah Brueckner and Schrock had multiple sacks.
