The Soldotna football team defeated Eagle River 42-7 on Friday in Railbelt Conference action at Justin Maile Field in Soldotna.
The Stars move to 5-0 in the league and 7-0 overall, while Eagle River is 2-3 and 3-4.
Junior Andon Wolverton was close to unstoppable for the Stars, scoring four rushing touchdowns and another on a reception from Owen Buckbee.
Wolverton, who was sixth in the Division I 100-meter dash at the state track meet in the spring, had six rushes for 226 yards and the one reception, meaning he scored five of the seven times he touched the ball.
“He’s just gained so much confidence over the last couple years,” Soldotna head coach Galen Brantley Jr. said. “He didn’t play football until high school, and his maturation over the last couple of years has really been astonishing.
“I think other people are starting to see him and notice him, and realize he’s one of the best running backs in the state.”
Wolverton is the main reason Eagle River amassed a massive advantage in plays run during the game.
The Wolves wanted to possess the ball and keep SoHi’s offense off the field.
“They try to hold the ball and leave us less time for offense,” Soldotna senior lineman Kenai Lepule said. “It kind of worked, but we just scored so quickly it didn’t really matter for them or us.”
In the first quarter, Eagle River ran 20 plays to Soldotna’s three, and the Stars led 7-0 on a 34-yard Wolverton touchdown run.
When Wolverton cut loose on a 61-yard burst with 11:26 left in the second quarter, the Stars had a 14-0 lead. They had run just four plays to Eagle River’s 21.
“Our front seven were great today,” Brantley Jr. said. “They came out in kind of a funky scheme, and our kids sorted through it almost instantly.”
For the game, Soldotna rushed 27 times for 421 yards, an average of 15.6 yards a carry. That average would have been more absurd if not for a 46-yard scoring run by Wyatt Faircloth called back due to a personal foul, and a long run by Owen Buckbee shortened due to an inadvertent whistle.
Faircloth did score on a 52-yarder in the second half.
“They make it easy for us,” Lepule said of the running backs. “They make us look good by scoring touchdowns and running really hard for us.”
While the game was a mismatch when Soldotna had the ball, the game was competitive when Eagle River had the ball.
“They match us physicality-wise, there’s no question,” Brantley Jr. said. “We talked about it with our guys all week. They have some dudes. They line up and play physical football for sure.”
Brantley Jr. said his defense had some costly missed assignments and penalties, but added that the defense did not give up a big play despite all of Eagle River’s possession.
The coach said a big reason the Stars did not give up big plays is because Faircloth — who has been top three in the 300 hurdles at state the last two seasons — used his speed to flow from sideline to sideline from his middle linebacker position.
“They were really physical up front and drove down on us a little bit, but we just held out and played more physical than them,” Lepule said.
In the third quarter, Eagle River had a 16-play, 80-yard scoring drive, capped by a 1-yard pass from Nolan Beaty to David Shipley.
Encapsulating the game perfectly, Sodotna’s following drive was just one play — Faircloth’s 52-yard run.
Brantley Jr. said the power-T offense is humming so smoothly that teams are almost always leaving the Stars something based on alignment.
“We’re getting to the point now where, as long as we get to whatever that is quickly, we feel like we have a chance to move the ball against anybody,” he said.
The Stars host Lathrop at 2 p.m Saturday, Oct. 5.
The teams have met in the last four Division II state finals, with each winning two.
The Malemutes, who play at Wasilla on Saturday, Sept. 28, are in a fight to make the four-team Division II playoffs after starting 1-3 in the Railbelt.
Brantley Jr. said Lathrop is still loaded with talent, so it would be great to keep the Malemutes out of the playoffs. He added Lathrop has played uncharacteristic football by making a lot of mistakes.
“It makes it kind of an interesting matchup,” he said. “I don’t want to be the one playing them when they finally put all the pieces in order.”
Friday
Stars 42, Eagle River 7
ER 0 0 7 0 —7
Sol 7 14 14 7 —42
1st Quarter
Sol — Wolverton 34 run (Lu. Hillyer kick), 7:49.
2nd Quarter
Sol — Wolverton 61 run (Lu. Hillyer kick), 11:26.
Sol — Wolverton 18 pass from Buckbee (Lu. Hillyer kick), 1:11.
3rd Quarter
Sol — Wolverton 58 run (Lu. Hillyer kick), 11:43.
ER — Shipley 1 pass from Beaty (Johnston kick), 4:06.
Sol — Faircloth 52 run (Lu. Hillyer kick), 3:55.
4th Quarter
Sol — Wolverton 55 run (Lu. Hillyer kick), 11:49.
Sol ER
First downs 9 12
Rushing yards 27-421 46-149
Passing yards 49 49
Comp-att-int 3-3-0 9-14-0
Return yards 2-34 7-91
Punts 1-26.0 4-47.3
Fumbles 0-0 0-0
Penalties 2-20 2-15
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing — Soldotna: Wolverton 6-226, Faircloth 6-62, Hall 3-52, J. Kemp 4-32, Buckbee 2-31, Weed 1-9, Wong 1-8, La. Hillyer 1-1, Moore 1-1, Piscoya 1-1, Z. Kemp 1-(-2). Eagle River: Roschi 16-50, Bird 13-42, Beaty 15-40, Marrero 2-17.
Passing — Soldotna: Buckbee 3-3-0—49. Eagle River: Beaty 9-14-0—49.
Receiving — Soldotna: Michael 1-18, Wolverton 1-18, Faircloth 1-13. Eagle River: Johnston 2-19, Bird 2-13, Farr 3-10, Roschi 1-6, Shipley 1-1.
Eagle River quarterback Nolan Beaty is sacked by Soldotna linebacker Wyatt Faircloth on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, at Justin Maile Field at Soldotna High School in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna’s Andon Wolverton scores in front of Eagle River’s Michael Roschi on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, at Justin Maile Field at Soldotna High School in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
