The visiting Soldotna football team defeated Wasilla 63-21 on Friday in Railbelt Conference action.
The Stars, at 4-o in the league and 6-0 overall, are atop the conference with North Pole, which is 4-0 and 5-1. West Valley is 3-1 and 5-1, Eagle River is 2-2 and 3-3, Palmer, Chugiak and Lathrop are 1-3 and 2-4, and Wasilla is 0-4 and 1-5.
Soldotna hosts Eagle River on Friday, Sept. 27, at 5 p.m.
Against Wasilla, Soldotna head coach Galen Brantley Jr. said strong play by the defensive line and linebackers in the run game helped overcome some uncharacteristic mistakes in other areas.
The defensive line is Elijah Lee, Luke Miller and Theo Huff on the edge, the Koda Lepule and Kenai Lepule inside.
“I felt like we were really good defensively in the box,” Brantley Jr. said. “We stuffed the running game. There wasn’t any daylight for them.”
He said the Warriors did have some success throwing the ball, and also took advantage of a fumbled Soldotna snap to score.
Other than that, Soldotna’s top offense was stopped only on two drives — one due to penalties, and one on a desperation heave to end the first half.
In the first quarter, Wyatt Faircloth scored for SoHi on a 2-yard run, and Lokeni Wong scored on a 9-yard run.
In the second quarter, Andon Wolverton got started on a four-touchdown day with a 1-yard run.
“That’s probably his best game,” Brantley Jr. said of Wolverton. “He kind of went off.”
Also in the second quarter, Matthew Schilling scored on a 2-yard pass from Owen Buckbee, and Miller scored on a 15-yard strike from Buckbee.
In the third quarter, Wolverton scored on runs of 7, 28 and 69 yards.
Brantley Jr. also was happy that Chase Hall got the junior varsity offense in the end zone with a 9-yard run in the fourth quarter.
The head coach said the kicking game was another highlight, with Luke Hillyer making 7 of 8 extra points, and Lane Hillyer adding an extra point.
“The whole kickoff unit did a great job, and it starts with getting the kick in the right spot,” Brantley Jr. said.
