Soldotna topples Lathrop for 14th state title

Soldotna won the 14th state title in school history with a 49-28 victory over Lathrop in the Division II state final at Pride Field at Colony High School in Palmer.

Under clear, crisp skies with temperatures at a windless low 30s, the Stars and Malemutes battled for the title for the fifth straight season. SoHi has won three of those, including the last two.

“We knew it was going to be a dogfight,” Soldotna head coach Galen Brantley Jr. said after improving to 34-4 in the playoffs and 13-3 in state finals. “They just have too much physical talent for it not to be.

“The size is overwhelming.”

The No. 4 seed Malemutes (6-5) defeated the No. 1 seed Stars (10-1) 35-28 on Oct. 5 in Soldotna, just the fourth time Brantley Jr. lost on his home field in 18 seasons.

Lathrop was in position for another win when it took a 28-26 lead with 4:24 left in the third quarter.

With the bulk of the team playing on both sides of the ball at a marked size disadvantage, the Stars scored on three of their next four drives and held Lathrop scoreless on its last four drives.

“It was really fun to see our kids get their backs against the wall, and then just see the character come out, and the fight and the grit,” Brantley Jr. said. “To not cave in, because there were plenty of chances where we could have, but we just never did.”

At the center of it all were seniors Wyatt Faircloth and Kenai Lepule, last season’s Division II Defensive Player of the Year and Lineman of the Year, respectively.

Not only did Faircloth play middle linebacker the entire game against Lathrop’s massive line, but he also ran for 136 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries.

“It’s not the biggest team that wins football games,” Faircloth said. “It’s the best team, and we’re the best team.”

Lepule battled all game at defensive and offensive tackle.

“This means a lot to me, because past teams won all four (state titles), and we lost our first two,” he said of 2021 and 2022 losses to Lathrop. “That was really stunning to me.

“We obviously won last year, and this one we won on our own as seniors.”

Senior Lokeni Wong also unexpectedly saw a lot of time on both sides of the ball. Wong usually quarterbacks the defense from his safety position and gets few carries on offense.

Injuries to Jaykob Kemp and Andon Wolverton meant he carried 14 times for 103 yards and three scores in the second half. Quarterback Owen Buckbee had the other rushing touchdown for Soldotna.

“I knew what I could do,” Wong said. “I had the opportunity to do it and show out. The offensive line, man, the big boys. I love them.”

Soldotna’s efficient offense and field position advantage were too much for Lathrop to overcome.

The Stars scored on seven of nine drives, not including those cut short at the halves. The drives were short — an average of 6.3 plays for 54.6 yards.

“Offensively, that’s what really held us together and kept us in, in the middle of us struggling defensively,” Brantley Jr. said.

Lathrop actually outgained Soldotna 401-386, but had two turnovers to Soldotna’s none. The four Malemutes scoring drives averaged 10.5 plays and 78 yards.

A great deal of those scoring drives came on the shoulders of Oschaun Easaw, a 260-pound running back for Lathrop.

Easaw bulled his way to 237 yards and a touchdown on 35 carries.

The senior lost two fumbles, including with the Malemutes trailing 34-28 on the Soldotna 45-yard line with 7:52 remaining. Zack Kemp and Matthew Schilling had the recoveries for the Stars.

The lost fumbles did little to diminish the respect for Easaw among everyone in attendance.

“He’s a big man,” Faircloth said. “He’s a top three running back in the state. Lots of credit to Oschaun.”

Lathrop head coach Luke Balash, who has handed Brantley Jr. four losses in 10 games while the rest of the state has managed six losses in 156 games, said Easaw overcame injuries as a sophomore and junior to lead the team this season.

“He’s gonna blame himself for this, and he shouldn’t,” Balash said. “He’s the biggest reason we’re here, right?

“There’s a lot more to this game. I’m going to go back and watch film and wish I had coached better.”

Balash said some of the big plays did not go Lathrop’s way. Schilling fumbled on two kickoff returns, with SoHi recovering one and the officials ruling Schilling down to negate a Lathrop recovery.

The Malemutes also dropped a chance at an interception and lengthy return down 34-28 early in the fourth.

“At the end of the day, they made the plays they had to make to win,” Balash said. “We didn’t. It’s as simple as that, and there’s no hiding from that.”

Balash is still happy with what his team did after starting 1-4. He said Lathrop took awhile to get going because the Malemutes were young, had a few key injuries, and were converting left tackle Devin Emmett to quarterback.

Emmett, a senior, went 13 of 25 for 139 yards with two touchdowns to junior Luke Skinner and another to sophomore Jaycee Brooks.

“This team has been a lot of fun to coach, even when we were losing games,” Balash said. “They were a good group that showed up every day, eager to learn and get better.

“They really care a lot about each other. A lot of deep relationships here on this team.”

It did not escape Brantley Jr.’s attention that the Malemutes had a lot of underclassmen getting major minutes in the title game.

The process of both programs beginning to retool for another championship clash has already begun.

“We don’t just play football,” Brantley Jr. said. “We live it. We work at it year-round.

“Our kids are in the weight room in the summers. They’re in weight training classes. We’re pushing them really hard to get out and do other sports so their athleticism improves. We feel like that’s the winning recipe at a small school.”

Soldotna won the academic award with a 3.06 grade-point average.

Lepule, Faircloth, Buckbee, Wong, Easaw and Skinner were honored as players of the game by the Alaska School Activities Association.

Saturday

Stars 49, Malemutes 28

Lat 14 7 7 0 —28

Sol 13 7 14 15 —49

First quarter

Lat — Brooks 19 pass from Emmett (Naber kick), 9:11.

Sol — Faircloth 51 run (Lu. Hillyer), 6:17.

Lat — Skinner 33 pass from Emmett (Naber kick), 4:29.

Sol — Buckbee 3 run (kick failed), 2:20.

Second quarter

Sol — Faircloth 1 run (Lu. Hillyer kick), 11:25.

Lat — Easaw 8 run (Naber kick), 0:59.

Third quarter

Sol — Wong 15 run (kick failed), 9:59.

Lat — Skinner 13 pass from Emmett (Naber kick), 4:24.

Sol — Wong 8 run (Michael pass from Buckbee), 0:35.

Fourth quarter

Sol — Wong 15 run (Walden pass from Buckbee), 6:14.

Sol — Faircloth 2 run (Lu. Hillyer kick), 2:20.

Lat Sol

First downs 20 17

Rushing yards 47-262 51-330

Passing yards 139 56

Comp-att-int 13-25-0 2-7-0

Return yards 80 36

Punts 1-32.0 2-34.5

Fumbles 2-2 1-0

Penalties 6-60 3-35

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Rushing — Lathrop: Easaw 35-237, Emmett 7-25, Brooks 4-(-1), Charfauros, Jr. 1-1. Soldotna: Faircloth 18-136, Buckbee 8-12, J. Kemp 5-52, Wolverton 5-28, Wong 14-103, Walden 1-(-1).

Passing — Lathrop: Emmett 13-25-0—139. Soldotna: Buckbee 2-7-0—56.

Receiving — Lathrop: Easaw 3-1, Lawson 4-51, Brooks 2-27, Skinner 3-60, Dev. Hall 1-0. Soldotna: Miller 1-19, Walden 1-37.