High School Football America - Alaska

50 States in 50 Days - 2013 Alaska High School Football

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 07:17:00 +0000

by Jeff Fisher
Follow @HSFBamerica

Alaska is always the first state to play games and the first to stop playing games and that's why our 50 States in 50 Days series is making an early stop up north. For those of you around the nation that are reading this story, Alaska plays an eight game regular season schedule and hands-out football championships in three classificiations - Big, Medium and Small.

First Day of Practice - August 5th
First Week of Games - August 16th
Playoffs Begin - October 11th
Championship Weekends - Small Schools, October 19th and Medium & Big Schools, October 26th

Unlike the last two years when the first games of the season in America were played during the Fire and Ice Bowl in Hawaii, there won't be any match-ups between Alaska and Hawaii schools this season.

The 2013 season sees the number of varsity 11-man teams in the state increase by one as Voznesenka moves-up from 8-man football, joining the Greatland Conference.

In the Big Schools classification, South is the defending champ after beating Service last October. Service has played in the last three Big Schools' championship, winning in 2011.

Look for Palmer, which had a perfect reglar season in 2012, to make some noise this year. Potential Player of the Year, running back James Nisbett is back for his senior season.

Five time state champ Soldotna will again be in the mix in 2013 thanks to plenty of returning talent, including sophmore running back Drew Gibbs, who rushed for over 150 yards and two TDs in last year's title game as a freshman. You can check-out the Soldotna championship game highlights above.

North Pole, thanks to Rice-recuit Lance Wright, is expected to be in the mix in the Medium Division this year. Wright was the top receiver in the state last year. The 6-3, 190-pounder was an all-state and all-Railbelt Conference selection in 2012 after 45 catches for 1,017 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Eielson is the Small School defending champ.

While Alaska doesn't keep track of all-time wins for its programs, earlier this year, MaxPreps took a look at the state's Top 15 dynasties since 2003. Juneau-Douglas was ranked #1, followed by South, Soldotna, Service and West. Since 2003, Juneau-Douglas has amassed an overall record of 72-30 with two state titles.

Click here to go to download the 2013 high school football schedule from the Alaska School Activities Association.

Latest Alaska High School Football Rankings

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 14:37:00 +0000

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Palmer Moose remain #1 in lastest rankings
Courtesy of MGhelmets.com

We're coming down the home stretch of the regular season with two weeks to go before the playoffs.

This past weekend saw several teams play in playoff-quality games with the post-season looming in the distance.

Top-ranked Palmer proved it was ready for the postseason with its 49-42 win over previously unbeaten and #3 North Pole.Service, ranked #4 last week, improved to 5-1 with a 21-14 win over South, which entered the game ranked #2, in a rematch of last year's Big Schools' championship game.

Here are the latest statewide rankings from the Alaska Sports Broadcasting Network:

Big Schools

1. Palmer 6-0
2. Service 5-1
3. West 5-1
4. North Pole 5-1
5. South 4-2

Mid-Small Schools

1. Eielson 5-0
2. Soldotna 5-1
3. Nikiski 4-1
4. Thunder Mountain 4-2
5. Barrow 4-1

Alaska High School Football Scores - Week 2

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 05:28:00 +0000

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Alaska's reigning offensive player of the year, proved he's not one dimensional on Saturday.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that Service High's Amu Aukusitino did play his usual position of quarterback on Saturday due to an injured shoulder. However, he was able to "bug" his coach enough to put him in at running back.

According to adn.com, Aukusitino went into the game at running back and scored four touchdowns to lead the defending Big School state champs to a 42-0 victory over Bartlett.

Service is now 1-1 on the season, while Bartlett falls to 0-2

Here are the rest of the scores from this weekend.

Alaska High School Football Scores
Saturday, August 18, 2012

Juneau-Douglas 69, Wasilla 30
Kodiak 32, Houston 12
Monroe Catholic 42, Valdez 12
North Pole 34, West Valley 25
Service 42, Bartlett 0
Soldotna 70, Ketchikan 0
Thunder Mountain 35, Sitka 6
West 49, Eagle River 6

Alaska High School Football Scores
Friday, August 17, 2012

Colony 44, Kenai 20
Dimond 14, Chugiak 7 - Dimond defense only allowed 65 yds. in total offense
Eielson 69, Seward 0 - Eielson's JJ Friske 3 FGs
Nikiski 34, Skyview 7 - Nikiski's Stephen Hartley 187 yds. 3 TDs, Christian Riddall 166 yds.
Palmer 50, Lathrop 16 - Palmer's Vincent Aumavae 5 TDs
South 41, East 0 - South's Dante Williams 187 yds. rushing on 11 carries

Alaska Goes 0-2 in 2012 High School Football Kickoff in Hawaii

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 04:59:00 +0000

by Jeff Fisher

High School Football America

Courtesy: MGhelmets.com

The Fire and Ice Bowl is now a tradition when it comes to the start of high school football in America.

For the second straight year, the high school football season kicked-off off the mainland with Alaska taking on Hawaii.

Last year it was one game, this year it was two on Friday night in Hawaii.

Courtesy: MGhelmets.com

Punahou, which finished runner-up in Hawaii's Division I, won the first game of the year with a 48-0 shutout of West High School from Anchorage. Hawaii made it a clean sweep of the Fire and Ice Bowl with a 23-15 victory by Leilehua over defending Alaska Big Schools champ Service. Last year, Service and Leilehua battled to a 34-34 tie in the inaugural Alaska vs. Hawaii game.

The Alaska Daily News reported that Punahou was led by sophomore wide receiver Kanawai Noa, who caught four touchdown passes in the first half to lead the Buff and Blue to a 34-0 halftime lead.

In the Leilehua/Service match-up, the Mules jumped-out to a 23-7 halftime lead on their Alaskan opponents. According to the Anchorage Daily News, Service drove to the Leilehua 30-yard line with 10 seconds left, but fumbled on the last play of the game.

Click here to read the Punahou/West game story.

Click here to read the Leilehua/Service game story.

However, I should point-out those weren't the only games this weekend as many other Alaska and Hawaii schools also began their regular seasons.

Below are all of the first week's scores:

Friday Scores -Alaska

East 42 Kenai 7

Lathrop 44 Nikiski 41

Lathrop JV 60 Seward 8

Leilehua (HI) 23 Service 15

North Pole 32 Dimond 14 Click here to read game story

Punahou (HI) 48 West 0

Saturday's Scores - Alaska

Colony 56 Skyview 7

Eielson 26 Valdez 0

Juneau-Douglas 45 Thunder Mountain 7

Monroe Catholic 16 Barrow 0

Palmer 27 Soldotna 7

Sitka 30 Ketchikan 8

South 68 Eagle River 6

Wasilla 21 Bartlett 14

West Valley 35 Chugiak 12

Two Alaska Teams to Open Season in Hawaii

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 21:37:00 +0000

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

The 2011 high school football season kicked-off in Hawaii with Service and Leilehua battling to a 34-34 tie. That tie was the only blemish on Service's record as the Cougars went undefeated from that point forward to capture the Alaska Big Schools championship.

This year, Service will kickoff the 2012 in the same fashion as it will travel to Hawaii for a rematch of the 2011 Fire and Ice Bowl against Leilehua on August 10th. That game will be part of a doubleheader as Anchorage West High School will also make the long trek to Hawaii to take on Punahou, which finished runner-up in Hawaii's Division I last season.

Punahou, which was ranked the best sports program in America by Sports Illustrated in 2008 and 2009, is the alma mater of President Barack Obama.

After last year's Fire and Ice Bowl, I spoke with then Service head coach Jason Caldarera about the trip and the game. Click here to listen to that interview.

First Day of High School Football Practice Set for July 30th

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 21:07:00 +0000

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Hope everyone had a great off-season!

We're in the process of updating all of High School Football America's 52 blogs in preparation for the 2012 season that gets started with two-a-days in Alaska on July 30th.

Every year, our goal is to improve our coverage, giving you the readers more information as quickly as we can.

Please make sure that if you have a comment or a story you feel my staff should know about, you can email me at jeff@highschoolfootballamerica.com.

Also, if you haven't listened to the High School Football America radio show, please be sure to tune-in every Thursday night at 7 P.M. Eastern, which is 3 P.M. in Alaska. The show also is rebroadcast on the ArtistFirst Radio Network every Sunday night at 6 P.M. Eastern or 2 P.M. in Alaska. If neither of those times work, you can always listen FREE and on-demand by clicking here to go to our archives page.

Last year's show included visits from Service's Jason Caldarera and Barrow's Brad Igou and Brian Houston.

Click here to listen to the Caldarera interview.

Click here to listen to the interview on Barrow football.

Service Wins Alaska Big School Title

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 17:11:00 +0000

by Jeff Fisher
Alaska High School Football Huddle

Service captured the school's sixth overall Alaska football championship Saturday with a 37-23 win over South.

The Cougars iced the Big Schools title with a 25-yard fourth-quarter interception return by Daniel Murakami. Murakami also led the team in rushing with 129 yards.

Service, which finished runner-up last year, finishes the season unbeaten at 10-0-1. The only blemish was a season-opening tie in the Fire and Ice Bowl in Hawaii. South finishes with an 8-3 record.

Click here to read a game story from the Anchorage Daily News.

Nikiski Wins Small School Title

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 01:46:00 +0000

by Jeff Fisher
Alaska High School Football Huddle

The Nikiski Bulldogs are the first 2011 high school football champs.

Nikiski today beat Barrow 52-21 to win the Alaska Small School championship. The Bulldogs won the first two Small School championship games in 2000 and 2001. Kenai (5 titles) and Soldotna (4 titles) are the only other schools to win Small School crowns.

The Bulldogs used a strong running attack and the right arm of quarterback Colton Anderson to win the school's third state title. Nikiski rushed for 391 yards, while Anderson was 6-of-8 for 128 yards and three touchdowns.

East Moves into Big School Championship Game

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 22:03:00 +0000

by Jeff Fisher
Alaska High School Football Huddle

South knocked-off defending Big Schools' champ West Friday night 30-28 to advance to next week's state championship game.

This one came down to the end with the South needing a blocked field goal with :26 to go to grab the victory. Click here to read the game story from the Anchorage Daily News.

Next week, the Wolverines, who won 2006 Big School title, will face the winner of Saturday's game between Service and Juneau-Douglas.

Alaska High School Football Scores - Playoffs/1st Round

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 04:06:00 +0000

by Jeff Fisher
Alaska High School Football Huddle

While Soldotna and Kenai have become arch-rivals battling for Small School championships during the past decade, no one saw what happened Saturday coming.

Kenai upset the defending state champion Stars 28-12 Saturday in the semifinal round of the newly created Medium School division. The Kardinals entered the postseason with a .500 record at 4-4, the Stars were riding a 19-game win streak. Between the two schools, they had won the last nine Small School titles.

Kenai will play Homer (8-1) next week for the state championship.

Click here read the game story.

Alaska High School Football Scores
Saturday, October 8, 2011

Big School Quarterfinals
Anchorage South 38, West Valley 0
Anchorage West 59, Wasilla 36
Juneau-Douglas 7, Anchorage 6
Service 34, Palmer 32

Medium School Semifinals
Kenai 28, Soldotna 12

Small School Semifinals
Barrow 28, Monroe Catholic 14
Nikiski 55, Eielson 31

Alaska High School Football Scores
Friday, October 7, 2011

Medium School Semifinals
Homer 46, Thunder Mountain 7

Alaska High School Football Playoff Match-ups Set

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:14:00 +0000

by Jeff Fisher
Alaska High School Football Huddle

The 2010 Alaska state champs are back in the playoffs to defend their titles, but there will be at least one new champ this year thanks to the addition of a third classification called Medium Schools.

In the Big Schools classification, both of last year's finalists West and Service are back, however defending champ West has a big hill to climb as it enters the playoffs after a 4-4 regular season. Service, on the other hand, enters its quarterfinal game against Palmer on an eight game unbeaten streak. The Cougars finished the regular season with a 7-0-1 record with the tie coming against Leilehua in its season opener in the Fire and Ice Bowl in Hawaii

Earlier this year, I spoke with Service head coach Jason Caldarera about that game, and you can listen to that interview by clicking here or listening to the show on High School Football America's YouTube channel.

Defending Small Schools champ Soldotna will not be defending its title, because the Stars are now in the Medium School classification. In the semifinals on Friday, Soldotna will face Kenai. Those two schools have combined to win the last nine Small Schools state titles.

In the Small Schools category, Barrow, the only school above the Arctic Circle, enters the postseason with a 6-1 record and looking for its first state championship in only its sixth season of varsity football.

In the inaugural High School Football America radio show, I spoke with first year head coach Brad Igou and his assistant Brian Houston about their team. Igou felt this team had a good shot at winning a state title.

To listen to that interview, click here or check-out the interview below from our YouTube channel.

Now here's a look at this weekend's match-ups:

Large School Quarterfinals
Palmer (4-4) at Service (7-0-1), Saturday
West (4-4) at Wasilla (6-2), Saturday
West Valley (6-2) vs. South, Saturday
East (4-4) at Juneau-Douglas (7-1), Saturday

Medium School Semifinals
Homer (7-1) at Thunder Mountain (3-4), Friday
Kenai (4-4) at Soldotna (8-0), Friday

Small School Semifinals
Monroe (5-3) at Barrow (6-1), Saturday
Eielson (4-4) at Nikiski (7-1), Saturday

Alaska High School Football Scores - Week 8

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 15:30:00 +0000

Alaska High School Football Scores
Friday, September 30, 2011

Barrow 43 Seward 0
Colony 42 North Pole 39
Homer 42 Houston 20
Juneau-Douglas 53 Lathrop 8
Ketchikan 21 Sitka 14
Renton (WA) 35 Thunder Mountain 6
Wasilla 23 Palmer 22

Alaska High School Football Scores - Week 7

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 03:35:00 +0000

Alaska High School Football Scores
Saturday, September 24, 2011

Anchorage East 20 Barlett 13
Anchorage South 24 Dimond 19
Barrow 8 Valdez 6
Eielson 48 Delta Junction 0
Homer 21 Kenai 14 (2 OTs)
Kodiak 37 Monroe Catholic 0
Soldotna 34 Skyview 7
Thunder Mountain 30 Ketchikan 12

Alaska High School Football Scores - Week 7

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 03:44:00 +0000

Alaska High School Football Scores
Friday, September 23, 2011

Chugiak 34 Anchorage West 32
Houston 37 Lathrop 20
Juneau-Douglas 29 West Valley 8
Nikiski 58 Seward 6
Palmer 42 Colony 6
Service 66 Eagle River 36
Thunder Mountain 30 Ketchikan 12
Wasilla 43 North Pole 29

Alaska High School Football Scores - Week 6

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 18:44:00 +0000

Alaska High School Football Scores
Saturday, September 17, 2011

Anchorage East 21 Eagle River 19
Anchorage West 47 Bartlett 21
Dimond 20 Chugiak 14
Eielson 48 Monroe Catholic 28
Juneau-Douglas 33 Notre Dame Regional (Canada) 13
Kenai Central 38 Houston 3
Soldotna 54 Kodiak 18

Alaska High School Football Scores - Week 6

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 18:53:00 +0000

Alaska High School Football Scores
Friday, September 16, 2011

Barrow def. Ketchikan by forfeit
Delta Junction 32 Seward 14
Homer 24 Skyview 13
Nikiski 53 Valdez 0
Palmer 42 North Pole 21
Service 48 Anchorage South 13
Thunder Mountain 25 Sitka 6
Wasilla 42 Colony 7
West Valley 60 Lathrop 0

Alaska High School Football Scores - Week 5

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 04:29:00 +0000

Alaska High School Football Scores
Saturday, September 10, 2011

Chugiak 35, Colony 7
Eielson 59, Valdez 6
Kenai 42, Kodiak 7
Monroe 14, Barrow 8
Nikiski 56, Delta 0
Service 63, Bartlett 30

Alaska High School Football Scores - Week 5

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 04:33:00 +0000

Alaska High School Football Scores
Friday, September 9, 2011

Anchorage East 25, Dimond 12
Anchorage West 39, Eagle River 13
Palmer 70, Lathrop 6
Placer (CA) 65, Anchorage South 40
Thunder Mountain 48 Ketchikan 21
Wasilla 53, Juneau-Douglas 33
West Valley 62, North Pole 38

Alaska High School Football Scores - Week 4

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 13:50:00 +0000

Alaska High School Football Scores
Friday, September 2, 2011

Delta Junction 18 Valdez 12
Dimond 41 Eagle River 23
Juneau-Douglas 65 Colony 0
Service 33 Anchorage East 25
Seward 45 Monroe Catholic 0
Soldotna 62 Eielson 12
West Valley 25 Palmer 19 (OT)

Alaska High School Football Scores - Week 3

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 02:04:00 +0000

Alaska High School Football Scores
Saturday, August 27, 2011

Barrow 38 North Pole JV 12
Bartlett 48 Eagle River 21
Eielson 60 Seward 8
Kodiak 12 Skyview 6
Monroe Catholic 7 Valdez 0
Nikiski 46 Thunder Mountain 6
Service 42 Chugiak 6
West Valley 47 Colony 0

Alaska High School Football Scores - Week 3

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 12:59:00 +0000

Alaska High School Football Scores
Friday, August 25, 2011

Anchorage South 7 Anchorage East 6
Anchorage West 13 Dimond 7
Juneau-Douglas 29 Palmer 13
North Pole 62 Lathrop 18
Soldotna 68 Houston 0
Wasilla 24 Kenai 20

Alaska High School Football Scores - Week 2

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 17:38:00 +0000

by Jeff Fisher
Alaska High School Football Huddle

For the second week in a row, Soldotna, the state's top-ranked team among medium and small schools, beat a large school.

The Stars beat Palmer 29-28. The Moose had a chance to tie the game after Luke Heun scored with 2:04 to go in the game, but instead of kicking the extra point, Palmer went for two and was denied by Soldotna's defense.

Elsewhere, the Cook Inlet Conference saw something Saturday that it hadn't in three years.

Anchorage East beat defending Large Schools' Champ Anchorage West 28-9. It was West's first conference loss since September 2008.

The East win was surprising because the Thunderbirds had only won two games over the last two seasons.

Alaska High School Football Scores
Saturday, August 20, 2011

Anchorage East 28 Anchorage West 9
Barrow 21 Eielson 20
Juneau-Douglas 57 North Pole 0
Kenai 48 Skyview 7
Monroe Catholic 45 Ketchikan 24
Service 42 Dimond 7
Soldotna 29 Palmer 28
Valdez 26 Seward 6

Alaska High School Football Scores - Week 2

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 17:37:00 +0000

by Jeff Fisher
Alaska High School Football Huddle

Last week's #1 large school Anchorage South beat this week's #1 large school Bartlett Friday night.

South, which opened the season last week with a 21-18 loss to Chugiak, staged a last minute comeback to beat Bartlett 36-35.

Bartlett got out to a 14-0 lead, but with :47 seconds to go, South QB Zach Lujan tossed a 17-yard touchdown pass to William Krolick to pull within one-point. Tommy Hopp then scored on a 2-point conversion run to give South the victory.

Elsewhere around the state, Lathrop snapped a 21-game Railbelt Conference losing streak by beating defending conference champ Colony 26-19.

Alaska High School Football Scores
Friday, August 19, 2011

Anchorage South 36 Bartlett 35
Chugiak 35 Eagle River 14
Delta Junction 16 North Pole JV 0
Lathtrop 26 Colony 19
West Valley 30 Wasilla 27

Homer's Dylan Day scored eight touchdowns Thursday night to lead the Mariners to an 84-20 rout of Thunder Mountain. Day scored four different ways. He scored on a punt return, a fumble return, he caught a touchdown pass and ran for five more.

Alaska High School Football Scores
Thursday, August 18, 2011

Homer 84 Thunder Mountain 20

Nikiski running back Stephen Hartley had a big night Wednesday night. Hartley carried the ball only eight times, but gained 201 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs to a 48-0 win over Sitka.

Alaska High School Football Scores
Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Nikiski 48 Sitka 0

Service Head Football Coach Jason Caldarera to be a Guest on High School Football America Radio Show

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:48:00 +0000

by Jeff Fisher
Alaska High School Football Huddle

Jason Caldarera's Service Cougars kicked-off America's 2011 high school football regular season last Thursday in the Fire and Ice Bowl in Hawaii.

Tomorrow night, the Cougars' head coach since 2001 will join me on High School Football America, the country's premiere high school football talk show.

Caldarera will talk about his team's season opening 34-34 tie against Leilehua in Hawaii, plus he'll look ahead to the rest of the season in Alaska.

Click here to listen to the show LIVE starting at 7PM EST/3PM AKST

Alaska High School Football Scores - Week 1

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Fisher) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 16:04:00 +0000

Alaska High School Football Scores
Saturday, August 13, 2011

Anchorage West 44 North Pole 28
Bartlett 51 West Valley 26
Barrow 73 Delta Junction 8
Chugiak 21 Anchorage South 18
Dimond 31 Colony 0
Homer 52 Valdez 14
Juneau-Douglas 68 Thunder Mountain 0
Kenai 42 Eielson 22
Palmer 14 Anchorage East 0
Skyview 32 Wasilla 20
Soldotna 41 Eagle River 16