Juneau-Douglas Wins 2nd Alaska High School Big Schools Championship

Both of Juneau-Douglas' Alaska High School Big Schools' Championships have come at the hands of the Palmer Moose. The Crimson Bears won Saturday's 2007 championship by defeating the Moose 23-13.

J-D, which beat Palmer 49-29 in the 2005 title game, used a strong defense to shutdown Palmer's strong rushing attack. Palmer entered the game averaging 268 yards per game rushing, but the Crimson Bears held the Moose to just 113 yards on 50 carries.

It was the 13th time in state history that a team has won the title while going undefeated. J-D finished 11-0 while Palmer ends the season 6-5. The game marked only the second time since the Alaska School Activities Association began it's championships in 2000 that a team with four losses played for a title.

To read more about the championship game from the Anchorage Daily News, click here.

Here's a look at Alaska's state champions. 1990 was the first season of the Alaska School Activities Association tournament.

Big Schools Champs

2007 Juneau-Douglas
2006 Anchorage South
2005 Juneau-Douglas
2004 North Pole
2003 Anchorage East
2002 Barlett
2001 Dimond
2000 Dimond
1999 Service
1998 Service
1997 Service
1996 Chugiak
1995 Palmer
1994 Service
1993 Dimond
1992 Eielson
1991 Bartlett
1990 Anchorage East
1989 Bartlett
1988 Chugiak
1987 Anchorage East
1986 Anchorage East
1985 Anchorage East
1984 Chugiak
1983 Dimond

Small Schools Champs

2007 Soldotna
2006 Soldotna
2005 Kenai
2004 Kenai
2003 Kenai
2002 Kenai
2001 Nikiski
2000 Nikiski

Alaska Big Schools Championship Game Preview

Palmer will play Juneau-Douglas (10-0) Saturday at Anchorage Football Stadium for the 2007 Alaska Big Schools High School Football Championship. It will be a rematch of the 2005 championship game won by Juneau-Douglas 49-29.

With a 6-4 record Palmer is a heavy underdog against the undefeated Crimson Bears. These two met in Week 4 this year with Juneau winning 28-7.

All eyes will be on Juneau-Douglas senior quarterback Ryan "Bubba" Larson, who had never played high school football until this year. To read about Larson's incredible run to a state championship game click here.

This will be the 13th meeting between the two schools with Juneau having won 11 of the first 12 match-ups. To read about Palmer and its players, who played in the 2005 championship game, click here.

The Cost Of Winning An Alaska High School Football Championship

Last week, Soldotna won the country's first high school football championship, Saturday Juneau-Douglas will travel to Anchorage to play Palmer for the Alaska Big Schools Championship.

Today there's a great story in the Anchorage Daily News about what high school football players above the Lower 48 have to go through in order to strap 'em up on Friday and Saturday's.

For example, Juneau-Douglas football team doesn't receive any money from the school district to run the program, so players, coaches and local youth leagues usually are constantly in fundraising mode to make sure the their teams are able to handle the heavy travel expenses associated with playing in a state that can routinely result in 500-600 mile flights across the spacious state.

For Juneau-Douglas it will cost nearly $25,000 earn the right to play in a state championship game.

To read about how different and costly it is to play football in Alaska, please click here for the entire article from the Anchorage Daily News.

Soldotna Claims Second Straight Small Schools' High School Football Championship

Behind a powerful running attack, Soldotna (10-0) claimed the country's first high school football championship Saturday beating Kenai (7-3) 47-27 for the Alaska Small Schools' Championship.

The Stars' Wing-T offense was working to perfection at Anchorage Football Stadium amassing 570 rushing, which averaged out to 11 yards per carry. Three Soldotna players rushed for over 100-yards led by quarterback Anthony Griglione, who picked up 271 yards and ran for four scores. Running back Bryce Gardner tallied 156 yards and one score, and Marvin Tate picked-up 128. Griglione and Gardner both surpassed the 1,000 yard mark for the season in the game, while Tate finished the year with more than 900 yards.

It was the second straight state championship for Soldotna, which averaged 55 points and game and beat opponents by an average margin of 43 points coming into the contest. The title game was also closer than the match-up between the two in Week 6 when Soldotna crushed Kenai 70-14.

To read a complete game wrap-up, please click here.

Alaska Ready To Crown First Champion

Alaska was the first state to kickoff the 2007 high school football season, so it stands to reason, that the Great White North would be the first to crown a state champ. That will happen tomorrow when Soldotna (9-0) plays Kodiak (7-2) for the Small Schools title.

The Big Schools bracket is down to its final four with Palmer (5-4) facing Service (7-2) tonight in one semifinal, while Juneau will play Anchorage South tomorrow at noon. In the Palmer-Service game, Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen will be going for his 100th career win.

With a win, Christiansen would become only the fourth coach in Alaska high school football history to pass the century mark. Buck Nystrom (Eielson and North Pole), who passed away a year ago, is the state's all-time winningest coach with 150. Nystrom is followed on the wins list by by Bruce Shearer (Kenai, Anchorage East and Chugiak) with 130 and Bob Boudreax (Service, Kenai and Soldotna) with 104.

To read a complete story about Christiansen's career, click here.

To read about defending state champ Soldotna's Small Schools' State Championship rematch with Kodiak, please click here.

Alaska High School Football Scores - Week 7

Alaska High School Football Scores
Friday, September 21, 2007

Anchorage East 56 Eagle River 12
Houston 28 Seward 21
Soldotna (7-0) 48 Skyview 0
Wasilla 28 Colony 21

Alaska High School Football Scores - Week 4

Alaska High School Football Scores
Friday & Saturday, August 31, 2007 & September 1, 2007

Anchorage East 24 Dimond 13
Anchorage South 35 Colony 0
Anchorage West 40 Eagle River 13
Bothell (WA) 45 Chugiak 7
Eielson 32 Valdez 6
Homer 30 Sitka JVs 6
Houston 48 Barrow 14
Juneau 28 Palmer 7
Kenai 53 Nikiski 25
Kodiak 17 Skyview 12
Lathrop 63 West Valley 10
North Pole 28 Wasilla 14
Service 41 Bartlett 19
Seward 56 Delta Junction 6
Soldatna 68 Ketchikan 0

Palmer Runs By Lathrop

The Palmer Moose found the win column in 2007 on Friday night with a 48-14 win over winless Lathrop. Palmer racked up 396 yards on the ground. Devin Konkler led the way with 13-carries for 199-yards and two touchdowns.

For a complete game wrap-up from the Anchorage Daily News, please click on the Alaska High School Football Huddle headline "Palmer Runs By Lathrop".

Chugiak Lays Claim To Top Spot

Chugiak opened the season by beating defending Big Schools champ South, and Friday night Chugiak served notice to the rest of the state that the Mustangs are ready to wear the badge of "Team to Beat", by knocking off top-ranked Service 14-13.

To read a complete game wrap from the Anchorage Daily News, please click on our headline "Chugiak Lays Claim To Top Spot".

Alaska High School Football Scores - Week 3

Look for a new team in next week's Alaska High School Football Big Schools Poll. Friday night #2 Chugiak took down #1 Service 14-13 before a stand-room only crowd at Anchorage Football Stadium.

Here's a look at all of the Friday night scores from around Alaska.

Alaska High School Football Scores
Friday & Saturday, August 24 & 25, 2007

Anchorage East 22 Anchorage South 3
Bartlett 47 Eagle River 10
Chugiak 14 Service 13
Colony 40 West Valley 7
Dimond 15 Anchorage West 0
Eielson 47 Barrow 6
Homer 26 Ketchikan 0
Houston 2 Delta Junction 0 (forfeit)
Juneau 30 North Pole 13
Kodiak 28 Kenai 27
Palmer 48 Lathrop 14
Soldatna 49 Seward 7
Valdez 28 Nikiski 20
Wasilla 38 Skyview 0

Alaska High School Football Scoreboard - Week 2

Alaska High School Football Scores
Friday and Saturday, August 17 & 18, 2007

Anchorage South 55 Eagle River 0
Barrow 18 Seward 16
Chugiak 7 Anchorage East 6
Colony 20 North Pole 7
Dimond 16 Bartlett 12
Eislson 34 Houston 12
Juneau 44 Lathrop 6
Kenai 61 Ketchikan 0
Kodiak 40 Homer 12
Nikiski 40 Delta Junction 0
Service 31 Anchorage West 0
Skyview 6 Valdez 0
Soldatna 47 Palmer 14
Wasilla 36 West Valley 26

Saturday Football Scores from The Great White North

Dimond lost 27 seniors from last year's squad that finished sixth in the Cook Inlet Conference...the prognosis for 2007...not great. However, nobody told the Lynx they should be that good.

Dimond opened the 2007 season on Saturday with a 19-14 upset over Palmer, which entered the season ranked #3 in the pre-season Big Schools Poll.

Quarterback Nate Jaworski led the way in his first start completing 11-of-18 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns.

Here's the rest of Saturday's scores with some key stats:

West Anchorage 44 West Valley 35
West scored 22 third quarter points.

Kenai 46 Houston 0
Kenai RB bill Chimphalee 269 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

Homer 36 Seward 0
Homer QB Corey Sutherland 3 TDs (2 passing, 1 rushing, 2-2pt. conversions). Homer RB Matt Tyrell 110 yards on 17 carries

Valdez 56 Delta 13

Skyview Blasts Nikiski

Skyview running back Eddie Buffington may have a tough opening act to follow. Buffington averaged 19 yards a carry and scored three touchdowns as Skyview won its season opener 54-6 against Nikiski.

To read a complete game wrap with stats from the Anchorage Daily News, please click on the Alaska High School Football Huddle headline "Skyview Blasts Nikiski".

Colony Shuts Out Eielson

Colony punished Eielson with a superb ground game winning it's opener 47-0. The Knights ground attack ate up 306 yards of gridiron real estate.

To read a complete recap with stats from the Anchorage Daily News, please click on the Alaska High School Football Huddle headline "Colony Shuts Out Eielson".

Wasilla's Joe Barkley Picks Apart Eagle River

Wasilla senior Joe Barkley intercepted three passes Friday night at Wasilla opened the Alaska High School football season with a 41-6 win over Eagle River. While Barkley led the defense, Warrior quarterback Adrese Lavern led the offense with three touchdown passes in the second half.

To read a complete game wrap and stats from the Anchorage Daily News, please click on the Alaska High School Football Huddle headline "Wasilla's Joe Barkley Picks Apart Eagle River".

Soldatna and North Pole Combine for Over 100 Points in Opener

Who says it takes a while for the offense to catch-up with the defense? With only nine days of practice, defending Small Schools champ Soldatna and North Pole proved that each others' defense has a little catching-up to do as Soldatna opened the season with an impressive 62-42 win.

In combining to pass the century mark in points, Soldatna used a tough running attack and only passed twice. The Stars ended the night with 419 yards on the ground while North Pole had a balanced attack with 286 yards rushing and 169 passing.

To read a complete game wrap with stats from the game, please click on the Alaska High School Football Huddle headline "Soldatna and North Pole Combine for Over 100 Points in Opener".

Chugiak Takes Down Defending Champ

It didn't take long for South to figure out that a wearing a bullseye is a little tough. The defending Big Schools champ will be the target of a lot of teams that want to hoist the 2007 state championship high school football trophy, just like the Wolverines did in 2006

#2 ranked Chugiak opened the 2007 Alaska high school football season with a message to all contenders...DON'T look past us, as the Mustangs beat South 10-7 on their home field. Chugiak's win not only will set a tone for this season's campaign, but also ended South's 11-game win streak.

To read a complete game wrap-up from the Anchorage Daily News, please click on the Alaska High School Football Huddle headline "Chugiak Takes Down Defending Champ".

Railbelt Conference Preview

The Colony Knights will have some big shoes to fill if they want to repeat as the Railbelt Conference champs and get back to the Big Schools championship game where they lost to South last year.

The Knights lost Chebon Jimenez, the state's Offensive Player of the Year, first team all-state quarterback Teddy Babcock and tight end/defensive end and Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year George Percak-Dennett. In fact, the Knights lost 10 of 11 starters on both sides of the ball.

Who's the favorite? It's hard to say because all of last year's top team lost key personnel.

Look for Juneau to make some noise despite losing record-setting quarterback Chris Hinkley.

For a complete team capsules from the Anchorage Daily News, please click on our headline "Railbelt Conference Preview".