This blog is part of Jeff Fisher's High School Football America network that's dedicated to providing high school football fans in Alaska with the most up-to-date news,information, videos and scores.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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
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
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
Jason Caldarera'sService 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.
The Alaska Sports Broadcasting Network has released its preseason polls.
Anchorage South, a team that didn't make the playoffs last season, is ranked #1 in the Large Schools Preseason Top 5, while defending state champ Soldotna is the top team in Small Schools.
ASBN Preseason Poll
Large Schools
1. Anchorage South
2. Barlett
3. Chugiak
4. Palmer
5. West Valley
Small Schools
1. Soldotna
2. Kenai
3. Thunder Mountain
4. Skyview
5. Homer
The crowning of the 2011 Alaska high school football champs will take place outside of Anchorage.
The Alaska School Activities Association has decided to move the three state championship games to Chugiak High School. In addition to the titles games, Thomas Huffer Sr. Football Stadium will host the Large School semifinal match-ups.
Below is the 2011 high school playoff schedule...
October 7-8, 2011
Small - Semifinals at higher seed
Medium - Semifinals at higher seed
Large - Quarterfinals at higher seed
October 14, 2011
Large - Semifinal #1 at Chugiak HS
October 15, 2011
Small - Championship Game at Chugiak HS - noon
Medium - Championship Game at Chugiak HS - 7:30 PM
Large - Semifinal #2 at Chugiak HS - 4 PM
State officials have decided to add a third classification to the present Small and Large School Division set-up. Beginning this fall, Alaska will crown a Medium School champ.
The new classification will be for schools with a student body between 326 and 800 students. In announcing the new classification, state officials also announced that Palmer and North Pole will play-up a division. That means the two Medium Schools have decided to play in the Big School division.
