Crimson Bears season ends with 38-17 opening playoff loss at South Anchorage

Mark Sabbatini
Oct 11
5 min read

Juneau takes early 8-7 lead, then falls behind due to lost fumbles, inability to stop Wolverines’ attack

Noah Ault (0) throws a deep pass for Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé during the Crimson Bears’ playoff game at South Anchorage High School on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. (Stephanie Burgoon/Alaska Sports Report)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

This is a developing story.

They began with an exchange of touchdowns that saw Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé win the battle with a two-point conversion to take an 8-7 lead. But the Crimson Bears lost the war as they couldn’t keep up with South Anchorage High School's relentless offense in a 38-17 opening-round road playoff loss.

The Crimson Bears (3-5 conference, 3-6 overall) tried some tricks, including starting senior receiver/defensive back Noah Ault at quarterback, and he responded with two touchdown runs plus the two-point conversion. But two lost fumbles hurt Juneau at key times while the game was within reach.

The first occurred on a run at their own 20-yard line midway through the second quarter with Juneau down 14-8. South Anchorage (6-2 conference, 7-2 overall) scored three plays later to make the score 21-8.

Juneau would narrow the gap with a 38-yard field goal by junior Zonny Mazon just before halftime and then, after receiving the second-half kickoff, drove for a touchdown to make the score 21-17 after the extra-point attempt was blocked.

South Anchorage responded immediately with a 59-yard drive that began with a 40-yard run by junior running back Ethan Yarrington, a Wolverines’ season-long star who was dominant on both sides of the ball Saturday. A 20-yard touchdown pass three plays later put South Anchorage up 28-17.

Juneau, after taking the ensuing kickoff to its 41-yard line with about five minutes left in the third quarter, fumbled four plays later to give South Anchorage the ball back at the Crimson Bears’ 48-yard line. Yarrington scored three plays later to put the Wolverines up 35-17.

JDHS Head Coach Rich Sjoroos ended the season with a playful flourish, calling a few running plays for senior offensive/defensive lineman Ricky Tupou — a heavyweight stallwart during the season — plus a downfield pass he took down the right sideline "pitbull style with the entire South team” trying to bring him down, as the stadium’s play-by-play announcer put it. However, the play was negated by offsetting penalties.

South Anchorage High School’s Julian Jones, left, locks horns with Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s Ricky Tupou during their playoff game in Anchorage on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. (Stephanie Burgoon/Alaska Sports Report)

The Crimson Bears, who won three of their four home games this season, were playing at South Anchorage due to a 29-28 loss in their regular season matchup a month ago that was decided when the Wolverines converted a two-point conversion with 18 seconds remaining. Had JDHS won the two teams would have finished with 4-3 conference records and the playoff opening in Juneau due to the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Juneau looked to turn the tables on South Anchorage early on Saturday when it initially appeared the teams might engage in a back-and-forth touchdown slugging march resembling their regular season game. The Crimson Bears opened with an onside kickoff that was recovered by the Wolverines on their 48-yard line. It took three plays — an eight-yard run, a 24-yard pass and a 20-yard touchdown run for South Anchorage to grab a 7-0 lead less than a minute into the game.

The Crimson Bears started its first drive on its own 22-yard line — starting a game-long trend where Juneau’s offense was playing on a long field and South Anchorage’s on a short one. Juneau immediately set out to establish itself physically by running straight at the Wolverines’ defense on its first seven plays (which didn’t escape the announcer’s notice as he proclaimed "another run up the middle" as the last of those got the ball to the South Anchorage 39-yard line).

Ault, whose quarterback keepers were proving the most effective ground gainer, then ran around the left side for 15 yards and a few plays later ran right to the Wolverines’ 12-yard line. Junior running back ran for five yards and then two more carries by Ault put Juneau into the end zone with 1:31 remaining in the first quarter.

The Crimson Bears lined up for the extra point kick, but an offsides penalty by South Anchorage resulted in Juneau opting for a two-point try that succeeded when Ault ran what appeared to be the same play that resulted in his touchdown.

South Anchorage got another short field with a kickoff of about 75 yards to the Juneau 23-yard line. Four straight running plays put the Wolverines back in front 14-8 a mere three seconds into the second quarter.

Juneau went three-and-out after starting its next possession on its own 21-yard line, with South Anchorage taking over on the Crimson Bears’ 44-yard line after a punt. Juneau’s defense held for the first time, but a punt by the Wolverines was downed inside the Juneau 1-yard line with 7:47 left in the first half.

The Crimson Bears got out of the shadow of their own end zone when defensive pass interference was called on a long pass by Ault. Three plays later, however, Juneau committed its first lost fumble that led to South Anchorage taking a two-touchdown lead.

Juneau, starting its next drive on its 25-yard line with 5:11 left in the second quarter, got into South Anchorage territory on the first play with a 26-yard run by Ault. A nine-play drive that included two more long runs by Ault got the ball to the Anchorage 22-yard line, where on a fourth-and-6 Mazon narrowed the gap to 21-11 with his longest field goal of the season.

The second half saw the Crimson Bears keep up their momentum with a 73-yard drive highlighted by a 15-yard run by Ault to midfield on a fourth-and-3, a pass down the left sideline to sophomore wide receiver Andrew Sanders to the South Anchorage 18-yard line, a 16-yard run by Jim to the 2-yard line and Ault’s second rushing score to narrow the gap to four points after the extra point.

But the Wolverines roared back quickly after returning the ensuing kickoff at the Juneau 41-yard line, with Yarrington running the ball to the Juneau 19-yard line. Three plays later a 20-yard touchdown pass made the score 28-17 with 5:17 left in the third quarter.

That was followed by Juneau’s second lost fumble and another quick score by South Anchorage, effectively putting the game out of reach.

Junior quarterback Krew Ridle took over on Juneau’s next possession, who attempted to rally the Crimson Bears through the air. But after a long completion to Ault was negated by a penalty the drive ended in an interception and the Wolverines drove for the game’s final score on a 38-yard field goal with 4:55 remaining.

BOX SCORE (from Alaska Sports Report)

Juneau-Douglas 8 3 6 0 – 17

South Anchorage 7 14 14 3 – 38

FIRST QUARTER

South – Coleman Arroyo 19 run (Buss kick) 11:05

Juneau – Ault 1 run (Ault run) 1:31

SECOND QUARTER

South – Yarrington 1 run (Buss kick) 11:57

South – Coleman Arroyo 23 run (Buss kick) 5:19

Juneau – Mazon 39 FG 0:22

THIRD QUARTER

Juneau – Ault 3 run (kick blocked) 7:33