JDHS battles South Anchorage even to the end, loses 29-28 on 2-point conversion by visitors in final seconds
- Mark Sabbatini
- Sep 12
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 13
Ethan Van Kirk runs for three TDs for Crimson Bears on rain-soaked field, but Wolverines able to find their footing in second half
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
A game of trading touchdowns came down to a two-point conversion at the end by South Anchorage High School, giving the Wolverines a 29-28 victory over Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé on Friday night at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park.
The Crimson Bears (1-4) proved capable of matching up against the Wolverines (4-1) by relying on a methodical running attack led by senior running back Ethan Van Kirk who scored three touchdowns. South Anchorage, after struggling at times with a slippery ball and field during a rain-soaked first half that ended with Juneau ahead 14-7, was able to attack on the ground and through the air on three second-half touchdown drives in drier conditions.
The final Wolverines touchdown came with 18 seconds left to make the score 28-27 in favor of Juneau, and Wolverines Head Coach John Lewis said after the game there was no hesitation in going for the two-point conversion and the win.
"You don't fly to someone's house and go to overtime," he said. "And I'll tell you what: Juneau and their coaching staff did a hell of a job. They attacked everything on us. I don't want to go (to overtime) with those guys. You go for the win."
A run toward the left corner of the goal line got far enough over it to score and, after the kickoff resulted in a touchback, the Crimson Bears threw three incomplete passes and took a sack as the final 18 seconds expired.
"I don’t think we're in a bad spot — I don't — but it's gonna sting," JDHS Head Coach Rich Sjoroos told his players after the game. "It hurts, man. It hurts to put all that work in and give it your all, and just come up a little bit short."
At the same time "we had some great individual efforts," he said. "We had a great job on our line. I mean, tremendous effort up front with power running. How many turnovers did we have tonight? Zero. We played really, really good football. Made every extra point, good special teams…There's just so many positive things that we did tonight. And this season is about building and playing your best football at the end."
South Anchorage, which has won four straight games, was missing its starting quarterback and other key starters, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
The Crimson Bears stayed one step ahead of the Wolverines in the exchange of touchdowns throughout the game, beginning after a short opening kickoff bounced off a South Anchorage player and was recovered by Juneau on the Anchorage 43-yard line. Three plays later on a third-and-10 junior quarterback Krew Ridle hit a wide-open Noah Ault far down the right side of the field and the senior wide receiver, with a block from sophomore receiver Andrew Sanders on the lone intervening defender, took the ball into the end zone to put Juneau up 7-0 after the first two minutes of play.
"It was well drawn up, it was perfect," Ault said after the game. "I saw the safety drop down into our other man and so I felt when I went up I felt like I had full control of my body. I focused, got that ball, and I was running in and I kind of did a little juke move to get him out of my way. And I'm going to give a good shoutout to Andrew Sanders for blocking out there. That was an amazing job."
Another bobbled kickoff by South Anchorage resulted in the team starting its first offensive series on its 12-yard line. A three-and-out led to the first of a series of punts by the two teams that ended midway through the second quarter with the Wolverines scoring on a 10-yard run to even the tally at 7-7.
Juneau started the ensuing possession on its 30-yard line with about six minutes left in the half. Relying almost entirely on runs by Van Kirk, plus a 23-yard run by Ault to get the ball deep into Wolverines’ territory, the Crimson Bears drove to a fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line with two seconds left in the half. After each team took a timeout Van Kirk scored easily on a run through the right side of the line to put Juneau at 14-7 at intermission.
The rain stopped during halftime and, when the teams returned to the field, what had been largely an exchange of punts in the first half became an exchange of touchdowns in the second half.
The Crimson Bears turned the ball over on downs after taking the second-half opening kickoff into the Wolverines’ territory. South Anchorage responded with a steady drive down the field — aided by having an interception by Ault negated by a roughing-the-passer penalty — culminating in a four-yard touchdown run to tie the score at 14-14 with 5:29 remaining in the third quarter.
Juneau responded with another drive mostly featuring Van Kirk on the ground that ended with him bursting through the middle of the line for a short touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter, putting the Crimson Bears back in front 21-14 with 11:56 remaining.
South Anchorage struck back quickly on a five-play drive featuring a 30-yard run to the Juneau 32-yard line, a pass to the Juneau 4-yard line and then, after recovering a fumble, a six-yard touchdown pass to even the score again at 21-21 with 9:49 remaining.
The Crimson Bears put together a final methodical drive, including a key fourth-and-1 conversion at the Anchorage 20-yard line, with Van Kirk scoring his third touchdown from 13 yards out to make the score 28-21 with 4:35 remaining.
Juneau positioned itself for the win on the first ensuing play from scrimmage when sophomore lineman Leonidas Taualo-Tasi caused a fumble when he sacked the Wolverines’ quarterback, which South Anchorage recovered for a 17-yard loss at its 29-yard line. But in digging out from a second-and-27 the visitors were able to convert on a fourth-and-6, and went on to score on a 10-yard touchdown pass with 46 seconds left — setting up the game’s only two-point conversion attempt, with the Wolverines prevailing.
"They just had a good play call and we had a good defense — and they just got lucky and got that touchdown," Ault said.
The Crimson Bears are at home for their next two games, beginning with Dimond High School (0-4 going into its game Friday night against Colony High School) at 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20. Colony (2-2 going into Friday’s game) will be the final matchup in Juneau’s three-game home stand at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
