.png)
Wolverines bite Crimson Bears in state football semifinals
South prevails 42-12 over JDHS to face West in championship next week
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears played with heart in Saturday’s ASAA First National Bowl Division I football semifinal at South Anchorage High School, but the Wolverines had more bodies and prevailed 42-12.
“I told the kids after the game that I thought we prepped well all week,” JDHS coach Rich Sjoroos said. “And we did. But it just didn’t work out today.”
South was the second seed in the state tournament and boasted Cook Inlet senior co-offensive player of the year Ethan Yarrington. JDHS, the third seed, also boasted a co-offensive player of the year, senior Krew Ridle. Yarrington would run for three touchdowns and pass for another. Ridle and classmate Ethan Van Kirk each ran for one score.
After JDHS junior linebackers Jarry Maghinay and Caleb Aube joint-tackled Yarrington on the first play of the game, Yarrington broke the next for 77 yards and a touchdown. But a holding penalty negated the athleticism of the run. JDHS senior Sonny Mazon had a big tackle to stop Yarrington on the next play and senior Avei Tuvaifale tackled South senior Kaiden Coleman for a loss, forcing a South punt.
“We got the start we were looking for,” Sjoroos said. “We got them off the field with a punt on their first drive, but we just couldn’t get anything going offensively for large stretches of the game. Their defense has been tough all year and today was no different. We just couldn’t get the momentum. In these kind of games if you get the momentum you can build on it. We just weren’t really able to do that. Credit to South, they were able to keep themselves distanced from us and it just never really got tight like we were hoping for.”
JDHS’ Ridle would start the Crimson Bears’ first possession with three straight runs to earn nine yards and senior Ethan Van Kirk ran for five more for a first down. South would stop the attack and gain their own possession but go three-and-out and have to punt.
JDHS had no gains on their next two runs as South defensive back Bryson Jackson clogged up the line. Ridle threw deep on third-and-nine, but South senior linebacker Lincoln Marchant picked off the ball at the Crimson Bears’ 48-yard line.
South’s Yarrington connected with Wolverines junior Raden Willis for 47 yards to the one-yard line, and on the next play Yarrington smashed through the line for a 6-0 lead. South’s Willis kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead with 1:28 left in the first quarter.
“South has a lot of talent,” Sjoroos said. “We have talent too, but number five (Yarrington) is a legit, really good football player and it takes a group effort to get him down. He was able to find the space where we had one guy and that is not going to get the job done with him. We just weren’t able to swarm as well as we did in week one when we played them.”
JDHS sophomore Carter Day brought the following kickoff from the 15-yard line out to the 43, and Ridle ran twice as the quarter changed over to the second stanza. The Crimson Bears punted from their own 47-yard line.
South looked to be on a drive from their own 17-yard line, earning two first downs, including a 29-yard pass from Yarrington to senior Kaiden Coleman. But JDHS defensive tackles by Mazon, sophomore Hendrik Van Kirk, Maghinay, Aube and a great pass breakup by E. Van Kirk forced a punt. The JDHS line disrupted the play and the ball went past South kicker Willis’ head. It was recovered by JDHS on the 35-yard line. On the next play, JDHS senior Avei Tuvaifale looked deep on a throw, but South junior defensive back Austin Duffus intercepted the pass.
In four plays, South scored for the second time. Yarrington ran for 18 yards and a first down. Sophomore Tachaphiat Jariaha Souhala-Tuinei ran for three more. A JDHS penalty moved the ball to the 35-yard line and Yarrington broke through for a touchdown with 3:08 remaining in the half. Willis kicked his second extra point of the game for a 14-0 lead.
The game seemed to be getting away from the Crimson Bears as a penalty on the previous score put them back on their own 20-yard line after the South kickoff. Ridle rushed for three yards and Aube for five more. A South penalty moved JDHS to their own 39-yard line, where they were stymied on a first-and-10 run. Ridle broke the next play for 61 yards and a touchdown with 1:12 left in the half. The extra point missed and JDHS trailed 14-6.
South did not falter, moving the JDHS kickoff to their own 35-yard line. Yarrington ran for six yards, passed to sophomore Ezekiel Lealaisalanoa for six more and a first down and then connected with Willis on a 53-yard scoring pass with 19 seconds left in the half for a 20-6 lead. Willis kicked his third extra point for a 21-6 advantage.
“We had that chance,” coach Sjoroos said. “We cut it to 14-6 and that kid made that good catch and they got the score right before the half, that was tough. But credit to them. Just playoff football. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t.
The first half showed the strength of South’s defense which included seniors Conner Trotter, Riley Gunderson, Salefasa Matatule, Leo Mendoza, junior Ficher Stewart, and sophomores Lyric Wakefield, Malotumau Matatule, and Lealaisalano and Jensen, among others.
JDHS’ two-way offensive and defensive roster of seniors Isaiah Galletes-Fale, Jake Chambers, Tyler Oudekerk, Jaxin Jim, Avei Tuvaifale, E. Van Kirk, juniors Leonidas Taualo-Tasi, Helaman Aitaoto-Tele’a, Sylvion Washington, Logan Womack, Sean Fairchild, Maghinay, Aube, and sophomores H. Van Kirk and Day, among others, stood up to the relentless South physical pressure.
JDHS’ Mazon, E. Van Kirk, Aitaoto-Tele’a, Galletes-Fale and Ridle all would have brief injury moments in the first half. Ridle would not return in the second half and Aitaoto-Tele’a went out of the game in the opening minutes of the third quarter.
“I am proud of the kids that stepped into roles today,” coach Sjoroos said. “Carter Day played great all year, but even he took it to another level today. He was returning kicks, he’s lined up in the backfield right behind the ball - he hasn’t done that all year. I am pretty proud of the effort of our guys. Some of them maybe played a position earlier in the year, and now here we are dusting them off and putting them back out there after three or four weeks where we did something different. Andrew Sanders had to step into a much bigger role than he had been doing lately, credit to him. When Helaman (Aitaoto-Tele’a) went out we went back to sets we did early in the year, but that wasn’t the challenge, he knows that really well. But I decided to that early set which required him to take on of those tight end roles, and that was a tough ask. He did a really nice job of getting to the line and executing his blocks and running the right routes. And Jake Chambers played three different positions on the offensive line today, and he is a first-year offensive lineman for us. I told the kids, ‘there was never a time where we had 10 players on the field or 12 players on the field.’ We lined up correctly. They did a good job of always being engaged in what we were doing and adapting to what was thrown at them. Unfortunately it didn’t lead to enough points and a win, but I just will never look back and think this group did not lay it out there for everybody.”
The first possession of the second half secured the game for South.
JDHS received the second-half kickoff, but a low snap lost five yards and two subsequent runs resulted in no gain and forced a Crimson Bears punt.
South took possession on their 46-yard line and battled to barely break the 50, but on a punt, JDHS was flagged for holding, giving the Wolverines a fourth-and-short from the JDHS 42-yard line. Yarrington broke a 21-yard run. JDHS stopped two plays on great defensive plays by E. Van Kirk and forced a fumble that Yarrington fell on at the 12-yard line. South went for the end zone on fourth-and-two with Yarrington handing the ball to Souhala-Tunei, who ran in for a 27-6 lead. Willis hit his fourth extra point for 28-6.
South would be called for their second excessive celebration on the score, and the resulting kickoff gave JDHS field position on their own 46-yard line. The Crimson Bears offense was stopped and their punt mishandled, but the ball went to the Wolverines on their own 45-yard line. South’s Jackson ran for eight yards, Coleman five and Yarrington ran on third down for 42 yards and a 34-6 lead with 3:24 left in the third quarter. Willis kicked his fifth extra point for a 35-6 lead. The Wolverines were whistled for their third excessive celebration penalty.
JDHS’ Day received the kickoff on the Crimson Bears’ 20-yard line and ran out to the 40. JDHS would work across the 50 to the 48-yard line on short runs by E. Van Kirk and Day, but backup sophomore quarterback Parker Katasse had a pass broken up on fourth-and-nine to start the fourth quarter.
Yarrington would scamper 23 yards on South’s first play to the 25-yard line, but the next Wolverines play was a bad snap that JDHS junior Leonidas Taualo-Tasi recovered with 11:55 left in the game. JDHS would mount a strong 11-play drive on runs by eight runs by E. Van Kirk and one apiece by Maghinay and Aube. E. Van Kirk completed his first career pass with a toss over the middle to Washington for five yards, then broke a long run to inside the five-yard line. Van Kirk would break the goal line from four yards out to trail 35-12. The two-point pass conversion was stopped.
“Ethan (Van Kirk) is always a gamer,” Sjoroos said. “He will be one of those legendary Crimson Bears players that everyone remembers. He’ll be a Brian Felix, or a Ryan Wilson, one of those great running back/linebackers that came through the program. A pretty awesome career he has had.”
JDHS was flagged on the kickoff and South brought the ball out to their own 41-yard line. A first run was stopped by the JDHS line. A second run by South senior Kyler Jensen went 52 yards before JDHS’ E. Van Kirk saved a score with a tackle. South’s Jensen would run six yards untouched on the next play for a 41-12 lead with 3:22 left in the game. Willis kicked his seventh extra point for the 42-12 final tally.
JDHS would mount the game’s final possession, battling to the end from their own 16-yard line. E. Van Kirk would carry most of the yardage, broken up by a run apiece from Washington and Aube. A South penalty put the ball on the 23-yard line and E. Van Kirk ran to the 14. Day ran for eight yards to a first-and-goal as time expired.
JDHS continued their swarming team defense with linebackers Aube, Day and Jim leading with multiple joint tackles and E. Van Kirk two pass deflections and junior Andrew Sanders plugging multiple lanes. Tuvaifale and Van Kirk also had multiple tackles from the secondary.
“Jaxin (Jim) was so dialed in with film study that he was calling out their plays,” coach Sjoroos said. “At one point South had to call time out because Jaxin had called their play and we had shifted. Definitely he got them thinking twice about a couple of their play calls today.”
Chambers played four different line positions on the day — the Crimson Bears five, seven and three spots. The three spot he had never played before but spent most of the second half there.
“It is a whole different blocking scheme when you are in that spot,” Sjoroos said. “He had never played defensive tackle before either and he did some of that today as well. Our guys are always willing to take on the challenges thrown at them and make the most of it. You can’t feel bad about that, that’s for sure.”
Unofficial South stats show Yarrington ran the ball 14 times for 168 yards and three touchdowns. Jensen ran twice for 58 yards and one touchdown. Souhala-Tuinei ran twice for 15 yards, Coleman twice for 11 yards and Jackson three times for five yards. Yarrington passed nine times for 149 yards and one touchdown.
“We tried to get something established,” Sjoroos said. “That starts with South, though. They just did a really nice job of getting off blocks and tackling and really limiting our ability to do what we like to do. We just had trouble establishing if we would be good up the middle or the side or our counter. We just couldn’t establish anything on a regular basis.”
Unofficial JDHS stats show Ridle rushed 13 times for 97 yards and one touchdown. E. Van Kirk rushed 18 times for 90 yards and one touchdown. Jim rushed three times for five yards, Tuvaifale two times for four yards and Aube once for five yards. Ridle passed twice for five yards, Katasse three times and E. Van Kirk once.
“We just needed to sustain a couple drives early in the game to find some momentum,” Sjoroos said. “Maybe take some time off the clock or get an early score. We just weren’t able to do that. It makes it tough on the road when you can’t get some early success. Credit to South, they were able to get a little bit of a cushion. We tried to make some adjustments in the third quarter without Krew in the game and just kind of found ourselves climbing an uphill battle the whole second half.”
Sjoroos said he thanked his seniors first following the game.
“We have seniors whose careers are ending, either totally or just in the high school program,” Sjorros said. “So they were in a tough state of mind at that moment. Then we have players who know they are coming back next year, so they might be feeling a little different. So we had to navigate both sides of that and at the same time just really appreciate what our seniors did, the season they had, and getting us back to a winning program. We are just grateful for their dedication. We spent some time talking about our seniors. And then we fast-forwarded and talked a little about the players coming back and what we can build on from today and learn from and take into next season. We talked about all that a little bit. I did tell the seniors that this was the most energy I have had in several years, and I really think they caused that to happen with their enthusiasm and their ability to get everybody to show up for practice every day. Our attendance was phenomenal this year and that goes a long way into leading success on the field when everybody has that commitment Monday through Friday.”
South Anchorage will face top-seed West Anchorage, a 27-6 winner over fourth-seed Colony in Friday’s semifinal at the Eagles’ home, “Nest on Hillcrest.” West and South will play the state championship game next Friday at Colony High School.
“It was also really nice to see some of our fans up there,” Sjoroos said. “They were super loud, and making noise and trying to give the kids some inspiration and energy. Some of our fans in Anchorage came out too, that is always nice. It would have been nice to get one more week, but at the same time there is no way to look back at this as not a successful year. We did a lot of good things. We’ll learn from that, build on it. I told them this is the tough part of sports, when they turn on the scoreboard and you end up with less points than the other team, it always hurts. We will get through it and still find time to enjoy what we accomplished.”
SCORE BY QUARTER
Juneau-Douglas 0 - 6 - 6 - 0 = 12
South Anchorage 7 - 14 - 14 - 0 = 42
HOW THEY SCORED
1ST QTR
0:56 - Wolverines - Yarrington 1-yard run. PAT Willis 7-0.
2ND QTR
3:08 - Wolverines - Yarrington 35-yard run. PAT Willis 14-0.
1:12 - Crimson Bears - Ridle 61-yard run. PAT misses. 6-14.
0:19 - Wolverines - Yarrington 53-yard pass to Willis. PAT Willis 21-6.
3RD QTR
6:25 - Wolverines - Souhala-Tuinei 12-yard run. PAT Willis 28-6.
3:24 - Wolverines - Yarrington 42-yard run. PAT Willis 35-6
4TH QTR
5:02 - Crimson Bears - E. Van Kirk 1-yard run. 2-point conversion pass fails. 12-35.
3:22 - Wolverines - Jensen 52-yard run. PAT Willis. 42-12.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com
