Alaska Crowns Two High School Football Champs

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Anchorage West and Soldotna captured Alaska's two high school football championships in opposite styles.

West won the Big Schools title with a 6-0 win over Service in the lowest scoring game in championship history.  Soldotna won the Small Schools trophy in the highest scoring game.

Soldotna beat Kenai 77-42 in a game that the Stars rushed for a record 641 yards.

To read the championship game game summaries, go to the Alaska High School Football Huddle.

Saturday High School Football Scores
October 16, 2010

Alabama Scores
Alaska Scores
Arizona Scores
Colorado Scores
New Jersey Scores
Pennsylvania Scores
Virginia Scores

First State High School Football Championships to be Decided this Weekend in Alaska

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Hard to believe, but it's only the middle of October and the high school football season is coming to a close in Alaska this weekend.

The Big Schools and Small Schools championship games will be played tomorrow at Anchorage Football Stadium.  At noon, undefeated Soldotna will face Kenai in the Small Schools title game; at 4:30 unbeaten Anchorage West will play Service for the Big Schools title.

The West (10-0) and Service (9-1) game will be interesting because West beat the Cougars in the season-opener 38-35, but only after trailing 22-7 in the 3rd quarter.

Meanwhile, either Soldotna (10-0) or Kenai (7-3) will carry home the hardware for the ninth straight time.  Kenai is the defending Small Schools champ and has won five titles in the last eight years.  Soldotna, which lost to Kenai in the championship game last year, has won three titles.

The Anchorage Daily News reports another fun part of the Kenai/Soldotna rivalry is the two schools are only 10-miles apart.

As for High School Football America's weekly journey...tonight we're staying in Chicago to get the story that we couldn't get to last week because of horrible traffic.  We're headed to undefeated St. Rita High School to talk with Mustangs' alum Dr. Gerry Grieco, who will be attending his 488th straight game for his alma mater.

After the game, I'll be here to update scores from around America...see you then!

First High School Football Championship Hopefuls Reach State Championships

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

A week from today, America will have its first 2010 high school football champs.

Friday night, Service and Soldotna advanced to Alaska's Big Schools and Small Schools' championship games next Saturday in Anchorage.





Service's opponent will be determined today when Anchorage West plays Juneau-Douglas in the Big Schools semis. Soldotna will face the winner of today's Small Schools semifinal between defending state champ Kenai and Homer.

Click here to go to the Alaska High School Football Huddle for stories about Friday night's wins by the Cougars and Stars.



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Alaska High School Football Championship Scoreboard

Alaska High School Football Scoreboard
Saturday, October 17, 2009

Small Schools Championship

Kenai 21 Soldotna 10

Large Schools Championship

Bartlett 21 Chugiak 3

First High School Football Championship Trophies to be Handed-Out Today

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Alaska was the first to start, so it stands to reason that it's first to end the 2009 high football season.

Today at Anchorage Football Stadium, three-time state champ Soldotna will play Kenai for the Small Schools championship. Once that hardware is handed out, Bartlett and Chugiak will battle for the Large Schools Championship.

The Small Schools title tilt has a lot of glitz to it since Soldotna and Kenai have won the last seven Alaska Small Schools championships. According to the Anchorage Daily News, a win by the Stars would match Kenai's streak of four straight between 2002 and 2005.

No one expected Bartlett and Chugiak to be playing for the First National Bowl Large Schools championship trophy. Bartlett finished third in the Cook Inlet Conference, while Chugiak finished fourth in the CIC.

You can watch the two championship games on the internet from KTUU-TV.

Soldotna Wins Third Straight Alaska Small Schools Championship

By Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle

The third time wasn't the charm for Kodiak, but it was for Soldotna as for the third straight year they met for Alaska's Small Schools state championship. Soldotna won its third straight title with a 28-6 win, which also tied the Alaska record for consecutive wins at 29 straight.

Click here to read about the Stars championship.

Service Wins Alaska Big Schools Football Title

By Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle

At halftime, it looked like Service's incredible season would end with a runner-up finish for Alaska's Big Schools high school football championship. Defending champ Juneau-Douglas held a 14-2 lead and looked like it would cruise to it's third championship in the last four years.

However, the dream changed in the second half as the Cougars clawed back with two second quarter touchdowns on the way to a 22-14 win.

Click here to read a recap story.

Alaska High School Football Championship Game Webcasts

If you want to watch Saturday's Alaska high school football championship games, click here to watch a webcast of the Big Schools title game between Juneau-Douglas and Service or the Small Schools championship between Soldotna and Kodiak.

Big Schools Championship
Juneau-Douglas vs. Service 4PM EST

Small Schools Championship
Soldotna vs. Kodiak 8:30PM EST

Alaska To Crown Champs Today

By Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle

Juneau-Douglas is back to defend its 2007 Alaska Big Schools high school football championship, while Soldotna is looking for the three-peat in Saturday's Small Schools championship game in Anchorage.

Juneau-Douglas (6-4), which has won two of the last three Big Schools titles, will face Service (7-3), which is playing in its first title game since 1999. Click here to read a preview story on Service. Click here to read a preview story on Juneau-Douglas.

It's deja vu all over again in the Small Schools championship as two-time defending champ Soldotna faces Kodiak for the third straight year for the title. The Stars are riding a 28-game win streak. A win by Soldotna will equal the straight record for consecutive wins. Anchorage East currently holds the record at 29.

Click here to read a preview story on Soldotna. Click here for a preview story on Kodiak.

Alaska To Crown First State Champs This Weekend

By Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle

Alaska's Big Schools high school football championship game will feature two teams that weren't expected to make it to the title game. With seven losses between them, defending state champ Juneau-Douglas (6-4) will face Service(7-3) for the title on Saturday.

Juneau made it back to the championship game with a 28-27 come-from-behind win Saturday against unbeaten Anchorage South in the semifinals. Click here to read a recap of that game.

Service will play for its first title since 1999 after beating Alaska's other unbeaten big school North Pole 27-12 on Friday. Click here for a Service/North Pole recap.

In the Smalls School semis, Barrow's season of first ended with a 19-13 loss to Kodiak. Kodiak will play two-time defending state champ Soldotna, a 69-33 winner over Eielson on Saturday. Soldotna is now within one win of tying Alaska's consecutive win streak of 29 set by Anchorage East between 1985 and 1987.

Click here for a Kodiak/Barrow recap. Click here for the Soldotna/Eielson recap.

Independence Goes After Eight State North Carolina High School Football Championship

The three-digit win streak ended in September, but Independence's season is ending like seven before it...playing for a North Carolina 4AA high school football championship.

Saturday night at Wake Forest University, Independence will play New Bern for the 4AA title. These two are no strangers to each other, it will be the fourth meeting for state bragging rights since 2002.

For the second straight week, the defending champs will face one of the top teams in the state. Last week, the Patriots defense held West Charlotte quarterback Darius Thomas in-check. This week the "D" will have its hands full with New Bern QB Brett Williams who's thrown for 1,508 yards and 14 touchdowns while rushing for 1,314 yards and 13 TDs.

Independence isn't the only defending champ in the finals. Charlotte Catholic (3AA), Shelby (2AA) and Western Alamance (3A) will all be playing in their fourth consecutive championship games.

Here's this weekend's schedule...

All Games on Saturday

at N.C. State
1A - Plymouth vs. North Duplin 11 A.M.
2A - South Columbus vs. Lincolnton 3:30 P.M.
2AA - Reidsville vs. Shelby 7:30 P.M.

at North Carolina
3A - Western Alamance vs. North Gaston 11 A.M.
3AA - Dudley vs. Charlotte Catholic 3:30 P.M.
1AA - Kenan vs. W. Montgomery 7:30 P.M.

at Wake Forest
4A - Hoggard vs. Mt. Tabor 3 P.M.
4AA - New Bern vs. Independence 7:30 P.M.

Wisconsin Lutheran Returns To Top Spot in Division 3

For the third time in the last four years Wisconsin Lutheran finds itself taking home the championship hardware from Camp Randall Stadium.

Wisconsin Lutheran (13-1) beat New London 49-6 on Friday to capture the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 3 high school football championship. The Vikings routed the Bulldogs (12-2) with a strong rushing attack led by running back Chris Echols, who picked-up 213 yards and two touchdowns.

To read a game recap, click here.

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.

And the First Champ Is??

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.