The Thunder Mountain Falcons are the Southeast Conference champs in high school football. The Falcons beat the Ketchikan Kings 30 to 12 on Saturday in Ketchikan.
After a slow start to the season – and losing their first four games – the Falcons have won three contests in a row, putting them at the top of the small conference of three schools: Thunder Mountain, Sitka and Ketchikan. The Falcons are assured a playoff game in Juneau in two weeks, against a Northern Lights Conference team.
In Juneau on Saturday, the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears beat the Fairbanks’ West Valley Wolf Pack by a score of 29 to 8. The Bears have five wins and one loss, and still have one more regular-season game.
The Wolf Pack came to Juneau with just one loss for the season and the crowd expected a tougher contest than it turned out to be. Defense was the key: the Crimson Bears’ line totally stifled the Wolf Pack’s running game, which has been the centerpiece of their offense this season.
Head Coach Rich Sjoross says the Bears defense was tenacious.
“We benefited from getting in the backfield, disrupting their timing,” Sjoross says.
Juneau must win the last regular season game to secure a home play-off for the quarterfinals. The Crimson Bears play Lathrop, another Fairbanks team, next week at Lathrop.
“If we beat Lathrop, we’re guaranteed a home playoff game, absolutely,” Sjoross says. “If Palmer beats Wasilla and we beat Lathrop then we’re the conference champions.”
Juneau plays in the large schools’ Railbelt Conference. The quarterfinals pit a Cook Inlet conference team against a Railbelt team.
