Soldotna moves to Division II state final by topping Chugiak

The Soldotna football team defeated Chugiak 56-7 on Saturday at Justin Maile Field at Soldotna High School to advance to the Division II state championship game.

The Stars (9-1), the top seed in the playoffs and defending state champ, will face No. 3 seed Lathrop (6-4) in the state final at 4 p.m. Saturday at Colony High School in Palmer. Soldotna lost to the Malemutes 35-28 on Oct. 5.

This is the fifth straight time the two squads have met for the Division II crown, with each side winning twice during that time period.

The Stars came out excited to have an opportunity to go to yet another state title game in the seniors’ final game at Justin Maile Field.

“We knew it was our last home game ever as seniors, so we decided to put on a show,” Soldotna senior tight end and outside linebacker Trevor Michael said.

A big part of the show was junior quarterback Owen Buckbee, who threw five touchdown passes in the game.

“Offensively, they kind of filled up the box and gave us kind of an unconventional defense,” Soldotna head coach Galen Brantley Jr. said. “We kind of peppered the edges with outside run plays and then threw the ball a lot more than we normally do.”

Buckbee’s five scoring strikes all came in the first half to stake the Stars to a 49-0 lead. Matthew Schilling and Michael each caught two scoring passes, while Andon Wolverton had the other.

“A key factor is everyone going out and playing hard,” Buckbee said. “Our seniors, it’s their last game on this field.

“They played their hardest. They did real great, and it showed up on the scoreboard.”

The Stars also received rushing touchdowns in the first half from Wolverton and Wyatt Faircloth. Faircloth also had the team’s lone score in the second half.

Chugiak did not score until the fourth quarter.

“Defensively, we didn’t give up any points with our starters — very few yards, very few completions,” Brantley Jr. said. “I thought we were very stingy defensively.”

Since the start of the reign of coach Galen Brantley Jr., the Stars have won 12 state championships in 17 seasons, with the program having 13 overall. The coach also advanced to his 16th state final in 18 seasons, with one of the misses being due to the pandemic.

Brantley Jr. said that when the Stars lost to Lathrop earlier, they were down 28-7 at the half.

“We’ve got to play both halves of the football game,” he said. “We’ve got to be prepared to play 48 minutes.”

Buckbee said scoring 21 unanswered points in that second half showed what Soldotna can do.

“The first half we came out kind of surprised by their physicality, and didn’t play well in the first half,” he said. “But second half, we showed that we can beat them.”

Lathrop started the season 1-4, but since then has won five straight.

“We know they’re a great team,” Michael said. “We know we haven’t saw their best throughout this season.

“So we’re more prepared for this game. We’re ready for them, and it’s gonna be a better game this time.”

Jonas Oyoumick is interning with the Peninsula Clarion through the Kenaitze Indian Tribe Daggeyi internship program.

Saturday

Stars 56, Mustangs 7

Chu 0 0 0 7 —7

Sol 13 36 7 0 —56

1st Quarter

Sol — Wolverton 13 pass from Buckbee (Lu. Hillyer kick), 8:41.

Sol — Wolverton 71 run (kick failed), 5:25.

2nd Quarter

Sol — Michael 13 pass from Buckbee (Wolverton pass from Buckbee), 11:56.

Sol — Schilling 29 pass from Buckbee (Lu. Hillyer kick), 10:17.

Sol — Michael 58 pass from Buckbee (Lu. Hillyer kick), 5:54.

Sol — Faircloth 17 run (Lu. Hillyer kick), 3:28.

Sol — Schilling 8 pass from Buckbee (Lu. Hillyer kick), 1:32.

3rd Quarter

Sol — Faircloth 36 run (Lu. Hillyer kick), 10:07.

4th Quarter

Chu — Talbot 89 pass from Worland (Downs kick), 4:17.

Chu Sol

First downs 3 16

Rushing yards 22-38 39-391

Passing yards 118 138

Comp-att-int 7-13-1 7-12-1

Return yards 8-85 2-67

Punts 2-40.5 0-0

Fumbles 3-2 1-0

Penalties 2-10 6-65

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Rushing — Chugiak: Worland 10-12, Koehler 4-9, Poland 4-8, Bono 1-6, Benning 1-3, Walker 1-3, Talbot 1-(-3). Soldotna — Faircloth 9-145, Wolverton 6-132, J. Kemp 5-44, Piscoya 4-24, Buckbee 4-18, Hall 6-17, Wong 1-9, Richards 2-2, Williams 1-1, Z. Kemp 1-(-1).

Passing — Chugiak: Worland 7-13-1—118. Soldotna: Buckbee 6-9-1—132, Innes 1-2-0—6, Z. Kemp 0-2-0—0.

Receiving — Chugiak: Talbot 1-89, Poland 1-22, Walker 3-7, Warren-Dowl 1-6, Downs 1-(-6). Soldotna: Michael 2-71, Schilling 2-37, Wolverton 1-13, Kemp 1-11, Berg 1-6.