Dimond cruises to conference title

The Lynx scored two early touchdowns, led 19-6 at the half and remained in control throughout the second half.

"It was a great season and a nice way to end," said Dimond coach Kathleen Navarre. "We played well. We played very well."

Colleen Fairchild caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Keiahnna Engel on Dimond's first drive of the game to give the team a 6-0 lead. Kimmy Jackson then picked off a pass and returned it 16 yards for a score as the Lynx were quickly up 13-0.

A 9-yard run by Jackson pushed the lead to 19-0, but Bartlett got on the board before the half thanks to a touchdown reception by Tiffani Pollard.

Pollard was playing with a taped up wrist a night after severely injuring the wrist in a win over Chugiak.

"She didn't play much on defense and I think that hurt them," Navarre said.

Jackson scored her third touchdown of the game, on a 1-yard run to put Dimond up 26-6 early in the second half.

After Bartlett scored to cut the lead to 26-12, Engel ran for a 58-yard score to put the game away.

Vanessa Youngmun had six pulls to lead the Dimond defense. Engel finished wtih 111 rushing yards and 47 receiving yards. Jackson ran for 64 yards.

Bartlett finished 13-4 on the season, with three of the losses coming against Dimond. The Golden Bears were the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and beat No. 3 Chugiak on Friday to make the title game.

The Lynx (16-1) won their first 13 contests of the season, led by an explosive offense featuring Jackson, Engel and Kelsey Hall. Chugiak defeated Dimond in the final game of the regular season, but the Lynx came back to beat Eagle River, West and Chugiak in the playoffs.

"You have to give Chugiak a lot of credit, they played well and they gave us that loss," Navarre said. "I told the girls that that loss hurts a lot less than a loss (in the playoffs) would."

Dimond got its toughest test of the playoffs in the semifinals when the Lynx needed a late touchdown by Jackson to edge West 21-14.

"West gave us a phenomenal game. Tessla Rennie is a phenomenal player, but thankfully for us we have a lot of great players that were able to get the job done," Navarre said.

Find Richard Larson online at adn.com/contact/rlarson or call 257-4335.