A.J. Hull gained 201 of Kenai's 269 total yards and scored three touchdowns in a 47-12 win over Homer in a small-schools semifinal game at Anchorage Football Stadium on Saturday.
Kenai used Hull in multiple roles, keeping the Homer defense off balance, said Homer coach Cam Wyatt.
"A.J. is a force to be reckoned with," he said.
Hull caught five passes for 129 yards, including touchdowns of 34 yards and 48 yards, he carried the ball 27 times for 72 yards, and intercepted a pass in the second half.
"He messed up our scheme a little bit," said Homer running back and safety Dyllan Day.
The win for Kenai (7-3) sets up a rematch of last year's small-schools championship game against Soldotna (10-0). Kenai won last season's title game 21-10, but Soldotna won this year's regular-season game 52-8 to claim the Northern Lights Conference title last month.
Hull said the Kardinals have struggled to play as a cohesive unit all season, until Saturday's game. He thinks they will be ready to give Soldotna a good game next week.
"I feel like this was the best game we played all season," Hull said. "We finally started playing like a family."
While most of the game belonged to Hull, the beginning of the game belonged to Kenai's Tyler Glidden. Glidden recovered two Homer fumbles in the first quarter. The first one set up his 1-yard run for a touchdown to give the Kardinals a 6-0 lead, and the second one set up a 34-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Colton Hayes to Hull.
Homer sophomore Drew Raymond scooped up a Kenai fumble in the closing seconds of the first half and returned it 35 yards for his only score of the season. The touchdown pulled Homer to within eight points of Kenai, but would be the last time the Mariners would score.
Homer (5-5) turned the ball over a total of six times, including three first-half fumbles, digging themselves a hole too tough to climb out of.
Day, a junior, led the Mariners with 137 rushing yards and one touchdown on 13 carries. He was sorry they couldn't win one more game for the seniors on the team, but he was happy with where the Mariners finished, considering they lost three of their first four games this season.
"He is starting to understand the notion of leadership," said Wyatt. "I'm very impressed with him."
Wyatt said youth and inexperience led to some nervousness, which played a big part in the early turnovers.
"These kids want to play well for their parents, schools and teammates," said Wyatt. "The experience will be beneficial; it could be a start for next year."
Homer 0 12 0 0 -- 12
Kenai 13 7 14 13 -- 47
First Quarter
Kenai -- Glidden 1 run (run failed), 11:00.
Kenai -- Hull 34 pass from Hayes (Hayes kick), 9:45.
Second Quarter
Kenai -- Carlson 1 run (Hayes kick), 9:35.
Homer -- Day 69 run (run failed), 8:01.
Homer -- Raymond 35 fumble return (run failed), :28.
Third Quarter
Kenai -- Nason 10 pass from Hayes (Hayes kick), 5:18.
Kenai -- Hull 48 pass from Hayes (Hayes kick), 1:41.
Fourth Quarter
Kenai -- Hull 1 run (Hayes kick), 11:51.
Kenai -- Ziehmer 8 fumble return (kick blocked), :14.
Homer Kenai
First downs 4 22
Rushes-yards 27-158 51-104
Passing yards 28 165
Return yards 79 24
Passes 2-11-2 11-22-1
Punts 1-39.0 2-35.0
Fumbles-lost 5-4 2-1
Penalties-yards 12-97 18-147
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Homer: Day 13-137, Resetarits 2-18, Downes 2-12, Cotney 2-(-7), Frank 8-(-12); Kenai: Hull 27-72, Carlson 11-28, Glidden 10-26, Risung 2-9, Hanson 1-2, Hayes 5-(-31).
PASSING -- Homer: Cotney 2-11-28-2. Kenai: Hayes 11-21-165-1, Hull 0-0-0-0.
RECEIVING -- Homer: Kennelty 1-16, Rosencrans 1-12; Kenai: Hull 5-129, Nason 3-43, Sandahl 1-14, Risung 1-7, Glidden 1-6.
Find Jeremy Peters online at adn.com/contact/jpeters or call 257-4335.
By JEREMY PETERS
jpeters@adn.com