The Eagle River flag football team wrapped up the regular season with a win Thursday on what turned out to be homecoming night for senior Jessica Moore.
Moore was surprised before the game by the appearance of her dad, Cedric Moore, a paratrooper who returned from Afghanistan just in time to see Moore help her team to a 26-7 Cook Inlet Conference win over South at Anchorage Football Stadium.
"It was a complete surprise," said coach Matt Turner, who got a call from Jessica's mom on Wednesday but had to keep the news to himself in case Cedric's return was delayed.
Ten minutes before kickoff, Dad arrived.
"We were warming up and she was over at the fence giving him a hug," Turner said.
South took a quick 7-0 lead but Eagle River came back behind a defense that featured three interceptions (two by Scout Warners and one by Skylar Metzel) and an offense spearheaded by Lauren Frost.
Frost responded swiftly after South scored by firing a 70-yard TD strike to Gaby Mordini. She added 20-yard passes to Skylar Metzel and Moore.
When Moore scored, she blew a kiss to her dad in the stands, Turner said.
Service 14, Chugiak 0
Stephanie Compton threw two second-half touchdowns Saturday to spark Service's 14-0 CIC flag football victory over visiting Eagle River.
After a scoreless first half, the Cougars scored once in the third quarter and once in the fourth quarter. Compson hit Zoe Bailey with a 20-yard -pass and connected with Kerianne Hansen on a 65-yarder.
Contributing to the shutout were Keaira Caldarera (eight pulls), Bailey (two interceptions) and Shannon Wilson (one interception).
Dimond 21, Bartlett 7
Tara Thompson scored a rushing touchdown, caught a pass for a touchdown and intercepted two passes Thursday afternoon to propel Dimond to a 21-7 victory over Bartlett that secured an undefeated regular season for the Lynx in Cook Inlet Conference flag football.
Thompson rushed 17 times for 131 yards and opened the scoring in the first half at Tom Huffer Sr. Stadium in Chugiak with a 3-yard run to give the Lynx (14-0) a 6-0 lead. Bartlett countered with a touchdown pass and conversion to take a 7-6 lead.
With just 5.2 seconds left in the first half, Dimond called a double-reverse pass and Whitney Jackson hit Thompson with a 35-yard scoring pass. Thompson's conversion pass to Brittany Bagsby earned Dimond a 14-7 lead.
Dimond's Vanessa Tufaga, who rushed seven times for 40 yards, scored on a 4-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Haley Martin led Dimond's defense with 10 pulls and Tufaga added six.
Dimond and Bartlett (2-12) meet again Tuesday in the first round of the playoffs.
VOLLEYBALL
South 3, Eagle River 0
Sophomore setter Kayla Simms stepped in for injured Morgan Hooe to orchestrate South's 25-17, 25-19, 25-19 sweep of Eagle River in a CIC match at South.
Hooe, the senior leader for the powerful Wolverines, sat out with her right hand in a cast. Coach Judy Knecht said the injury will be reevaluated in two weeks.
"We're kinda regrouping right now," she said.
West 3, East 2
West survived a fifth-set rally by Eagle River to pull out a dramatic 19-25, 25-14, 20-25, 25-17, 15-13 CIC volleyball win Thursday at West.
The Eagles built a big lead in the fifth set only to see Eagle River storm back make it close at the end.
West got eight kills apiece from Rebecca Jones, Rita Dexter and Nya Carter, who added nine digs. Nicole Meyers racked up 50 assists.
For East, Mafi Makihele's 30 assists and Shantal Tamanaha's 17 assists ran an offense featuring Taria Page (10 kills), Nadia Frank-Macon (nine kills) and Sidney Smith (eight kills). Lauren Lauruhn led the defense with 13 digs.
Colony 3, Kenai 0
Allison Leigh banged 18 kills Thursday night and Maryann Zmuda delivered 17 assists to lead Colony to a sweep of Kenai in high school volleyball.
Colony won 25-17, 25-9, 25-15.
Anchorage Daily News