The Cook Inlet Conference will get its football games in a little early this week, because the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur begins Friday evening.
Instead of holding games Friday and Saturday, everything will be bumped back a day. Two games will take place Thursday and two more Friday. Friday's games start at 6 p.m., in an effort to finish play by sundown in accordance with Yom Kippur, which ends Saturday evening.
Having reached the midway point of an eight-game regular season, all four games carry significant weight in determining the state playoff picture. For the first time, the CIC will receive five berths to the state tournament this season and first place is only separated from sixth place by two games.
Defending state champion South (3-1, 3-0 CIC) leads the pack, and the Wolverines have a chance to take command of the league with a win over second-place Chugiak (3-1, 2-1 CIC) Thursday.
Third-place Service (3-1, 2-1 CIC) is coming off a loss to Chugiak and will take on sixth-place Eagle River (1-3, 1-2 CIC) Thursday.
Dimond (2-2, 2-1 CIC) and West (2-2, 2-1 CIC) round out the top five. Both play Friday against East and Bartlett, respectively, two teams that have yet to win a game. East and Bartlett are essentially playing for their playoff lives already, each likely needing to win three of its last four games for a shot at a berth.
West rusher on top
West running back Lui Faamasino maintained his spot as the top CIC rusher with a 103-yard performance against East last weekend, increasing his season total to 399 yards. Chugiak's Gabe Mingledorff is close behind with 365 yards, after more than doubling his season total with his 186-yard output against Service.
Service quarterback C.J. Toomer threw his 13th touchdown pass last weekend and his 1,059 passing yards are more than double any other CIC quarterback. Dimond's Jeremiah Maga is second with 511 passing yards and five touchdowns.
Bartlett receiver Edress Irving leads the CIC in receptions with 18, but Service's Thavun Sriseneha (13 catches) leads the league in receiving yards with 326.
High School football
COOK INLET CONFERENCE
Conference Overall
W L PF PA Pct. W L PF PA Pct.
South 3 0 106 13 1.000 3 1 106 32 .750
Chugiak 2 1 41 39 .666 3 1 58 45 .750
Service 2 1 111 60 .666 3 1 163 81 .750
Dimond 2 1 51 36 .666 2 2 57 60 .500
West 2 1 71 49 .666 2 2 85 73 .500
E. River 1 2 65 88 .333 1 3 73 128 .250
Bartlett 0 3 28 72 .000 0 4 43 93 .000
East 0 3 24 140 .000 0 4 24 172 .000
STATISTICS
2013 Cook Inlet Conference Football Leaders
Rushing
Att Yds TDs Avg
Lui Faamasino, West 53 399 5 7.5
Gabe Mingledorff 50 365 1 7.3
J.J. Tanuvasa, Dimond 31 235 2 7.5
Kelley Coleman, Dimond 40 224 1 5.6
Roman Stephan, South 32 212 1 6.6
Passing
Comp Att Yds TDs Int
C.J. Toomer, Service 64 111 1,059 13 2
Jeremiah Maga, Dimond 37 76 511 5 8
Zyrelle Jones, Bartlett 39 94 415 4 5
Peter Kott, Chugiak 17 49 303 1 2
Ben Stewart, Chugiak 22 62 277 0 2
Receiving
Rec Yds TDs Avg
Edress Irving, Bartlett 18 220 1 12.2
Leroy Elliot, West 15 252 3 16.8
Thavun Srisaneha, Service, 13 326 4 25.1
Nyeem Johnson, Service 13 180 5 13.8
Marquez Buster, Dimond 12 190 2 15.8
* Statistics are unofficial, and based on game coverage by the ADN and other newspapers, and information provided by varsity coaching staffs. There is no official stat-keeping body for Alaska football.
Week 5 football schedule
Thursday
Chugiak vs. South, Anchorage Football Stadium, 7 p.m.
Eagle River vs. Service, Dimond High, 7 p.m.
Friday
Palmer at Homer, 6:30 p.m.
East at Dimond, 6 p.m.
Bartlett vs. West, AFS, 6 p.m.
Monroe at Eielson, 6 p.m.
Houston at Kenai, 6 p.m.
Lathrop at Colony, 7 p.m.
West Valley at Wasilla, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Seward at Voznesenka, 1 p.m.
Skyview at Barrow, 1 p.m.
Thunder Mt. at North Pole, 1 p.m.
Nikiski at Valdez, 1 p.m.
Kodiak at Soldotna, 2 p.m.
Foss (Wash.) at Juneau, 8 p.m.
Anchorage Daily News