Before his team took the field Friday night against Dimond, Bartlett co-head football coach Daniel Esparza paced the sidelines imploring his team to expect a bruising battle.
"There's going to be some booming going on down there!" Esparza shouted as his team prepared for the opening kickoff.
Message delivered.
Bartlett's defense dominated a strange, sloppy and physical contest, holding Dimond to just 127 yards total offense en route to a 33-14 Cook Inlet Conference win.
"Their defensive line is outstanding," said Dimond coach Chris Borst, whose team fell to 1-3 in the CIC and 2-3 overall.
Bartlett remained undefeated with the win and in the process spoiled Dimond's homecoming.
The game included 28 penalties -- including 19 on the victors -- nine fumbles and one of the oddest sequences of football imaginable.
"That's one of the strangest games I've ever seen," said Esparza's co-head coach John Jessen.
Bartlett linebacker Christian Lega scored a pair of defensive touchdowns in the third quarter to break open what had been a close game.
"I thought we gave them a dogfight," Borst said.
Bartlett's offense wasn't too shabby, either, with running back Vincent Lobendahn racking up 201 yards on the ground to help Bartlett rack up a 252-65 advantage in rushing yards.
Bartlett (4-0 CIC, 5-0 overall) built an early 10-0 lead on the strength of a 1-yard scoring run by Lobendahn in the first quarter and a 26-yard field goal by Lorenzo Froehle early in the second.
Dimond got on the scoreboard midway through the second quarter on a bruising 14-yard run by JJ Tanuvasa, who barreled over a Bartlett defender at the goal line to cut the lead to 10-7.
Bartlett took a 17-7 lead into halftime on Tala Sappa's 1-yard quarterback keeper that capped a relentless 16-play, 68-yard march by the Golden Bears.
Things turned disastrous for Dimond during a bizarre 2-minute, 40-second stretch that saw the Lynx shoot themselves in the foot repeatedly from the shotgun formation.
The nightmare series started with back-to-back errant snaps deep in Dimond territory, the second going out of the end zone for a Bartlett safety.
On the following drive, Bartlett fumbled the ball away at the Dimond 20, but again the Lynx center sent the ball sailing high over the head of quarterback Vondell Pilcher. Lega fell on the ball for a Bartlett touchdown that made it 25-7.
Dimond's next drive lasted just two plays after yet another errant snap went flying over Pilcher's head. Lega was again hot to the spot, scooping up the ball for his second defensive touchdown in 16 seconds.
"I guess I was just in the right place at the right time," said Lega, who had never before scored a defensive touchdown.
Borst said he didn't want to blame any of his players for the bizarre sequence that spelled Dimond's doom.
"The mistakes we made, we made as maroon and gold, not as individuals," he said.
Dimond finally regained its composure enough to mount a scoring drive midway through the fourth quarter, getting a 34-yard touchdown strike from Pilcher to Cedarian Brunell for the game's final score.
Lega said the undefeated Golden Bears are playing with a lot of confidence, especially on the defensive side of the ball, and Friday's win will only serve to increase the team's swagger.
"This means so much to us, man," he said. "I'm just so proud of all my boys."
Jessen, likewise, said he was proud of his team's effort. Bartlett, which endured a 17-game losing streak between the 2011 and 2013 seasons, is now ranked No. 1 in the state and sitting atop the CIC with South. Both the Golden Bears and Wolverines have clinched spots in the state playoffs.
"We were 0-8 two years ago and now we're undefeated," he said. "That's phenomenal."
Jessen's postgame remarks to his team gave even more insight into what he thinks about this year's Bartlett bunch: "We're back."
Contact Matt Tunseth at mtunseth@alaskadispatch.com or 257-4335.
GOLDEN BEARS 33, LYNX 14
Bartlett 7 10 16 0 — 33
Dimond 0 7 0 7 — 14
First Quarter
Bartlett — Lobendahn 1 run (Carey kick), 7:42
Second Quarter
Bartlett — Froehle 26 field goal, 10:14
Dimond — Tanuvasa 14 run (Brunell kick), 6:46
Bartlett — Sappa 1 run (Carey kick), 1:31
Third Quarter
Bartlett — Safety (Dimond snapped ball out of end zone), 8:26
Bartlett — Lega fumble recovery in end zone (run failed), 6:02
Bartlett — Lega 4 fumble return (run failed), 5:46
Fourth Quarter
Dimond — Brunell 34 pass from Pilcher (Brunell kick), 8:21
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Bartlett: Lobendahn 35-201, Pace 14-53, Falaniko 5-9, Sappa 5-(-11). Dimond: Tanuvasa 10-46, Tufaga 7-28, Vasai 3-5, Pilcher 6-(-14).
PASSING — Bartlett: Sappa 4-9-0--50. Dimond: Pilcher 6-21-2--62.
RECEIVING — Bartlett: Mailo 2-37, Falaniko 1-7, Lobendahn 1-6. Dimond: Brunell 2-40, Ra. Zavala 2-16, Vasai 1-6, Tufaga 1-0.