Sports

Chugiak prevails in epic football battle with East

Ticket holders for Saturday's Cook Inlet Conference football matinee between East and Chugiak were treated to high drama, virtuoso performances and heartbreaking tragedy during an epic three-hour show that delivered a season's worth of highlights in one golden game.

Don't believe it? In Chugiak's 47-34 win, the teams combined for more than 1,000 yards of offense, 12 touchdowns and 25 plays of 10 yards or more. A freshman wideout caught three touchdowns for the victors, while a junior running back rushed for 286 yards in a losing effort.

And to cap things off, fans leaving Chugiak's Tom Huffer Sr. Stadium were treated to a double rainbow that neatly wrapped up the afternoon in one image: East's defeated players soggily heading for the bus, while Chugiak's posed for photos in front of the rainbow and talked about the evening's upcoming homecoming dance and their renewed playoff aspirations.

Parker Martin was the star of the show for East, rushing for a game-high 286 yards and four touchdowns on just 12 carries.

"Never had a game like that before," said Martin, who entered Saturday's contest with 172 yards on 31carries in five games.

But Martin's solo explosion wasn't nearly enough. Chugiak junior quarterback Ben Stewart threw four touchdown passes for the Mustangs -- three to freshman Derryck Snell -- and Noah Harris ran for 105 yards in an understudy role for Kenny Lee, the star Chugiak running back who was injured in the first half and left in an ambulance.

"Usually our defense comes out and hits and we didn't do that today," said Martin, who also plays cornerback for the T-birds.

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Martin announced his presence with his first touch of the ball, an 80-yard scamper on the T-birds' opening play from scrimmage. Martin appeared to be bottled up for a short gain but somehow escaped into the Chugiak secondary, outrunning everyone to the end zone for a stunning 6-0 East lead 18 seconds into the game.

East's poor kicking game allowed the Mustangs to quickly answer. After a botched extra point, Chugiak return man Nathan Regina took the ensuing kickoff to the East 45, setting up an eight-play, 45-yard drive punctuated by Stewart's 3-yard keeper for a 7-6 lead after less than three minutes of play.

After trading punts with Chugiak, East again called Martin's number -- and the speedy junior delivered, breaking a tackle at the line of scrimmage and sprinting 88 yards to the house for his second touchdown in as many touches. Clayton Washburn ran in the 2-point try to put East on top 14-7 with 5:49 still to play in the first.

Chugiak equalized on its next possession, going 63 yards on eight plays behind the bruising running of Lee, who accounted for 54 rushing yards on the drive, including a 4-yard rumble that tied the game 14-14.

Chugiak improved to 3-3 overall and 2-3 in the Cook Inlet Conference. The Mustangs can clinch a spot in the playoffs with a win next week against winless Eagle River. East fell to 1-5 overall and 1-4 in the CIC and will need help getting into the posteason.

"This is huge for us for momentum," said Stewart, who finished 13-for-20 with one interception and 229 yards passing. "It's a good little wave that we can ride."

The Mustangs were again on the march early in the second quarter when a nondescript handoff to Vander Lekites turned into a potentially season-changing play. While trying to block for Lekites, Lee's left ankle got rolled up on, and the junior -- who came into the game as the fourth-leading rusher in the CIC -- stayed down in obvious pain. He was carried off the field on a stretcher and later left the stadium in an ambulance.

"That was tough for us to see," Snell said."But we had to just forget about it and keep pushing."

On the first play after Lee's injury, Stewart found Snell for a 30-yard strike that re-energized the Chugiak sideline and signaled a shift to an aerial attack for the Mustangs. Three plays later Stewart punched it in for a 1-yard score to make it 21-14.

"We wanted to win it for (Lee)," Snell said.

The drama continued at a breakneck pace on East's next possession when Washburn found a wide-open Alani Collins loose behind the Chugiak secondary for an easy 54-yard touchdown pass and a 21-21 tie.

Chugiak's Brandon Lowe provided one of the game's few defensive highlights when he stepped in front of a Washburn pass to give Chugiak the ball at midfield five minutes before halftime. Stewart turned the pick into points five plays later, hitting Snell in the end zone for a 12-yard score that made it 28-21 Chugiak.

East's next drive fizzled at midfield, and Chugiak again made the T-birds pay dearly. Stewart ran the two-minute drill without missing a beat, finding Snell for a 24-yard touchdown and a 35-21 Chugiak lead with just three seconds left in the half. Snell displayed rare savvy on the play, using a subtle push-off to create space before leaping high in the air to grab the ball at its highest point and earn a well-deserved standing ovation.

Stewart credited his offensive line with giving him plenty of time to find his receiver.

"They did a great job blocking," he said. "It's 100 times easier to throw when you have time like that."

Chugiak's first drive of the second half ended in a blocked field goal try, which set up yet more Martin magic. The redheaded rocket -- the two-way starter bears a passing resemblance to Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton -- took Washburn's handoff and raced untouched through the line, flying past Chugiak's defenders for a 65-yard touchdown run.

"He's a good player, man," said Chugiak coach Roger Spackman. "We just did a poor job of gap control and he made us pay."

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The spotlight in the battle of breakout stars shifted quickly back to Stewart and Snell, who hooked up for their third score when the junior quarterback hit his freshmen phenom in stride for a short pass over the middle. Snell turned it into a 44-yard catch-and-run touchdown and a 41-28 Mustangs' lead late in the third.

Stewart put the finishing touches on his big day with 9:29 left in the fourth quarter when he hit Garrett Quigley in the back of the end zone for a 12-yard score that made it 47-28.

"This gives us a huge amount of confidence," Stewart said.

Martin returned for an encore midway through the fourth with a 16-yard touchdown run, but that was as much as the T-birds could muster as the Mustangs rode Harris down the stretch to finish off the game.

Although far from the flashiest player on the field, Harris' solid work filling in for Lee didn't go unnoticed.

"Noah stepped up big," Snell said.

Spackman said he didn't know how bad Lee's injury is, but said the Mustangs will plan to go ahead with Harris.

"He'd want us to persevere and not give up and that's what we're going to do."

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Contact Matt Tunseth at 257-4335 or mtunseth@alaskadispatch.com

East 14 7 7 6 — 34

Chugiak 14 21 6 14 — 47

First Quarter

East — Martin 80 run (kick missed), 11:42

Chugiak – Stewart 3 run (Tulare kick), 9:22

East – Martin 88 run (Washburn run), 5:49

Chugiak – Lee 4 run (Tulare kick), 3:06

Second quarter

Chugiak – Stewart 1 run (Tulare kick), 10:15

East – Collins 54 pass from Washburn (Nielson kick), 9:21

Chugiak – Snell 12 pass from Stewart (Tulare kick), 3:34

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Chugiak – Snell 24 pass from Stewart (Tulare kick),:03

Third quarter

East – Martin 65 run (Nielson kick), 6:47

Chugiak – Snell 44 pass from Stewart (kick blocked), 4:54

Fourth Quarter

Chugiak – Quigley 12 pass from Stewart (pass failed), 9:29

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East – Martin 16 run (kick blocked), 7:09

East Chugiak

First downs 19 25

Rushes-yards 30-382 65-277

Passing yards 146 229

Passes 7-16-2 13-20-1

Punts 3-23.7 1-45.0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-2

Penalties-yards 8-64 10-77

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — East: Martin 12-286, Talo 5-52, Atanoa 6-32, Washburn 4-7, Scott 1-3, Logo 1-2. Chugiak: Harris 20-105, Lee 7-62, Stewart 21-39, Regina 5-28, Quigley 4-24, Lekites 8-19.

PASSING — East: Washburn 7-16-2—146. Chugiak: Stewart 13-20-1—229.

RECEIVING — East: Berry 4-62, Nichols 2-30, Collins 1-54. Chugiak: Snell 8-177, Quigley 2-40, Regina 1-6, Wolfe 1-6.

Matt Tunseth

Matt Tunseth is a former reporter for the Anchorage Daily News and former editor of the Alaska Star.

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