East High christened its new football stadium Saturday afternoon with a Cook Inlet Conference victory on homecoming that doubled as the clincher that secured the T-birds a berth in the state playoffs.
That'll work.
East took advantage of four first-quarter turnovers by No. 2-ranked Chugiak – the Mustangs committed nine turnovers in all – to seize a quick two-touchdown lead and roll to a 32-7 victory.
For the T-birds (5-2, 3-2 CIC), a return to the playoffs two weeks hence comes after they won just one game in each of the two previous seasons, each time beating perennially weak Eagle River. And their clinching win Saturday came on the heels to a 17-14 loss last week to CIC opponent South, which entered that game winless.
"For us to come back after a heart-breaking loss like that is special,'' said East coach Jeff Trotter.
Meanwhile, Chugiak (4-3, 4-2 CIC) already owned a playoff berth and wraps the regular season next week with a nonconference game against Eagle River, which this season moved down to the medium-school division from the large-school division.
But the Mustangs have been momentarily wrecked by injuries to pivotal players. Quarterback Ben Stewart missed his second game in a row with concussion symptoms. Principal running back Kenney Lee left the game early in the first quarter with an ankle injury, iced it, and spent the second half in street clothes. And Derryk Snell, who shed two opponents to turn a wide-receiver screen pass into a 58-yard touchdown in the first half, left by ambulance, as a precaution, after a violent collision in the third quarter.
"It's pretty tough,'' said Chugiak coach Roger Spackman. "I don't think I've ever seen a team so short-handed.''
The Mustangs fell apart early, which triggered T-bird prosperity. After Chugiak's fumble on the first play from scrimmage was recovered by East's La Atanoa, East ran Johnny Afuvai four straight times and his 4-yard touchdown run and conversion run delivered an 8-0 lead.
Chugiak fumbled on its second possession and East's Anthony Manu's recovered. A 36-yard pass from Carson Washburn to Jiovanni Franklin-Santacrose and Afuvai's 12-yard carry led to Afuvai's 3-yard touchdown run and Josh Malnoske's conversion run to boost East's lead to 16-0.
"That set us up pretty nice,'' Trotter said.
And put the Mustangs in difficult position.
"We put ourselves behind the eight ball in a big way,'' Spackman said.
Still, Snell's electrifying catch and run close Chugiak's gap to just 16-7 at halftime.
Yet East continued to seize turnovers in the second half. The T-birds' five fumble recoveries and four interceptions came from nine different players. Atanoa, Manu, Auomanu Manu, Canyan Linderman and Ethan Kalolo-Bass each recovered fumbles. Sam Logoleo, Marquise White, Poutasi Pulalasi and Jonathon Todd snatched interceptions.
White's 43-yard return on his fourth-quarter pick set up Washburn's 32-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Malnoske. Pulalasi's 32-yard interception return in the fourth quarter set up Afuvai's 1-yard plunge for his third touchdown of the game and a 29-7 East lead.
The T-birds also received a 21-yard field goal from Lucas Wagar.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
Chugiak 0 7 0 0 --7
East 16 0 0 16 -- 32
First Quarter
East -- Afuvai 4 run (Afuvai run), 10:00.
East -- Afuvai 3 run (Malnoske run), 6:44.
Second Quarter
Chugiak -- Snell 58 pass from Harr (Morey kick), 3:32.
Fourth Quarter
East -- Malnoske 32 pass from Washburn (Wagar kick), 10:09.
East -- Afuvai 1 run (Wagar kick), 9:14.
East -- Wagar 21 FG, 2:14
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Chugiak: Faamatuainu 11-25, Harr 9-16, Noah 7-14, White 3-9, Kindred 1-3, Snell 1-1, Regina 4-(-4). East: Afuvai 16-69, Logoleo 7-49, Malnoske 6-23, Openiano 2-11, Fleming 1-7, Paulsen 3-1, Smith 1-(-1), Washburn 8-(-2), Vea 5-(-7).
PASSING – Chugiak: Harr 8-20-4--125. East: Washburn 5-13-0--124.
RECEIVING – Chugiak: Kindred 3-25, Faamatuainu 2-14, Snell 1-58, No. 11 1-19, Warden 1-9. East: Malnoske 2-46, Franklin-Santacrose 1-36, White 1-30, Emmsley 1-12.