South 21, West 18
South's Jade Hicks made a key flag pull with less than two minutes left to foil a three-point conversion attempt by West and help the Wolverines preserve a 21-18 flag football victory Saturday at West High.
Both Cook Inlet Conference teams were coming off close losses earlier in the week – South lost to Chugiak by a touchdown and West lost by two points to Dimond. Saturday provided more drama.
"Another exciting, close CIC game where any team can win on any given day," South coach Bob Kirn said by email.
This one came down to the final extra-point play. Down 21-12, West's Rebecca Syrup threw her third touchdown pass of the game to make it a three-point game, and the Eagles set up at the 20-yard line to attempt a three-point conversion.
"We couldn't get the three-pointer to send it into overtime and they ran the clock out," West coach Travis Cantrell said.
The lead traded hands four times. South took the lead for good on an 86-yard catch-and-run play from Anika Valdez to Emily Robinson to lead 14-12 with about four minutes left.
On West's ensuring possession, Kelsey Sweetsir came up with her third interception and returned the ball 35 yards for a 21-12 South lead.
Syrup, who completed 12 of 29 passes and was picked off four times, took West downfield quickly for the final touchdown but that was the end of the scoring for the Eagles.
Syrup threw TD passes of 11 and 47 yards to Kyana Cornejo and 19 yards to Allysa Brown.
Valdez tossed a pair of touchdown passes, the first to Taylor Lawson and then the long play with Robinson. The Wolverines (5-6) made good on all of their PATs, and the Eagles (6-5) missed all of theirs.
Dimond 20, Service 7
D'Shaunna Schuster intercepted three passes Saturday to propel Dimond past Service 20-7 in a CIC flag football game at Service.
Her biggest pick came with four minutes left and Dimond ahead by a touchdown. The Lynx scored on the ensuing possession to extend their lead and move to 8-3 in the CIC.
Tifffany Jackson rushed for 120 yards on 13 carries to lead a potent ground game for Dimond. Megan Luther ran for 73 yards and an 11-yard touchdown on 14 carries, Victoria Johansen had 31 on nine carries, including a 2-yard TD run, and Brooke Lilland bolted 44 yards into the end zone on her only carry.
Service (6-5) got its only touchdown on a pass by Julia Miknich in the second quarter.
Besides the three interceptions, Schuster had three flag pulls for the Lynx, who got another seven from Elizabeth Goodrum and five from Jackson.
Bartlett 38, Eagle River 6
Tala Lauvale returned two interceptions for touchdowns, sparking Bartlett's 38-6 win over Eagle River in a CIC flag football game at Bartlett on Saturday.
Lauvale, whose defensive TDs came on returns of 80 and 35, also scored on offense on a 35-yard run. Also scoring multiple times for the Golden Bears was Tiffany Michaels, on runs of 47 and 32 yards.
Both teams scored on their first possession, but by halftime Bartlett (3-8) led 25-6. Eagle River slipped to 0-11.
East 34, Chugiak 0
Sandin Kidder made sure East had a happy homecoming Saturday, throwing three touchdowns in a 34-0 CIC win over Chugiak.
Sierra Rosenzweig, Alexis Joubert and Fua Filoialii were all on the receiving end of Kidder's scoring strikes. Rushing for T-birds touchdowns were Deja Villareal and Ana Silao.
Filoialii contributed to the shutout with two interceptions. Also contributing on defense for East (10-1) were Kendra Luiten (six pulls) and Abby Johnson (4 pulls).
Chugiak dropped to 6-5.