In the end, after a sputtering start on both sides of the football Friday night, Bartlett High found its groove, put its game in gear and simply ran West ragged.
The Golden Bears, third-ranked among Division I teams, pounded the fourth-ranked Eagles' defense inside with Jonay Edwards' succession of punishing body shots. They stretched the Eagles at the edges with Hunter Cargill's slashing forays. And they piled up nearly 400 yards rushing to earn a 34-26 Cook Inlet Conference road win.
Edwards rushed 33 times for 148 yards and four touchdowns and Cargill turned 19 carries into 187 yards and one touchdown. Add some complementary work from Jonnavin Suon and Elijah Lear, and Bartlett parlayed an astounding 69 carries into 398 yards.
All that offense, and a defense that pitched a second-half shutout, allowed the Golden Bears to bounce back from a 19-0 first-quarter deficit. The bad news for Bartlett at that point was West owned a three-score spread — Bartlett went three-and-out on its first possession and fumbled away its second possession — but the good news was plenty of time remained. West's 19-0 lead, courtesy of three rushing touchdowns by quarterback Qyntyn Pilcher, came inside the opening nine minutes.
After that, it was all Bartlett (2-1, 1-0 CIC), which stormed back to take a 21-19 lead it lost just before halftime, then scored the only two touchdowns of the second half.
"Our team, we're young — we have 33 juniors and the majority played JV last year," said Bartlett co-coach Daniel Esparza. "They're streaky, and they're still figuring it out."
Cargill, whose 33-yard touchdown run on Bartlett's first possession of the second half forged a 28-26 lead, said his team flourished because it believed in itself after Edwards' 1-yard run in the waning seconds of the first quarter got it on the board.
"We just gained momentum," Cargill said. "Once we get confidence, we end up doing good. When we're not confident, we don't. So, we need to work on that."
For Esparza, Friday's game was reminiscent of the 2015 Bartlett game at West, but with a better result. Two seasons ago, Bartlett fell behind 20-0 early and West outlasted the Golden Bears for a defense-optional 61-50 win.
Friday, West (1-2, 0-1 CIC) scored on its first three possessions and Pilcher connected on 8 of his first 10 passes. Bartlett linebacker Herman Grey said Montiae Couse's interception of Pilcher on West's fourth possession helped turn the tide.
"We just believed in each other and trusted in hard work," Grey said.
Pilcher completed 25 of 35 for 230 yards. A.J. Su'esu'e latched onto eight catches for 104 yards and a touchdown, and Jared Harjehausen had eight receptions for 59 yards.
West was in Bartlett territory, trailing 34-26 with less than five minutes to play when Grey stepped in front of a Pilcher pass, picked it off and returned it 40 yards to the West 25 before Pilcher caught him.
"I wish I had a pick-six, but that quarterback is fast," said Grey, who blocked an extra point in the first half.
West stopped Bartlett on downs at its 4-yard line, but the Eagles were out of timeouts. Grey made the clock work against the Eagles when he kept Su'esu'e in bounds on West's subsequent possession, which started with 1:24 left, and a desperation pass by a scrambling Pilcher fell incomplete as time expired.
Bartlett 7 14 7 7 — 34
West 19 7 0 0 — 26
First Quarter
West — Pilcher 5 run (Harjehausen kick), 9:19.
West — Pilcher 1 run (kick blocked), 5:53.
West — Pilcher 3 run (run failed), 3:03.
Bartlett — Edwards 1 run (Suon kick), 23.7.
Second Quarter
Bartlett — Edwards 2 run (Suon kick), 7:39.
Bartlett — Edwards 1 run (Suon kick), 42.5.
West — Su'esu'e 13 pass from Pilcher (Harjehausen kick), 6.0.
Third Quarter
Bartlett — Cargill 33 run (Suon kick), 8:47.
Fourth Quarter
Bartlett — Edwards 2 run (run failed), 5:50.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Bartlett — Cargill 19-187, Edwards 33-148, Suon 7-34, Lear 4-27, Fudge 3-3, Malia-Hughes 3 (-1). West — Pilcher 10-50, Bell 10-32, No. 44 1-(-4).
Friday’s football results
North Pole 50, Wasilla 34
Eielson 24, Kodiak 7
Barrow 40, Redington 8
Bartlett 34, West 26
Colony 39, Palmer 8
Chugiak 60, West Valley 12
Soldotna 52, South 7
Houston 34, Seward 0
Capital Christian (California) 43, Service 14
Nikiski 24, Ketchikan 6