High School Sports

Lathrop bats down PAT pass to preserve 35-33 win over Chugiak

The Lathrop Malemutes batted down Chugiak's conversion pass in the waning seconds Saturday to secure a 35-33 football victory in Fairbanks.

The Mustangs were trying to tie the game with 48 seconds left after charging back from a big deficit.

Lathrop built a 28-0 lead and took a 28-6 advantage into the fourth quarter.

But Chugiak racked up 27 fourth-quarter points, the last of them coming on Merrick Johnson's 1-yard touchdown run. The touchdown was set up by a huge play on 4th-and-29, when Hunter Harr connected with Derryk Snell on a 38-yard pass that put the Mustangs one yard away from the end zone.

Chugiak went for the two-point conversion pass in an attempt to forge a tie, but Lathrop's defense came through with the game's decisive play.

Lathrop got three touchdown passes from quarterback Joshua Hernandez, who found Zach Kosa twice and R.J. Henry once. Henry also provided a special-teams touchdown by breaking loose for a 76-yard punt return.

Harr and Karletty Faamatuainu combined for two big pass plays that ended with touchdowns, a 48-yarder and a 43-yarder.

The loss came in Chugiak's Railbelt Conference debut. For years, the Mustangs were members of Anchorage's Cook Inlet Conference.

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