High School Sports

4th-quarter drive and 4th-down defense propels Bartlett past Service, 21-17

Having trailed Service High, albeit narrowly, throughout the third and fourth quarters Saturday afternoon, Bartlett got the football on its own 15-yard line with 5 minutes, 54 seconds remaining.

Four plays into the possession, running back Markus Sagatu, who had accounted for 212 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, limped to the sideline.

No worries. The No. 2-ranked Golden Bears turned to battering ram Jontay Edwards, who parlayed seven straight carries into 53 yards and scored on a 2-yard run that delivered a 21-17 Cook Inlet Conference win and the circuit's No. 1 playoff seed.

Edwards' touchdown closed an 11-play, 85-yard drive. Azavyon McFarland followed with a two-point conversion run that meant Service needed a touchdown to win when it got the ball with 3:10 remaining.

The Cougars drove to the Bartlett 1 — a march that included Jason Villanueva-Kaeo's 13-yard pass to Dominik Norman on fourth-and-5 — before a penalty for a chop block pushed them back to the 11. They faced fourth-and-goal from the 6 with 27.2 seconds left.

Villanueva-Kaeo tried to thread a pass to Nathan Fromm in the right side of the end zone, but Bartlett's Damarian Garrett knocked down the pass to preserve victory.

Bartlett (6-1, 4-0 CIC) has reeled off six straight wins after a season-opening 47-6 loss to current No. 1-ranked Colony. The Golden Bears can close a perfect conference season against Dimond in their regular-season finale.

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Service (4-3, 2-2 CIC) finishes the regular season against West. The winner will be the CIC's No. 3 playoff seed and the loser its No. 4 playoff seed.

[Big-play defense sparks East's 16-0 win at West]

The Golden Bears and Cougars traded second-quarter touchdowns. Xavier Harris opened the scoring with a 2-yard run for Service. Sagatu answered for Bartlett with a 6-yard scoring run. Back came Service, which scored on Harris' 42-yard dash. Back came Bartlett, courtesy of Sagatu's 15-yard touchdown run.

Service led 14-13 at half — Sergio Cueller made both his extra-point attempts after Harris' scores, and Bartlett's Dani VanOrd made her first extra point, but was barely wide-left on her second.

Cuellar pushed Service's lead to 17-13 with a 34-yard field goal late in the third quarter.

Yet Bartlett, which rushed for 411 yards, much of it over the right side of its offensive line, engineered that late drive that featured Edwards so heavily. The Golden Bears' final drive consisted of 11 straight running plays that generated five first downs.

Still, the Golden Bears had to survive Service's furious last bid, which Bartlett aided near midfield. A Service pass on fourth-and-5 fell incomplete, but a personal foul against Bartlett for leading with the helmet furnished the Cougars an automatic first down and renewed life.

No worries for Bartlett. Well, that is, after Garrett knocked down Service's last gasp in the end zone and Bartlett quarterback Aaron Egoak took a knee to run out the clock.

[Dimond shuts out South 41-0, spoils senior day]

Service 0  14  3  0  — 17

Bartlett 0  13  0  8  — 21

Second Quarter

Service — Harris 2 run (Cuellar kick), 10:38.

Bartlett — Sagatu 2 run (VanOrd kick), 7:57.

Service — Harris 42 run (Cuellar kick), :36.9.

Bartlett — Sagatu 15 run (kick failed), :17.8.

Third Quarter

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Service — 34 FG Cuellar, 1:42.

Fourth Quarter

Bartlett — Edwards 2 run (McFarland run), 3:10.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Service: Harris 16-71, Norman 13-30, Harvin 6-9, Villaneuva-Kaeo 1-3, Wade 1-3, Fanning 1-1. Bartlett: Sagatu 25-212, Edwards 15-109, McFarland 14-82, Kingsland 4-22, Egoak 4-(-14).

PASSING — Service: Harris 11-16-0–154, Villanueva-Kaeo 6-12-0–88. Bartlett: Egoak 2-6-0–36.

RECEIVING — Service: Harvin 4-46, Norman 4-25, Williams 3-68, Jackson 3-29, Hogan 2-27, Fromm 1-47. Bartlett: McFarland 2-36.

Doyle Woody

Doyle Woody covered hockey and other sports for the Anchorage Daily News for 34 years.

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