East High's football team already was locked into a playoff spot and home-field advantage as the Cook Inlet Conference's No. 2 seed. The T-birds were without starting quarterback Carson Washburn after he underwent season-ending surgery on his fractured collarbone, and their power running back, Johnny Afuvai, sat out for the second straight week with a sprained knee. Plus, Saturday afternoon brought both homecoming and a celebration of the team's seniors, two events that signaled potential distraction for East in its regular-season finale.
So, the T-birds couldn't get past their game with visiting South soon enough, given there wasn't much upside for them, other than getting new quarterback Sam Logoleo some snaps and pocketing a victory over the last-place Wolverines.
While East didn't paint anything pretty — witness five lost fumbles and an often disjointed offense — it nonetheless racked a 27-12 victory.
Credit for the win went largely to Dak Paulsen and his defensive teammates. Paulsen returned a first-half fumble for a touchdown and a second-half interception for a touchdown. Also, the T-birds defense furnished the offense with sublime field position early in the game.
Paulsen figured East's defense likely needed another strong outing — it shut out West a week ago — with Washburn and Afuvai sidelined.
"It puts a lot of pressure on us, but our defense has been good," Paulsen said. "I'm not tripping on it. It shouldn't be a problem."
East's average starting point for its first three possessions was the South 34-yard line, and by the time those sequences were complete, the T-birds owned a 20-0 lead.
Logoleo's first pass of the game was a beautifully lofted, tightly spiraled 25-yard strike to Carson Reed in the back of the end zone. Paulsen mixed in his 39-yard fumble return and Josh Malnoske scored on a 1-yard run.
South's Ben Stearns gave his team hope with a 69-yard touchdown return of a Logoleo fumble late in the second quarter and an 11-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter — all that trimmed East's lead to 20-12 — but Paulsen got the last word. He picked off a Jack Hanson pass with seven minutes to play and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown.
Logoleo, who said he was nervous enough before the game that his hands were shaking, completed 2 of 4 passes for 31 yards and that touchdown to Reed, but he also lost two fumbles. He wasn't expected to orchestrate events as smoothly as the experienced Washburn, who Tuesday underwent surgery on his 18th birthday, and East endured some timing issues that turned plays helter-skelter.
"I did all right, not good enough," Logoleo said. "I'll practice harder and harder."
East coach Jeff Trotter said the No. 3-ranked T-birds (6-2, 4-1 CIC) will address ball security, iron some wrinkles in their offense (only 141 yards total offense) and get Logoleo plenty of practice reps before entertaining Lathrop of the Railbelt Conference in the first round.
"He threw a touchdown and he didn't throw an interception," Trotter said. "I told him, 'If you're not sure, don't throw it.' So I'm fine with him tucking it and running."
Trotter expects Afuvai to play against Lathrop.
South (1-7, 0-5 CIC) lost for the seventh straight time after opening the season with a nonconference win over Kenai, and it surrendered an average of 41 points in conference games.
Stearns and Eli Turvey accounted for most of the Wolverines' 189 yards total offense. Stearns rushed 13 times for a game-high 69 yards and caught one pass for two yards, and Turvey caught four passes for 93 yards.
South 0 6 0 6 12
East 13 7 0 7 27
First Quarter
East — Reed 25 pass from Logoleo (kick blocked), 3:36.
East — Paulsen 39 fumble return (Reed kick), 2:01.
Second Quarter
East — Malnoske 1 run (Reed kick), 7:26.
South — Stearns 69 fumble return (kick failed), 1:49.
Fourth Quarter
South — Stearns 11 run (kick blocked), 11:01.
East — Paulsen 42 interception retunr (Reed kick), 7:03.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — South: Stearns 13-69, Kinnebrew 9-20, Bentz 10-12, Benedict 4-6, Peterson 1-(-1), Hanson 5-(-7), Team 1-(-15). East: Schlemmer 3-39, Poleo 5-27, Reed 1-14, Paulsen 1-12, Malnoske 12-8, Logoleo 20-8, Eppenger 1-4, Ala 1-2, Mata'afa 2-(-4).
PASSING — South: Hanson 5-8-1–46, Stearns 2-2-0–59. East: Logoleo 2-4-0–31.
RECEIVING — South: Turvey 4-93, Kinnebrew 2-10, Stearns 1-2. East: Reed 1-25, Malnoske 1-6.