A swarming secondary that snatched four interceptions and a tough running game that set up big pass plays helped red-hot East rumble to a 21-0 football win over Service in its first shutout and second conference win of the season.
The T-birds (4-1, 2-0 Cook Inlet Conference) have outscored their opponents 137-37 since losing to Chugiak in their first game.
Roles were reversed Friday, when East shutdown Service's normally stellar passing attack — the Cougars completed three passes for 13 yards — and the Thunderbirds rattled off several big pass plays of their own.
East's running game, spearheaded by running back Kalani Medeiros' 84 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown, helped set up East's play-action pass.
Thunderbirds junior quarterback Jasun Duston faked a handoff to Medeiros, rolled to his left and found a wide open Jio Franklin for a 36-yard touchdown that put East up 7-0 in the second quarter after the extra point.
Later in the quarter, Duston connected with his 6-foot-2, 235-pound tight end again on a 27-yard pass that even fooled East coach Jeff Trotter.
"I called the play and I forgot what I called," Trotter said. "The fake was so good I was watching the running back and then I realized, 'Oh crap the quarterback is coming back our way.' "
Duston and fellow quarterback Kapono Medeiros combined to go 5 of 10 passing for 123 yards. East's 11 rushers added 178 rushing yards.
The T-birds' biggest drive was its first of the second half, when they went 70 yards in 7 minutes, 11 seconds, capped with a 2-yard score by senior running back Armond Eppenger. The T-birds led 14-0 after an Allen Ala PAT.
Trotter said the drive was successful because the East coaching staff found a play that avoided Service All-State linebacker Hunter Fanning.
"We had a play that just happened to go away from him," Trotter said. "We just lucked out that they didn't catch onto it right away. Once they did that play was done because Fanning it shut it down."
On defense, East was boosted by the return of Ala, Alaska's 2016 Large-School Defensive Player of the Year. The 5-9, 185-pound senior linebacker played his first snaps this season after returning from an offseason injury.
"We're finally starting to click a little bit," said Trotter, who started the season with 19 new starters. "We had some injures and they're starting to come back."
T-birds defensive back Colton Herman, who snagged one of the four interceptions, said the younger players have grown a lot since the first game. With guys like Ala returning, East is now a deeper team.
"Last year we had a lot of seniors, so we're still really young, but we got a lot of talent I think," he said. "Us returners, the younger guys look at us as role models I guess, so they ask a lot of questions and stuff."
Service's defense also hung tough for most of the game, but it couldn't overcome woes on offense.
Starting quarterback junior Jason Villanueva-Kaeo was dinged up on the first play of the game — one that drew an East personal foul penalty — and never found a rhythm, completing one pass for four yards and throwing two interceptions.
Fellow quarterback Henry Helgeson's stat line was similar: two completed passes and two interceptions.
The Cougars (2-3, 1-1) fared best when the ball was in the hands of senior Xavier Harris, whose 45 rushing yards all came on a drive at the end of the second quarter. But Harris' only pass of the game sailed out of bounds in the corner of the end zone and the Cougars turned the ball over on downs with less than 30 seconds to go before halftime.
They never got back inside the East 25-yard line and a foot injury took Harris out for most of second half.
"We can't turn over the football like that and expect to have good results," Service coach Jason Caldarera said. "Other than that the defense played really tough.
"We just didn't get momentum offensively."
Service 0 0 0 0 — 0
East 0 7 7 7 — 21
First Quarter
East — Franklin 36 pass from Duston (Ala kick), 11:16.
Third Quarter
East — Eppenger 3 run (Ala kick), 4:45.
Fourth Quarter
East — Medeiros 1 run (Ala kick), 11:16.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Service: Harris 4-45, Faulkner 13-35, Jackson 6-9, Fanning 2-6, O'Farrell 1-4, Wade 1-4, Hogan 1-3, team 1-2, Williams 1-0, Helgeson 3-(-2). East: Kalani Medeiros 17-82, Eppenger 15-40, Baker 5-15, Duston 3-12, Mamae 1-9, Kapono Medeiros 4-7, C. Collins 2-7, Sefo 1-5, Ala 1-3, team 1-2, Apineru 1-(-2), D. Collins 1-(-2).
PASSING — Service: Helgeson 2-7-2–9, Villanueva-Kaeo 1-6–2-4, Harris 0-1-0–0. East: Duston 3-8-0–76, Kapono Medeiros 2-2-0–47.
RECEIVING — Service: Pounds 1-12, Hogan 1-4, Guevarra 1-(-3). East: Franklin 2-63, Herman 1-33, Fitiausi 1-14, Ala 1-13.