The next time an Alaska football team wins 29 games in a row, it better not put the West Eagles on the schedule.

West quarterback Justin Kauffman accounted for 315 yards of total offense and four touchdowns as the Eagles kept Soldotna from standing alone atop the prep record books by taking a 34-21 victory at Anchorage Football Stadium.

The loss kept Soldotna from extending its streak to 30, which would have been a new record. The Stars were left with a share of the existing record.

The only other time an Alaska football team has won 29 in a row was in the mid-1980s when East put together a magical run from 1985-87. But in the first game of the 1988 season, the Eagles ended that streak.

"We just wanted to do what West does -- end streaks," Kauffman said.

The Eagles won despite turning over the ball five times and falling behind 14-0 against the three-time defending small-schools champions.

Kauffman was everywhere for the Eagles, racking up 149 yards and one touchdown on the ground and passing for three more scores. His 22-yard strike to junior Will Sharp late in the second quarter put West ahead for good.

Michael Sharp scored twice for the Eagles, while Kauffman also started at linebacker for the Eagles, who dressed just 26 varsity players for the game.

"I'm exhausted," said senior David Solomona, who worked as a linebacker, offensive lineman and punter.

Soldotna looked to be in control early on, picking up a pair of touchdown runs from senior running back Chris Nolden.

Following Nolden's second score, Stars coach Galen Brantley went for blood, electing to go with an onside kick. But the play fell apart when SoHi was called for illegal touching, and one play later the Eagles made the Stars pay with a 50-yard touchdown pass-and-run from Kauffman to J'Vonte Buster.

Buster also nabbed a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions for the Eagles, who held Sohi's vaunted wing-T offense to a pedestrian 221 yards.

West tied things up with a nine-play, 72-yard drive midway through the second quarter -- a drive keyed by a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct calls against the Stars. On SoHi's ensuing drive, West held tough on a crucial fourth-and-one, then went 61 yards on nine plays to get the go-ahead score.

All week in practice, first-year West coach Tim Davis used Soldotna's streak as motivation for his players. He said that paid off as the Eagles refused to give in to SoHi's early barrage in front of a boisterous West High crowd.

"One of the things I wanted to establish when I came here was tradition," he said. "... This is what big-time football feels like."

The teams traded scores in the third quarter, with Kauffman finding Michael Sharp for a 36-yard score and SoHi getting a 6-yard run from Dylon Story. The game stood at 28-21 midway through the fourth quarter when Kauffman took a seemingly harmless draw play, cut left, broke a tackle and sprinted toward the end zone.

Not known for his speed, the bruising Kauffman said there was only one thing going through his mind as he neared the goal line.

"I just didn't want to get caught from behind," he said.

Soldotna coach Galen Brantley said making history would have been nice, but Saturday's loss doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.

"Our season goals don't include winning a non-conference season-opener," he said.

Likewise, Davis said, the win was nice, but the Eagles must now get ready for their Cook Inlet Conference season-opener next weekend against East.

"We're really 0-0, that's the reality of it," he said.

You wouldn't know it from the celebration among West players and fans following Saturday's history-denying win.

"We wanted to beat them," Buster said. "Very bad."

Soldotna 14 0 7 0 -- 21

West 7 14 7 6 -- 34

First Quarter

Sol -- Nolden 4 run (Koch kick), 5:20

Sol -- Nolden 12 run (Koch kick), 3:09

West -- Buster 50 pass from Kauffman (Troxel kick), 2:59

Second Quarter

West -- M. Sharp 7 run (Troxel kick), 5:15

West -- W. Sharp 22 pass from Kauffman (Troxel kick), :25

Third Quarter

West -- M. Sharp 36 pass from Kauffman (Troxel kick), 9:05.

Sol -- Story 6 run (Koch kick), 4:52

Fourth Quarter

West -- Kauffman 67 run (kick failed), 7:06

Soldotna West

First downs 12 16

Rushes-yards 47-185 28-226

Passing yards 166 36

Return yards 25 43

Passes 4-9-3 12-24-1

Punts 3-38.7 2-29.5

Fumbles-lost 1-1 4-4

Penalties-yards 11-100 12-85

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Soldotna: Nolden 18-80, Price 9-47, Jansen 9-26, Story 7-25, Syverson 3-8, Smithwick 1-(-1). West: Kauffman 16-149, Sharp 4-30, Taylor 4-30, Orr 4-17.

PASSING -- Soldotna: Jansen 4-9-3-36. West: Kauffman 12-24-1-166.

RECEIVING -- Soldotna: Price 2-32, McGillivray 1-7, Jansen 1-(-3). West: M. Sharp 3-40, W. Sharp 3-31, Buster 2-55, Sila 2-26, Williams 1-12, Bell 1-2

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