West woke up from its dream season during a nightmarish four minutes Saturday at Anchorage Football Stadium.

North Pole scored three touchdowns in a third-quarter span of 3 minutes, 58 seconds, to advance to the semifinals of the state football playoffs with a 36-12 win over the previously undefeated Eagles.

"We didn't overcome the adversity we faced today," said West coach Tim Davis, who suffered his first loss as a head coach.

North Pole took a 16-6 lead into the locker room, but West was on the march midway through the third quarter when a disastrous series of events unfolded that left the Eagles flightless.

It all started when West quarterback Justin Kauffman took a shotgun snap and tried to fire a quick wide-receiver screen to the outside. Kauffman rifled the pass into the ground, and most players on the field stopped as if the play was dead. But not North Pole's Phillip Hingst, who scooped up the ball up started running down the sideline. No whistle blew until Hingst was hauled down deep inside West territory. The play was allowed to stand -- the ball was judged to have gone backward -- and gave North Pole prime position to put the game away.

North Pole coach Richard Henert credited Hingst with not stopping when the play looked to be dead.

"Our defensive philosophy is swarm and everybody fly until the whistle," Henert said.

The Patriots, who outgained West 359-255, wasted little time punching it in as quarterback Lee Jones scored on a keeper to put North Pole up 23-6.

"We rode our offensive line today," said Jones, who finished with a game-high 161 yards rushing and three touchdowns, and also threw for a score. "They stepped up when we needed it."

On the ensuing North Pole kickoff, Patriots kicker Jason Martinez lifted a high, chip-shot kick over the heads of the West front line. By the time the Eagles realized what was happening, North Pole's Kyle Bejma was on the ball, recovering at the West 33. Three plays later, Jones was at it again, this time going 20 yards up the middle to make it 29-6.

But North Pole wasn't done.

On the next kickoff, Martinez did the same thing -- with an almost identical result -- this time getting the recovery by Aaron Dahl.

Six more North Pole plays and running back Eric Antesberger was in the end zone celebrating a 35-6 Patriots lead after his 4-yard scoring run.

Martinez spent several minutes before the second half started practicing the kick that killed the Eagles, and said the recoveries were by design.

"We want to get the ball outside the numbers where we can either get good field position or our guys can get it," he said.

West finally recovered the next Patriots kick, but by then it was far too late for a comeback. During the stunning sequence, North Pole ran 17 consecutive offensive plays and scored three touchdowns before West could call a play.

"They just kept our defense on the field," said Kauffman. "It was very disappointing."

Davis said his team was unable to respond after the Patriots got their big break.

"No matter what, forwards, backwards, left or right, the play happened and we had to react and we were unable to," he said.

North Pole took command of the game early, getting a 4-yard run by Jones on the game's first series. West fought back with a touchdown of its own, but the Patriots put together a pair of big plays to take a 10-point halftime lead.

Alex Innes sacked Kauffman in the end zone to put North Pole up 9-6 early in the second quarter, and Jones hit a wide-open Jared Isaacson with a 53-yard strike on the ensuing drive to cap the first-half scoring.

Kauffman added a 59-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the game's final score.

Jones was a beast all afternoon. The 6-3, 240-pound senior quarterback/linebacker accounted for four scores on offense, several punishing hits on defense and was able to gain first downs seemingly at will by putting his head down and plowing through the West line.

Jones said there's no telling how far the Patriots can go in the playoffs.

"We definitely feel like we're a pretty legitimate team," he said.

The victory moves North Pole into a semifinal match-up against Bartlett on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Golden Bears defeated Colony 34-12 Friday in Palmer.

The loss ended what had been the season's feel-good story for West, which ran the table during the regular season and earned a Cook Inlet Conference title.

"Hey, we hung a banner in the gym," said Davis, who took over a West program that had failed to reach the playoffs since reaching the state title game in 2004. "I'm very proud of these kids."

Find Matt Tunseth online at adn.com/contact/mtunseth or call 257-4335.

Alaska School Activities Association/First National Bank Alaska

State Football Championships

North Pole 7 9 20 0 -- 36

West 6 0 0 6 -- 12

First Quarter

NP -- Jones 4 run (Martinez kick), 9:36.

West -- M. Sharp 5 pass from Kauffman (kick failed), 6:44

Second Quarter

NP -- Safety (Kauffman tackled in end zone), 11:56.

NP -- Isaacson 53 pass from Jones (Martinez kick), 10:38.

Third Quarter

NP -- Jones 1 run (Martinez kick), 5:41.

NP -- Jones 20 run (pass failed), 5:00.

NP -- Antesberger 4 run (Martinez kick), 1:43.

Fourth Quarter

West -- Kauffman 59 run (run failed), 8:02.

North Pole West

First downs 19 7

Rushes-yards 59-262 13-87

Passing yards 97 168

Return yards 57 22

Passes 6-13-1 16-26-2

Punts 1-32.0 1-30.0

Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-1

Penalties-yards 5-25 4-40

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- West: Kauffman 8-98, Solomona 1-(-1), Wyche 4-(-10). North Pole: Jones 26-161, Antesberger 21-77, Anderson 6-13, Innes 4-11, Grzesiuk 2-0.

PASSING -- West: Kauffman 16-26-2 -- 168. North Pole: Jones 6-13-1 -- 97.

RECEIVING -- West: M. Sharp 10-75, Buster 3-46, W. Sharp 2-40, Richardson 1-6. North Pole: Issacson 3-59, Hingst 1-16, Antesberger 1-15, Hollett 1-7.

FRIDAY'S RESULTS BARTLETT 34, COLONY 12 PALMER 48, SOUTH 12 SATURDAY'S RESULTS NORTH POLE 36, WEST 12 KENAI 47, BARROW 13 SOLDOTNA 41, MONROE 0 HOMER 24, NIKISKI 15 KODIAK 24, EIELSON 14 FRIDAY'S GAMES KODIAK (5-4) VS. KENAI (8-1), 4 P.M. NORTH POLE (5-4) VS. BARTLETT (7-2), 7:30 P.M. SATURDAY'S GAMES PALMER (6-3) VS. CHUGIAK/JUNEAU WINNER SOLDOTNA (7-2) VS. HOMER (6-2), 4:30 P.M. Postseason football

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