Neither lightning nor West Valley could stop the North Pole football team.
The Patriots used a strong running attack to post a 21-19 Railbelt Conference victory over their Fairbanks rivals in a game that resumed Saturday after lightning storms suspended play Friday.
North Pole (2-0) amassed 304 yards on the ground, with Dane Ebanez running for 115 and Taylor Lewis adding 78 and a pair of touchdowns.
Quarterback Lee Jones tacked on 28 yards and scored on a 1-yard plunge, his third such touchdown run in two weeks.
West Valley had nearly rallied from a 21-7 deficit, pulling within a deuce when quarterback Sam McKinstry hooked up with Josh Jefferies on a scoring strike. But North Pole stuffed Jacob Claypoole on the potential tying 2-point conversion with 1:28 to play.
North Pole 14 0 7 0 -- 21
West Valley 7 0 0 12 -- 19
First Quarter
North Pole -- Lewis 21 run (run failed), 9:55.
North Pole -- Lewis 23 run (Ebanez run), 7:29.
West Valley -- Herzberg pass from McKinstry (kick good), 4:44.
Third Quarter
North Pole -- Jones 1 run (kick good), 6:27.
Fourth Quarter
West Valley -- Claypoole 5 run (kick failed), 6:44.
West Valley -- Jefferies pass from McKinstry (run failed), 1:28.
NORTH POLE WEST VALLEY
First downs 16 18
Rushes-yards 38-304 28-150
Passing yards 9 105
Return yards 65 31
Passes 2-9-0 10-26-1
Punts 3-35 2-50
Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-0
Penalties-yards 9-85 5-45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- North Pole: Ebanez 16-115, Lewis 12-78, Jones 3-28, Eriksen 1-3, Wright 2-(-3). West Valley: Claypoole 25-152, Jackson 1-2, Cofield 3-(-1), McKinstry 5-(-3).
PASSING -- North Pole: Jones 2-9-0--9. West Valley: McKinstry 10-25-0--105, Cofield 0-1-1--0.
RECEIVING -- North Pole: Flenniken 1-6, Wright 1-3. West Valley: Jefferies 4-34, Herzberg 2-24, Claypoole 1-13, Wisel 1-12, Templeton 1-9, McDonough 1-8.
Palmer 35, Lathrop 0
Brennan Bohman and Jim McCall carried the Moose to a lopsided road win Saturday.
Bohman and McCall combined for all five touchdowns. Bohman finished with a game-high 119 yards and scored on runs of 1, 14 and 38 yards.
McCall scored on a 25-yard reverse and a 9-yard run.
Lathrop's leading rusher, A.J. Allen, was held to 41 yards on 16 carries.
Kenai 20, Valdez 13
Billy Kiefer enjoyed a career day on the ground, galloping for 299 yards and all three touchdowns to highlight a come-from-behind home win.
With his team trailing 13-6 entering the fourth quarter, Kiefer scored on runs of 2 and 50 yards to lead the charge.
The victory was the first of the season for the Kardinals and the 99th in the career of head coach Jim Beeson.
Beeson, who has been coaching at Kenai since 1990, needs one victory to move into the exclusive 100-win club that features four other Alaska coaches.
Both of Valdez's touchdowns came on pass plays, including a 75-yarder, helping quarterback Taylor Bushong rack up 160 yards through the air. His favorite target was James Rogers, who hauled in four catches for 119 yards.
But the Buccaneers couldn't run the ball, logging 21 yards on 19 carries.
Valdez 0 13 0 0 -- 13
Kenai 0 6 0 14 -- 20
Second Quarter
Kenai -- Kiefer 5 run (kick failed), 9:32.
Valdez -- Rogers 75 pass from Bushong (kick failed), 5:40.
Valdez -- Hutchison 10 pass from Bushong (Hedberg kick), 1:30.
Fourth Quarter
Kenai -- Kiefer 2 run (Rabung kick), 10:03.
Kenai -- Kiefer 50 run (kick failed), 5:39.
VALDEZ KENAI
First downs 7 15
Rushes-yards 19-21 51-338
Passing yards 160 38
Return yards 30 42
Passes 8-20-2 3-10-1
Punts 4-39 5-25
Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-0
Penalties-yards 8-55 10-65
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Valdez: Hedberg 9-41, Schell 2-3, No. 20 1-(-4), Bushong 4-(-9), Russell 3-(-10). Kenai: Kiefer 36-299, Rabung 12-37, Fuller 3-2.
PASSING -- Valdez: Bushong 8-20-2--160. Kenai: Rabung 3-10-1--38.
RECEIVING -- Valdez: Rogers 4-119, Russell 3-31, Hutchison 1-10. Kenai: Hughes 3-38.
Kodiak 47, Homer 14
The Kodiak defense stole the show Saturday, scoring a safety and three touchdowns to outscore the visiting Mariners by itself.
The defense scored on interception returns of 26 and 40 yards and fumble return of 60 yards.
Kodiak quarterback Zach Bailor threw three touchdown passes, two of them to Anthony Atonio.
Homer quarterback Dean DeVaney completed 7-of-15 passes for 76 yards and a score. He also ran for another touchdown.
Homer 0 6 0 8 -- 14
Kodiak 18 8 21 0 -- 47
First Quarter
Kodiak -- T. VanMatre 26 pass from Bailor (kick failed), 8:06.
Kodiak -- Atonio 27 pass from Bailor (kick failed),, 1:57.
Kodiak -- Matautia 26 interception return (kick failed), 0:59.
Second Quarter
Kodiak -- Atonio 50 pass from Bailor (Anthony run), 7:06.
Homer -- Day 26 pass from DeVaney (kick failed), 7:24.
Third Quarter
Kodiak -- Safety, Rogan tackled DeVaney in end zone, 3:52.
Kodiak -- Anthony 13 run (Terrell kick), 3:00.
Kodiak -- Ernest 40 interception return (kick failed), 1:37.
Kodiak -- N. VanMatre 60 fumble return (pass failed), 0:14.
Fourth Quarter
Homer --DeVaney 10 run (Frink pass from DeVaney), 6:02.
HOMER KODIAK
First downs 8 10
Rushes-yards 41-101 34-174
Passing yards 142 122
Return yards 131 154
Passes 11-25-4 7-12-0
Punts 4-44.3 2-34
Fumbles-lost 2-2 2-2
Penalties-yards 7-55 9-80
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Homer: Quinn 5-46, DeVaney 13-36, Carr 6-12, Tyrell 3-13, Jacobsen 6-4, Craig 7-(-5). Kodiak: Watkins 14-71, Anthony 5-45, Atonio 9-35, Lepola Jr. 5-10, Woodell 1-1, Matautia 1-2, Johnson 1-(-3).
PASSING -- Homer: DeVaney 7-15-2--76, Jacobsen 3-9-2--63, Quinn 1-1-0--3. Kodiak: Bailor 2-3-0--76, Lepola Jr. 5-9-0--46.
RECEIVING -- Homer: Day 4-73, Henderson 5-39, Frink 1-6, DeVaney 1-24. Kodiak: Atonio 3-85, T. VanMatre 1-26, Anthony 3-7, N. VanMetre 1-4.