Anchorage Daily News

Barrow has always been defined by two distinctive pursuits -- whaling and high school basketball.

But these days another sport is garnering attention in Alaska's northernmost community. Since the high school football program started three years ago, villagers have begun to crave hard hits and touchdowns.

"It's slowly switching," Barrow's Justin Sanders said. "It's a new sport, so everyone wants to come watch."

Especially this season. The Whalers are 8-1 behind the top quarterback in the state, Albert Gerke, and they're enjoying their first playoff run.

On Wednesday, the Whalers flew into Anchorage to prepare for Friday afternoon's small-schools state semifinal against the Kodiak Bears at Anchorage Football Stadium.

Although the Whalers are thrilled to represent Barrow in Alaska's largest city, coach Mark Voss isn't convinced football has taken over as the community's top sport.

"Barrow is still a basketball town," he said.

But one recent day, he witnessed something that suggests things may be changing. Voss drove through town and found a bunch of kids playing sandlot football. That never happened four years ago, he said.

He's also counted more than a dozen footballs missing from his equipment bag. Most coaches would have been furious, but Voss said it's a sign that football fever is spreading north of the Arctic Circle.

"Heck, I would have given them footballs if they had just asked," Voss laughed.

Sanders, a senior receiver, has played basketball in Barrow since elementary school. But football was a sport he waited years to play.

"When I first saw it on TV, I told my dad, 'Once football starts, I'm going to play here,' " Sanders said.

He would get so excited, he told teachers about his dream to one day catch a touchdown for the Whalers. They weren't convinced.

"They said there's no way -- it's impossible to start football here," said Sanders, a senior who ranks third in the state with 29 catchers for 568 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Now Sanders and his teammates are on the biggest stage of their lives, playing football in the big city for the first time and only one win away from the state championship game.

But getting there, he said, won't be easy. Barrow faces Kodiak (5-3), a program that has played in the state title game two straight seasons, both losses to the Soldotna Stars.

Soldotna (8-0) is clearly the favorite with its 27-game win streak and a defense that's allowed 7.3 points a game. The Stars face Eielson (6-3) in the other semifinal Saturday.

Barrow senior Luke George said liked his team's chances to make a run to the title game when the season started. He liked them better once he saw Soldotna on the opposite side of the playoff bracket.

"Everyone on our side had a chance to make it," he said. "That's just how it is. They've been undefeated for a while."

Even so, George, a hard-hitting linebacker, wants the chance to play the small-school powerhouse for the first time.

"In our first year, (coaches) said, 'Let's see how far we can get,' " George said. "The second year they said, 'Let's try again.' And this year they said, 'We can do it.' "

Find Kevin Klott online at adn.com/contact/kklott or call 257-4335.

SMALL-SCHOOL SEMIFINALS

BARROW VS. KODIAK

RECORDS: Barrow 8-1, Kodiak 5-3

TIME: 4 p.m., Friday

PLACE: Anchorage Football Stadium

LAST MEETING: First meeting

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Barrow's Albert Gerke needs 125 passing yards to break Kodiak's Stuart McFarland record for most passing yards in a single season among Alaska's small schools. Kodiak's Alex Woodell shocked Nikiski last week, rushing for 297 yards and five TDs in his first game at RB.

THE SKINNY: Woodell might be the spark Kodiak needs to generate some offense. In Kodiak's season finale loss to Houston, the Bears scored only one TD. The following week, Barrow crushed Houston 46-18 at home, while Kodiak cruised past Nikiski 33-15.

EIELSON VS. SOLDOTNA

RECORDS: Eielson 6-3, Soldotna 8-0

TIME: 4 p.m. Saturday

PLACE: Anchorage Football Stadium

LAST MEETING: Soldotna won 34-20 in the 2004 state semifinals

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Eielson QB Colten Growden needs 127 passing yards to become Alaska's first QB to pass and rush for more than 1,000 yards in a single season. Soldotna QB Zayan Aberkane tossed four TD passes in the first quarter against Valdez last week.

THE SKINNY: Eielson is the only small-schools team with a winning record against Soldotna. The Ravens are 3-1 all-time against the two-time defending state champions. All four games were played in the postseason.

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