Anchorage Daily News

No wonder Kodiak's football team is headed to the state championship game for the third straight year. The high school's halls are apparently teeming with running backs waiting to be discovered.

For the second week in a row, the Bears shook up their offense and wound up finding a novice running back more than ready for prime time.

This time it was Raphael Matautia. A wide receiver until Friday, Matautia rushed for a pair of touchdowns in his debut as a running back to carry Kodiak past Barrow 19-13 in a small-schools semifinal game at Anchorage Football Stadium.

The victory puts Kodiak (6-3) into next Saturday's state championship game. The Bears will take on the winner of today's semifinal between Soldotna and Eielson.

"We just have a lot of talent everywhere," said senior Alex Woodell, last week's star-is-born rusher for the Bears. "Things just click. It's a special chemistry."

Kodiak held off a fourth-quarter scare from the Whalers (8-2), who threatened to tie the game in the final minutes. Barrow drove 66 yards on nine plays before turning the ball over on downs with 89 seconds left.

The Whalers relied on a passing game spearheaded by quarterback Albert Gerke. Gerke threw for 163 yards, including a 60-yard scoring strike in the third quarter, to set a single-season state passing record for Alaska's small schools. He finished the season with 1,806 yards, surpassing the record set in 2006 by Kodiak's Stuart McFarland (1,746 yards).

But Gerke's arm wasn't enough to stop Kodiak's runners.

The Bears racked up 221 yards on the ground, with Woodell leading the way with 157.

Like Matautia, Woodell is fairly new at carrying the ball and following blockers. He played defense until last week, when coach Todd Cook moved him to running back. That experiment worked out so well -- Woodell scored five touchdowns and rushed for 297 yards -- that Cook put another newcomer in the backfield Friday.

"Towards the end of the season, we needed to make a change," Cook said. "Our offense was completely ineffective."

Along with veteran running back Gary Anthony, Woodell and Matautia gave Kodiak enough offensive weapons to end Barrow's storybook season. The Whalers made history this season by hosting the first playoff game held above the Arctic Circle and became a big story in a town that never witnessed live football until the high school started a football team.

Little of that mattered after the game, though.

"It is really hard to think about the good stuff after we just lost," said senior wide receiver Justin Sanders, who scored both of Barrow's touchdowns. "We were really looking forward to the championship game."

Instead, the Whalers can only look forward to next year.

"It just shows we need to put in more work and execute," said Anthony Edwards, a junior running back. "I'm gonna bring it all next season. I'm ready right now."

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

Kodiak7 0 12 0 -- 19

Barrow0 7 6 0 -- 13

First Quarter

Kodiak -- Bailor 16 pass from Lepola (Terrell kick), 7:41.

Second Quarter

Barrow -- Sanders 74 punt return (Thomas kick), 5:31.

Third Quarter

Kodiak -- Matautia 17 run (kick failed), 9:53.

Barrow -- Sanders 60 pass from Gerke (kick failed), 6:55.

Kodiak -- Matautia 13 run (kick failed), :54.

KODIAKBARROW

First downs1612

Rushes-yards56-22127-46

Passing yards29163

Return yards39182

Passes4-11-38-24-1

Punts4-39.31-23

Fumbles-lost2-02-2

Penalties-yards11-1255-45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Kodiak: Alex Woodell 32-157, Raphael Matautia 7-39, Gary Anthony 9-25, Kevin Lepola 3-7, Zach Bailor 4-(-1), T. Van Matre 1-(-6). Barrow: Edwards 15-42, Romine 4-12, Albert Gerke 7-11, Sanders 1-(1-9).

PASSING -- Kodiak: Lepola 3-6-1--22, Bailor 1-4-1--7, Matautia 0-1-1--0. Barrow: Gerke 8-24-1--163.

RECEIVING -- Kodiak: Bailor 1-16, Emmerson 1-7, T. Van Matre 1-6, Matautia 1-0. Barrow: Justin Sanders 4-102, Austin Fishel 2-60, Anthony Edwards 1-10, Romine 1-(-9).

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