Anchorage Daily News

There would be no defending their state championship. No playoff game on the horizon.

After a dramatic one-point loss to Chugiak last week, Service knew its final game of the regular season against East would be its final game of the year.

The Cougars had nothing on the line but pride Friday and that proved to be enough as Service built a 14-0 halftime lead and held on for a 28-20 win at Chugiak Stadium.

“It was such a disappointing loss last week,” Service coach Jason Caldarera said. “It was hard to find the internal motivation to finish strong. It wasn’t the prettiest game, but I’m proud of our seniors and how resilient they were.” Wide receiver, defensive back and kicker Eric Cothran enjoyed a big final game as a senior. He hauled in a 54-yard touchdown strike on his only reception and ran for a 2-yard touchdown on his lone carry.

“We definitely wanted to finish strong,” Cothran said. “We were a little down at the beginning of the week, but we just picked it up. I was just happy to be out here playing.”

After last week’s loss to Chugiak, the Cougars got motivation from an unexpected source. On Friday, former Seattle Seahawks fullback Mack Strong spoke to the team. Strong was in Anchorage on a speaking circuit and a team parent put Caldarera in touch with the former Seahawk.

“He was going to speak no matter what, but after the loss, it ended up begin a great time to hear him,” Caldarera said. “He came in and did a great motivational speech. He gave us a real good message to never give up.” Service took a 14-0 lead into the half after sophomore Cornelius Daniels scored on a 15-yard run early in the second quarter and Cothran followed two minutes later with his touchdown catch.

Daniels was a beast all day for the Cougars, breaking tackles on almost every run and powering past the East defense for 185 yards. Daniels did turn the ball over twice, however, once when he was unable to cleanly field a pitch and a second time near the goal line when he had the ball ripped out of his hands.

“Coach tells me not to let the first guy take me down,” Daniels said. “It really builds my confidence after breaking a couple tackles like that. I was mad at myself after the fumble. I just focused a bit more on making sure I covered the ball.”

Service was seemingly in control at the half, but the Cougars attempted a squib kick up the middle to start the second half and East’s Alvin Pole’o returned it 59 yards to put the Thunderbirds on the board.

“I don’t know who that guy was, but he was big and fast,” said Cothran, who kicked off for East. “We were trying to do a weird kickoff and it definitely hurt us. That was kind of heartbreaking.”

Service went back up 21-8 before East’s Jordan Daniels ran for a pair of touchdown just 27 seconds apart in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to 21-20.

Cornelius Daniels gave Service an eight-point lead with his second touchdown of the day, a 25-yard run. But the Cougars needed an interception and a ball batted down at the goal line on East’s last two drives to finally seal the win. East quarterback Jeffery DeBrill threw for 211 yards. Senior Caleb Holley caught six balls for 101 yards and junior Emanual Canaday made four catches for 72 yards.

“They are athletes,” East coach Nick Middleton said. “They are some of the best athletes I’ve ever seen.” Service finished 4-3 in the Cook Inlet Conference and 5-3 overall. East finished 1-6 in the conference and overall. “We worked hard all year,” Middleton said. “We were just inconsistent. When our defense was playing well, our offense wasn’t, and vice versa. It was hard for us to finish games this year.”

Find Richard Larson online at adn.com/contact/rlarson or call 257-4335.

Service 0 14 7 7 — 28

East 0 0 8 12 — 20

Second Quarter

Service — Cornelius Daniels 15 run (Rickard run), 11:20.

Service — Cothran 54 pass from Christy (run failed), 9:17.

Third Quarter

East — Pole’o 59 kick return (Holley pass from DeBrill), 11:48

Service — Cothran 2 run (Goodman kick), 3:41.

Fourth Quarter

East — Jordan Daniels 2 run (pass failed), 8:09

East — Jordan Daniels 21 run (run failed), 7:42.

Service — Cornelius Daniels 25 run (Goodman kick), 5:41.

Service East

First downs 18 17

Rushes-yards 39-266 22-74

Passing yards 81 211

Return yards 20 97

Passes 5-9-1 15-30-2

Punts 2-36 2-13.5

Fumbles-lost 5-3 2-0

Penalties-yards 9-93 6-26.5

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Service: C. Daniels 20-185, Smith 11-56, Christy 6-19, Cosgriff 1-4, Cothran 1-2. East: J. Daniels 16-88, Pole’o 6-16, McCrae 4-3, Siaulagia 1-1, Holley 1-(-2), DeBrill 8-(-28).

PASSING — Service: Christy 5-9-81-1-1. East: DeBrill 15-30-211-0-2.

RECEIVING — Service: Cothran 1-54, Cosgriff 2-11, Mamikunian 1-8, Oder 1-8. East: Holley 6-101, Canady 4-72, J. Daniels 2-14, Clinton 2-11, Huff 1-13.

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