High School Sports

Football Week 5: Utah game takes Chugiak’s Spackman to familiar territory

Chugiak will be the latest Alaska football team to test itself in the Lower 48 this season when the Mustangs play a Friday game against Green Canyon of North Logan, Utah.

The game will take Chugiak coach Roger Spackman back to his roots — he graduated from Sky View High in nearby Smithfield and used to coach there. Green Canyon is a first-year school that drew students from Sky View.

Friday's game came around by chance, Spackman said.

During a trip to Utah last winter, Spackman met with his friend Craig Anhder, Green Canyon's coach, and they found out they had the same open date on their football schedules. So they decided to pencil in a game.

The Mustangs are the fourth Alaska team to play Outside this season, joining Service, which lost to Capital Christian in California; Bartlett, which fell to California's Pleasant Valley; and Soldotna, which beat Oregon's Crater High.

Chugiak is 4-0 and has won every game by double figures.

Green Canyon (1-2) is a 4A school that plays in the third-largest of Utah's six divisions. Alaska only has three football divisions, with Chugiak playing in Division I, the largest division.

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Chugiak backup quarterback Aaron Tomosoulo said the Mustangs need to go into the game without worrying about records or division classifications.

"We gotta act like our record is 0-0 because it really is," he said after the Musangs' Saturday win over Lathrop. "We can't get a big head and act like we're too good."

Spackman said the Mustangs will visit all four of Utah's major football universities during the five-day trip. Weber State, Utah State, University of Utah and BYU are all within about a two-hour drive of North Logan.

Spackman said his old college roommate is the athletic director at Weber State and will spend some time talking with the players about the challenges of college athletics.

"It's going to be fun to spend time around those programs," he said.

Week 5

Division I

Cook Inlet Conference

East           3-1 (1-0 CIC)
Bartlett     2-2 (1-0)
Service      2-2 (1-0)
West          1-3 (0-1)
Dimond     1-3 (0-1)
South         1-3 (0-1)

Railbelt Conference

Chugiak         4-0 (2-0 Railbelt)
Wasilla          2-2 (1-0)
Colony           4-0
Lathrop          0-4 (0-1)
West Valley   1-3 (0-2)

Division II

Northern Lights Conference

Kenai             3-1 (1-0 Northern Lights)
Palmer           1-3 (1-0)
Soldotna        4-0
Eagle River   2-2 (0-1)
Kodiak          1-3 (0-1)

Southeast Conference

Thunder Mtn    2-1
North Pole        4-0
Juneau              2-2
Ketchikan         0-4

Division III

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Peninsula Conference

Remington       3-1 (1-0 Peninsula)
Nikiski             2-2 (1-0)
Homer              3-1
Seward             1-3 (0-1)
Voznesenka     0-3 (0-1)

Aurora Conference

Houston      3-1 (1-0 Aurora)
Eielson       3-1 (1-0)
Monroe      2-2 (0-1)
Barrow       1-2
Valdez        0-4

Friday's games

5 p.m. — South at Bartlett
5 p.m. — Service at East
5 p.m. — Chugiak at Green Canyon (Utah)
5 p.m. — Kenai at Kodiak
6 p.m. — Thunder Mountain at Ketchikan (nonconference)
7 p.m. — Soldotna at Palmer
7 p.m. — Eagle River at West Valley
7 p.m. — Lathrop at North Pole
7 p.m. — Wasilla at Colony

Saturday

1 p.m. — Voznesenka at Valdez
1 p.m. — Houston at Eielson
2 p.m. — West at Dimond
2 p.m. — Redington at Nikiski
2 p.m. — Homer at Seward
6 p.m. — Barrow at Monroe Catholic

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Alaska Sports Broadcasting Network polls

Division I

1) Colony (4-0)
2) Chugiak (4-0)
3) Bartlett (2-2)
4) East (3-1)
5) Service (2-2)

Division II/III

1) Soldotna (4-0)
2) North Pole (4-0)
3) Eielson (3-1)
4) Homer (3-1)
5) Kenai (3-1)

Stephan Wiebe

Stephan Wiebe writes about all things Alaska sports.

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