South Wolverines capture Alaska state football championship

The South Wolverines turned in a complete performance to defeat the Service Cougars 27-13 and capture the Division I state football championship game at a packed Anchorage Football Stadium on Friday night.

The win over their south-side rivals capped a remarkable playoff run by the Wolverines, who lost three of their final four regular-season games before getting hot at the right time. They won three straight playoff games to finish with a 7-4 record under second-year coach Walter Harmon.

“The entire playoffs, once they started relaxing and playing their ball, things just came a lot easier,” Harmon said. “They’ve always exhibited poise throughout their entire playing careers. The fact that it started showing more in playoffs, I think it was just us as coaches letting them be who they were going to be.”

The win marks South’s first state title since 2014 and its fourth since the school opened in 2004.

The game was tightly contested, and both teams were able to move the ball and come up with turnovers. The difference was South capitalized when it got into scoring position and Service didn’t.

The Cougars, who finished the season with an 8-3 record, turned the ball over on downs four times, twice when they were inside the red zone. They were intercepted three times, twice by South senior Jayden Heartwell-McKoy.

The Wolverines scored nearly every time they got inside the Service 20-yard line and jumped out to a 21-0 lead thanks to the arm and legs of junior quarterback Jackson Harmon.

They scored on their first possession on running back Carter Weber-Thomas’ run up the middle, and they made it 14-0 later in the first quarter after a 64-yard jaunt by receiver Quincy Heartwell-McKoy set up Harmon’s 2-yard scoring run.

Harmon found receiver Elijah Bowdon in the left corner of the end zone for a 28-yard strike to make it 21-0 in the second quarter.

“We had intensity from the start,” Jackson Harmon said. “Unlike the last game, (when) we came out flat, this game we came out intense and kept that the whole game.”

The Cougars cut South’s lead to two possessions just before halftime when Service quarterback Jacob Scott threw a back-shoulder pass to Henry Helgeson, who made a tremendous adjustment to the ball to reel in the 34-yard touchdown.

Service looked determined to run itself back into the game on its first possession of the second half before getting backed up by penalties and eventually turning the ball over on downs.

That was the story for much of the night as South’s defense came up with stops and turnovers whenever Service seemed primed to make the game closer.

No one came up with more clutch plays than Jayden Heartwell-McKoy. His pair of second-half interceptions ended promising drives by the Cougars.

“Jayden balled out tonight,” Jackson Harmon said.

Almost as impressive as the interceptions was what Heartwell-McKoy did once he corralled the ball. The two-way player switched to receiver mode for long returns that flipped the field in his team’s favor and gave the South offense great field position.

Heartwell-McKoy made his first interception five plays after Service got a jolt of momentum by recovering a fumble by Harmon. The interception set up the second Harmon-to-Bowdon touchdown of the night, an 18-yard jump ball in the end zone that made it 27-7.

Service cut the gap to 27-13 on a 1-yard keeper by Scott in the fourth quarter and was trying to muster another scoring drive when Heartwell-McKoy got his second interception.

“Coaches said that they were going to press in the middle,” Heartwell-McKoy said. “I knew I had to stay back and backpedal. Once I got it, I just ran.”

South’s defense picked off three Scott passes and made several plays in the backfield to stifle Service’s running game. Special teams did their part by constantly pressuring Service’s punter and coverage unit, leading to high, short punts that put the Wolverines in good field position.

Service was making its first championship game appearance since 2013. The Cougars’ last title came in 2011.

“We accomplished a goal today, and that was to play as many games in this season as possible,” Service senior linebacker Connor O’Farrell said. “I’m very proud of my team for making it this far and playing in this game.

“… I’m holding my head high taking my wins and losses with pride.”