One of the biggest victories in the storied history of Soldotna High football came at painful, heartbreaking price Friday night.
Drew Gibbs, the team's star running back who had drawn the attention of college coaches as he began his senior season, suffered a torn ACL and will miss the rest of his senior season.
The injury happened in the first quarter of Soldotna's 21-17 record-setting victory over the South Wolverines, a win that extended the Stars' winning streak to 30 games, the longest in Alaska football history.
"I don't think I'll ever think about Game 30 and not think of losing Drew, you know?" Soldotna coach Galen Brantley Jr. said Saturday. "For me it's never about the wins, it's about the people, and that young man wanted to be part of that experience so much he couldn't see straight. For him to not physically be on the field was very difficult."
Gibbs, last season's Offensive Player of the Year for Alaska's medium-sized teams, went down after a 24-yard run. It was the second time he went down that quarter, and Brantley said he doesn't know whether the ligament tore the first time or the second time.
"It was just one of those things – a noncontact plant-and-cut," Brantley said. "It's very, very unfortunate. I think he was the best player in the state.
"… It's difficult because Drew is a team captain and has worked as hard as any kid in our program over the last four years, and deserves to be a part of this. You never want to miss a senior year. It absolutely breaks my heart."
Without Gibbs, Brantley said, the Stars aren't quite the same team that has dominated the Alaska football scene for three years.
Since losing their season-opening game in 2012, the Stars have reeled off 30 straight wins and captured three medium-schools state championships.
Friday's win over South ranks as one of Soldotna's biggest. Though no state trophy was at stake, the record for Alaska's longest winning streak was on the line – and so were statewide bragging rights.
Soldotna is the defending champion among medium schools and South is the defending champion among large schools. "We have 700 kids, they have 1,400," Brantley said.
But fueled by Gibbs early and guts late, Soldotna prevailed. South came on strong in the second half and stymied Soldotna offensively, outscoring the Stars 10-3.
After punting on its first four possession of the second half, Soldotna needed a clutch first down to extend its final possession and deny the undeniably dominating Wolverines a final chance to drive for points. Mason Prior, who moved from fullback to halfback to replace Gibbs, busted loose for 18 yards on third-and-7 to get the first down and allow Soldotna to run out the clock.
"I couldn't be more proud of the kids and the way they played," Brantley said. "It was a complete team victory. We went through just about everything you could imagine from an injury standpoint – there were times when we had four starters out on one side of the ball – and we were just kind of hanging on. We had to use everybody. It was just one of those nights."
Coming into the game, Soldotna shared Alaska's longest winning streak – 29 games -- with the East High (1985-87) and Soldotna (2006-09). Brantley, a former player for the Stars, took over as head coach one season into Soldotna's first big streak and has a 77-5 record as he begins his ninth season.
Brantley said Gibbs stayed on the sideline for the duration of Friday's game.
"We didn't know the severity until the MRI," he said. "Even after the game everyone was still optimistic that it was a sprain and he'd only be out for a limited time."
A bit of good news came Saturday morning when Gibbs heard from one of the colleges recruiting him. Northern State University, a Division II school in Aberdeen, South Dakota, said it will honor its preseason offer, "which was really good news," Brantley said.