The Bartlett Golden Bears finished a golden football regular season with a perfect conference record by defeating Dimond 54-40 Friday night at Dimond.
The win moved Bartlett to 5-0 in Cook Inlet Conference play and 7-1 on the season. It was the 100th win for Bartlett co-coach John Jessen, who wasn't around to see the end of the game.
He was ejected at the start of the second half after receiving his second penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct and will have to sit out the first game of the postseason playoffs next week.
"I'm really happy for the kids," Jessen said. "For the 100th win, it just means that you've been around for a long time and that it's good for school.
"I want to thank all the kids that have played for me and I want to thank coach (Daniel) Esparza, I want to thank all the coaches who have coached with me and all my football administrative mentors over the years."
With Bartlett's lead running back, Markus Sagatu, on the sideline with an ankle injury, Jontay Edwards received the bulk of the carries for the Golden Bears.
The 5-foot-9, 215-pound junior made the most of the opportunity, rumbling for a whopping 368 yards and four touchdowns on 19 carries.
His longest was a 59-yard touchdown that put Bartlett up by two scores late in the fourth quarter. The Golden Bears rushed for more than 550 yards as a team.
"I just know that we have stud running backs and I have to step up to the plate," Edwards said. "I feel great about this win."
Trey Kingsland chipped in 86 total yards on offense for the Golden Bears, but his biggest plays came on defense.
The senior defensive back took an interception back 45 yards for the first touchdown of the game. He added another interception in the closing minutes to ice the game for Bartlett.
Dimond (3-5, 1-4 CIC) hung with Bartlett despite struggling in conference play this season.
Quarterback Dylan Tufaga bought time with his legs and found his wide receivers for 208 passing yards and three scores. Tufaga added 73 rushing yards, including a 23-yard touchdown run.
His favorite targets were Ethan Kwon (69 yards) and Kota Ainu'u (59 yards).
After Kingsland's interception return touchdown early in the first quarter, it looked like it might be the start of another big win for Bartlett.
Dimond had other plans. Tufaga orchestrated a steady drive capped by a 3-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Henrickson midway through the first quarter. A Pa Faal extra point gave the Lynx a 7-6 lead.
From there, it was a back-and-forth offensive slugfest for the rest of the half. Dimond led 34-29 at the halfway point, aided by an 85-yard pick-6 by Tucker Lyons in the second quarter.
Bartlett regained the lead on a 19-yard Edwards run to make it 35-34 with seven minutes left in the third quarter.
Another Edwards touchdown later in the quarter made it a 7-point Bartlett lead. The Golden Bears failed on a 2-point conversion.
Dimond responded with a 53-yard strike from Tufaga to Kwon, but the Lynx couldn't find the end zone in the fourth quarter.
At one point, Dimond got all the way to the 1-yard line, but Bartlett stopped the Lynx on two straight plays to force a turnover on downs.
Jessen received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the first half for something said to a referee. The team received another penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct for coming out of the locker room late after halftime, leading to Jessen's ejection.
The ejection means Jessen will miss Bartlett's first game of the state playoffs.
"I take full responsibility for it," he said. "It's not something we'll fight."
The Golden Bears will be the No. 1 seed out of the CIC at the state tournament.
Bartlett 14 15 12 13 — 54
Dimond 7 27 6 0 — 40
First Quarter
Bartlett — Kingsland 45 interception return (kick failed), 9:48.
Dimond — Henrickson 3 pass from Tufaga (Faal kick), 6:41.
Bartlett — Edwards 34 run (Kingsland run), 5:20.
Second Quarter
Bartlett — Irving 8 run (VanOrd kick), 11:29.
Dimond — Lyons 85 interception return (Faal kick), 7:10.
Bartlett — Kingsland 8 run (Edwards run), 5:39.
Dimond — Ainu'u 14 pass from Tufaga (kick failed), 4:24.
Dimond — Tufaga 23 run (Faal kick), 1:42.
Dimond — Mathis 12 pass from (Tufaga), 0:18.
Third Quarter
Bartlett — Edwards 19 run (Kingsland run failed), 7:00.
Bartlett — Edwards 14 run (Egoak run failed), 1:28.
Dimond — Kwon 53 pass from Tufaga (Faal kick), 0:00.
Fourth Quarter
Bartlett — Suon 26 run (Edwards run failed), 11:08.
Bartlett — Edwards 59 run (VanOrd kick), 2:54.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Bartlett: Edwards 19-368, Cargill 8-63, Irving 6-40, Kingsland 7-36, Suon 3-34, Fudge 4-18, Garrett 1-7, Egoak 2-(-2). Dimond: Tufaga 16-73, Mathis 13-38, Ward 1-1.
PASSING — Bartlett: Egoak 2-4-1–65. Dimond: Tufaga 15-25-2–208, Henrickson 0-2-0–0.
RECEIVING — Bartlett: Kingsland 1-50, Colley 1-15. Dimond: Kwon 3-69, Ainu'u 4-59, Mathis 3-32, Lyons 1-42, Henrickson 3-14, Ward 1-(-1).