Bartlett and Soldotna reassert their authority in Alaska high school football

Here we are, right back where we started three weeks ago.

Bartlett and Soldotna, a pair of defending state champions who entered the season as top-ranked teams only to lose their status after the first week of play, are back on top of the Alaska football world.

Both teams asserted themselves against highly regarded opponents on Friday night.

The Bartlett Golden Bears cruised past the previously undefeated West Eagles in a rematch of last year's Division I championship game, 32-7 at West High.

And in a game in Fairbanks pitting Soldotna against the top-ranked Lathrop Malemutes, the Stars used a big fourth quarter to breeze to a 50-21 win.

Week 3 of Alaska high school football also saw a pair of Anchorage teams establish themselves as teams to watch.

Service won its second straight game by shutting out Wasilla 37-0 on Friday, and Eagle River is 3-0 and off to its best start ever after beating Kodiak 65-15.

In other games involving Anchorage teams, East blanked Juneau 40-0 on the road and Chugiak lost 22-7 to West Valley in Fairbanks. The South Wolverines met North Pole in a Saturday night game in Fairbanks.

Bartlett, which fell from the top of the Alaska Sports Broadcasting Network rankings despite an opening-season win in Hawaii, improved to 3-0 with the win over West.

The Golden Bears subdued the Eagles with a potent ground game and a punctuation-mark touchdown from their defense.

Matuu Ah Sam capped the victory by returning an interception 65 yards for a touchdown with the clocking winding down.

Bartlett erased an early 7-0 West lead with authority. Elijah Lear rushed for two touchdowns and Hunter Cargill raced nearly 50 yards into the end zone for another.

The loss dropped the Eagles to 2-1 and is bound to knock them out of the top spot in the Division I rankings. West ascended to No. 1 after a Week 1 win over Soldotna.

Soldotna, which dropped out of the Division II rankings after the loss to West, poured it on in the fourth quarter to pull away from previously undefeated Lathrop. The Stars outscored the Malemutes 24-7 in the final 12 minutes.

Service 37, Wasilla 0

The Service Cougars are on an upward trajectory after whipping Wasilla 37-0.

The Cougars, who were 3-6 last season, have gone from a narrow loss to West Valley to a narrow win over Chugiak to the blowout win over Wasilla to move to 2-1 in nonconference action.

"We're getting better each time we play," said sophomore lineman Jackson Eschenlohr. "Our practice tempo keeps going up, and we keep getting better and better."

Jason Villanueva-Kaeo threw two touchdown passes to Henry Helgeson and one to Ben Faulkner. Defensively, linebacker Stephon Blankenship and tackle Tavake Noa helped deliver the shutout.

Service opens Cook Inlet Conference play Friday night against West.

Eagle River 65, Kodiak 15

Ryan Adkins threw for 259 yards and six touchdowns Saturday as Eagle River raced to its best start in program history with a 65-15 Northern Lights Conference win over visiting Kodiak.

Eagle River is 3-0 for the first time in the school's 13 seasons of varsity play. Add a season-ending victory last year and the Wolves own a four-game winning streak.

"It means a lot," said Eagle River's Quanard Cox, who ran for a touchdown and caught a pass for a touchdown in front of a large homecoming day crowd. "Now we've got to just keep pushing and pushing."

Adkins was 11-for-13 with no interceptions. His favorite target was Mason Piper, who caught six passes for 125 yards and three touchdowns.

Bryson Rollman caught two touchdowns for the Wolves, who also got touchdown runs from Andrew Hamilton and Quintin Jackson.

Cox piled up a game-high 150 yards of offense on just six touches. The electric senior ran for a team-high 86 yards on five carries and caught a 64-yard touchdown.

Micah Bartel ran for 129 yards and a touchdown to lead Kodiak, which fell to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the NLC.

Eagle River gets a week off before a big Sept. 8 home game against Soldotna.

East 40, Juneau 0

The East T-birds spoiled Saturday's home debut of Juneau's unified football team, 40-0.

East took advantage of two turnovers to jump to a 13-0 first-quarter lead behind touchdown runs by Elijah Mamae and Shamir Staten.

The T-birds led 27-0 at the half. After a scoreless third quarter they padded their lead with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including a 55-yard run by Colton Herman.

The game was the first time Juneau fans got a look at the city's new team – a consolidation of the Juneau-Douglas and Thunder Mountain teams. The team, which still doesn't have a nickname, is 0-3.

East improved to 2-1.

West Valley 22, Chugiak 7

West Valley scored 10 points in the final 3:04 of the game to pull away from Chugiak, 22-7.

Chugiak trailed 12-0 after the first half but got on the scoreboard in the third quarter on Jacob Oshesky's 29-yard pass to Kody Carlson to reduce West Valley's lead to 12-7.

Chugiak stayed within a touchdown until the final minutes. The Wolfpack went up 15-7 with a field goal and applied the dagger with Avery Weston's 82-yard pick six with 47 seconds remaining.

West Valley, 2-6 last season, is 3-0 with wins over two Anchorage teams – Chugiak and Service.

Friday's scores

Bartlett 32, West 7

Ketchikan 77, Valdez 0

Nikiski 28, Redington 0

Palmer 34, Kenai 6

Service 37, Wasilla 0

Soldotna 50, Lathrop 21

West Valley 22, Chugiak 7

Saturday's scores

Eagle River 65, Kodiak 15

East 40, Juneau 0

Eielson 45, Seward 0

Houston 30, Barrow 6

Monroe 28, Homer 27

South at North Pole, late