East T-birds keep the East Side Boot by denying Bartlett with a game-ending defensive stand

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Bartlett's Elijah Lewis-Tufi is tackled by East's Deuce Zimmerman, left, and Uzafa Kahn during a football game on Friday, Sept. 25, 2020 at East High. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

For the second time in consecutive weeks, the East High Thunderbirds made a game-winning play in the waning minutes of the game, this time coming through with a defensive stand in the final minutes to beat east-side rival Bartlett 14-8 in the 19th annual East Side Boot football game.

Last weekend, East scored a last-minute touchdown to take down the reigning state champion South Wolverines.

“It’s always a battle,” said East coach Jeff Trotter. “It’s a big rivalry and (the Golden Bears) have gotten better every week, so they’re going to give some other teams fits and I’m sure they’ll probably make the playoffs.”

Anchorage’s two east-side schools have played for the Boot every year since 2002 in honor of East High all-state defensive lineman Aanooali “Auno” Filoialli, who died that summer in a car accident. On top of the trophy is one of his cleats in bronze.

“It feels great and it’s such an honor too because we’re playing it in the name of Auno Filoialli and his mother, who passed away (this summer),” said T-birds senior running back Oakland Ala.

East (3-0) was the favorite but Bartlett (1-2) came to play, and the Golden Bears grinded it out in a hard-fought game that featured a pair of potent rushing attacks and a lot of yellow laundry on the field.

“I couldn’t look at a single kid and say, you let me down or let us down,” said first-year Bartlett coach Chance Matsuoka. "They were all playing their very best every second of that game.

“There was a lot of talk about how we were going to get beat ... but I’m so proud of how well my boys came out and played, and they didn’t give up and they fought really hard.”

East won the battle for the Boot for the fourth consecutive year and is 12-7 in the series. The T-birds are one of Division I’s top programs and were the top-ranked team in the state last season only to be bounced from the playoffs in a first-round upset.

Trotter wasn’t pleased with undisciplined play from his team for a second straight week.

“Not satisfying,” he said. “Especially the way we ended last season. …We got to fix a lot of stuff if we want to compete with some of the better teams.”

At the very end of a penalty-filled opening quarter that featured three consecutive flags on the first drive of the game, the T-Birds scored on a 5-yard run up the middle from Ala just before the final second ticked off the clock.

Both teams had promising drives in the second and third quarters spoiled by turnovers that came via fumble, two by East and one by Bartlett. East made it 14-0 with just under three minutes left in the third when senior running back Georgia Mageo punched the ball across the goal line from 6 yards out.

Mageo and Ala powered the T-Birds rushing attack with rugged tackle-breaking running styles. They combined for 180 yards on the ground with Mageo leading the way with 130 yards before he went down late in the fourth quarter with a leg injury. Ala ran for 50 yards.

“Those guys are workhorses," said Trotter. "They shed the first guy (and) keep going.”

The Golden Bears made it a one-score game with just under 6:30 to play when senior running back Elijah Lewis-Tufi scored from 3 yards out on fourth-and-goal and then caught the two-point conversion pass from junior quarterback Reason Timberlake.

Down 14-8, Bartlett got the ball back with just under 2:30 left. East’s defense had been swarming to the ball all game long and didn’t let Bartlett cross midfield on its final possession. The T-birds forced a turnover on downs, securing their victory by batting down a final-gasp heave from Timberlake deep down the middle.

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