The compass in Anchorage’s oldest high school football rivalry continues to point in one direction of late — due East.
East High’s skill position triumvirate of seniors Elijah Reed, Deuce Zimmerman and Damarion Delaney proved the point Friday night under the lights at West High against the Eagles. East erased an early deficit and used a 14-point second quarter to stake itself to a 35-21 Cook Inlet Conference victory over the school it first played 60 years ago.
The Thunderbirds won their sixth straight in the series and their 10th in the last 12 meetings to improve to 45-32 all-time against the Eagles.
“We’re blessed with the guys we have,” East coach Jeff Trotter said. “Every class (of students) that have come up have helped build this thing, working and working and working.”
Reed rushed for 146 yards and scored a beauty of a 68-yard rushing touchdown while Zimmerman and Delaney combined for 163 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Zimmerman scored from 23 and 13 yards on the final two of his five receptions from quarterback Kyler Johnson.
The Thunderbirds held serve in the race for the CIC regular-season championship. They moved to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in league play, their lone loss coming at Juneau earlier this month.
A team of players from Juneau-Douglas and Thunder Mountain, the Huskies (4-1, 4-1) play at Bartlett (3-2, 2-1) on Saturday afternoon. One might figure East players and coaches becoming big fans of the Golden Bears in anticipation of the 3 p.m. kickoff.
“We’ve been saying all along, we just (got to) do us,” Trotter said. “We do us and if everything falls a certain way, then it does. We can’t control anyone else, so we’re just going to go with that.”
Of course, Alaska high school football always presents a fair share of oddities, and this season the CIC regular season amounts to little more than a seeding exercise for the upcoming Alaska School Activities Association playoffs.
The conference’s eight schools make up the entirety of Division I, which has an eight-team playoff format — meaning East and West may battle each other again before a First National Bowl champion is crowned.
“We’re going to see (East) again, and we’ll need to keep playing hard and winning more plays,” said West senior Quentin Underwood, who totaled nine receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown.
The Division I state quarterfinals — or the CIC conference tournament, take your pick — are set to begin Oct. 8.
Reed suffered an upper-body injury in East’s 50-26 nonconference win over Lathrop on Aug. 27. He watched his teammates lose to Juneau and beat Colony before getting the green light to return to action.
The 5-foot-9, 225-pounder was definitely ready to go.
Seconds after West scored the game’s first touchdown, Reed turned his fourth carry of the evening into a highlight-reel run worthy of an “Angry Runs” mention on the NFL Network. He ran over left tackle and cut toward the sideline, throwing stiff arms mixed martial artists would adore while churning his feet.
No fewer than four West defenders put a hand on Reed and all were brushed aside. He motored into the end zone with 28 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
“Aggressiveness, powerful, those are the kinds of words I’m thinking about,” said Reed, who averaged 9.73 yards per carry. “After being hurt, I knew I was ready. I watched us lose in Juneau and all of us are now hungrier as players, ready to ball out.”
He said the stiff arms were backed by “full force.”
The Thunderbirds amassed 348 total yards to West’s 323, with senior Boogie Sloan rushing for 111 of West’s yards.
Each team recovered an onside kick, and quarterbacks/defensive backs Johnson and Jaideven Suesue each intercepted each other. Johnson scored a pair of picks.
East closes out the regular season with home games against Bartlett and Dimond. The Eagles (4-2, 4-2) have a bye in Week 7 before finishing with a home game against Colony.
Four league wins should be enough to get West a home playoff game in the DI quarterfinals. Stay tuned.
Matt Nevala’s radio show, “The Sports Guys,” on KHAR AM 590 and FM 96.7 (@cbssports590) is currently on hiatus. Find him on social media at @MNevala9.