Familiar foes: Soldotna, Lathrop face off again for DII state football title while Dimond looks to break DI drought

Over the last half-dozen years, a game of chess has slowly developed between the Soldotna and Lathrop football programs.

The two teams have met in each of the last four Division II football championships with the Stars and Malemutes winning two times apiece.

And with each matchup, the teams and their coaching staffs try to find new plans, methods and even tricks to get just the slightest edge on their opponent. The result has produced a pair of razor-sharp programs that routinely provide close and entertaining games.

“We go back and we’ve got film on all the games we’ve played with these guys,” Lathrop head coach Luke Balash said. “You see us every year get better and better, and a lot of the details it takes to defend each other and attack each other. When I look back to four years ago, the way we’re playing football has evolved a lot for both of us as we continue to try and push each other and counter each other and find a way to beat one another.”

Lathrop won in 2021 and 2022. Soldotna came out on top in 2019 and again in 2023.

Saturday’s matchup at 4 p.m. at Colony High will give one team a 3-2 advantage in the recent rivalry.

With the student-athletes changing from season to season, it’s often the coaches who are the most reliable source of trends.

“Coaching-wise, I think we have a familiarity with what each other are trying to do,” Soldotna head coach Galen Brantley said. “But you know, we have different talents and different strengths and weaknesses from years.”

Brantley said he and his staff will sometimes go back to previous years for scouting purposes, but the best sample of how each team plays is from this year. When the two teams met in Soldotna earlier this month, the Malemutes got out to a 28-7 lead at halftime. The Stars battled back, but Lathrop earned a 35-28 win.

“We had one of those games where everything that could go wrong went wrong and still figured out a way to claw back into it,” Brantley said. “We tied up at 28 with about six minutes left, and then Lathrop put together a good game-winning drive — and then we answered, drove all the way down to the 9, and then got stopped inside the goal line. So it was a pretty exciting game.”

That win was key to Lathrop continuing to turn around its season. The Malemutes started out 1-4 before winning their next five games going into Saturday.

“For starters, we were young and pretty inexperienced in spots,” Balash said.

There were a number of other factors, including transitioning an offensive lineman to quarterback, injuries and losing their defensive coordinator right before the start of the season.

Brantley passed a major milestone in September, earning his 160th career win, breaking the previous Alaska wins record of 159 held by longtime Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen. Brantley would love to add a state title to an already historic season, but he realizes how tough of a feat it will be.

“We know how hard it is just to get to this game, and then to win it, once you get there, is extremely difficult to do,” Brantley said. “Especially against a well-coached team that’s loaded with talent.”

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At the Division I level, the two title contenders are also quite familiar with each other.

Dimond and West play each year in the CIC and also get some time training alongside each other in the summer. In this year’s regular-season game, Dimond topped West 29-12 in Week 4 of the season.

Now the two teams will play for a state title at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Colony High.

“I’ve coached with a lot of those guys already in the past, so I just respect what they do,” Dimond head coach Brian Yim said. “We are right down the road from them, we work out and do 7-on-7s over there in the summer with them, so we’re real familiar with each other.

“I’m excited for another opportunity, and I think we’ve got a good shot to come out on top as long as we do our job, and keep playing the way we’ve been playing, and handle the struggles of what this thing will be like.”

Dimond enters the matchup with a 10-0 record and an explosive offense spearheaded by junior quarterback Cayden Pili. The Lynx have scored at least 29 points in every game and will be chasing their first state title since 2001.

When it comes to championship experience, West (8-2) holds a distinct advantage. The Eagles are the defending state champion at the DI level, but that difference in experience hasn’t deterred Dimond.

“You don’t know what you don’t know,” Yim said. “Maybe we’re a little naive, and they’re not even going to realize or worry about the extra pressure. Our guys have been locked in for most of the year.”

The vibe around the Dimond community has been one of excitement and the anticipation of continuing to take on new challenges.

“It’s been quite a few years since they’ve even been to the playoffs or won a playoff game, so this is big for this program and our guys too,” Pili said.

West has steadily improved throughout the season. Outside of their loss to Dimond, the Eagles’ only other defeat came at the hands of Bettye Davis East High in the second week of the season.

West topped East 34-14 last week in the state semifinals. West coach Tim Davis said his team will continue to control what it can as the Eagles look to become back-to-back champs.

“We control what we can do, and then whatever happens, results-wise, is where we’re at,” Davis said. “We’re process-based. Win the play, win one moment of practice, and when you do that and put it together long enough, sometimes you get the outcome that you want.”

While the Eagles will be underdogs on Friday when the two teams meet, running back Zephaniah Sailele said the team is content to play its best and let the chips fall where they may.

“Our team is really excited,” Sailele said. “We all just wanted this (game) last week really bad, and I feel like we earned it.”

ADN sports reporter Josh Reed contributed.