ANCHORAGE — Eielson quarterback Colten Growden will be in the history books, but he’d rather be in the championship game.
The Soldotna Stars earned a third consecutive trip to the small schools state championship as they defeated the Ravens 69-33 on Saturday night at Anchorage Football Stadium.
Growden became the first
“It feels good, but I just wish I could try to smile,” he said with tears welling in his eyes. “But the game just hurts too much.”
Growden threw for 148 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions as he ran for 42 yards. He also returned two kickoffs for touchdowns.
“Our offense goes through Colten Growden,” Eielson head coach David DeVaughn said. “... he created another 1,000-yard rusher in the backfield, Ricky Nelson, just by his presence.”
His first return touchdown, 83 yards long, opened the game. But the Stars quickly took over from there. In the first half, only Soldotna’s final drive — ending with a missed field goal as time expired — didn’t produce a touchdown.
The Stars’ rushing attack was spearheaded by Anthony Griglione, who had 168 yards and four touchdowns on 18 carries (though that includes a play in which a high snap resulted in a loss of 22 yards).
Soldotna’s unstoppable ground game was a confusing mesh of runners set up in a power T formation. Several times, the ball seemed to disappear after the snap, then materialize 10 yards downfield.
The Ravens’ defense wasn’t alone in its frustration. With the exception of Growden’s kickoff return and a 65-yard touchdown pass to Charles King in the second quarter, the Ravens’ offense stumbled frequently. Before halftime, Growden threw four of his five interceptions and lost a fumble.
Stars backs Kyle Wood, Braden Price, Chris Nolden, Tate Syverson and quarterback Zayan Aberkane each ran for a touchdown. Aberkane also threw for a touchdown to Tyler McGillivray in the second quarter.
“I never thought in a million years I’d be a part of a three-peat or at least trying to accomplish one,” said Aberkane, who threw for 17 yards with one touchdown and ran for 42 yards.
The Ravens got into the end zone again with a 65-yard passing play from Growden to King.
Down 49-12 at the half, Eielson made a worthy comeback effort in the third quarter. They recovered an onside kick to open the half and turned it into a 25-yard strike from Growden to Jakob Pulsifer just nine seconds later.
“We just had to be ourselves, playing how we usually play,” King said. “We came out timid just because we’re at a stadium playing an undefeated team like SoHi.”
After making its first defensive stop of the game, in which a high snap forced Griglione to be tackled at Soldotna’s 5-yard line, Ravens wide receiver Greg Riley was able to plunge into the end zone for a 2-yard score.
“We got down early, and guys were just trying to make plays,” DeVaughn said. “If you judge character, well, there’s no quit in these guys.”
Eielson recovered two more onside kicks in the half, and began to decipher some of the Stars puzzling plays, but Soldotna wasn’t going to be topped.
“We were just kind of business-as-usual running the football, and that’s held us together when things were falling apart,” Stars coach Galen Brantley said.
Soldotna responded with two touchdowns on runs by Nolden and Griglione.
Growden ran back his second kickoff of the night for a 79-yard touchdown, though the Ravens still trailed by 29 afterward.
The Stars then ran out the clock with its second-string running backs, capping the game with a 3-yard rushing touchdown from Syverson with 18 seconds left in the game.