Moose muck up Lathrop Malemutes in rain

By Danny Martin

Published Sunday, August 17, 2008

Photo by John Wagner

FAIRBANKS — It seemed that the more it rained, the better the Palmer Moose’s rushing attack became in Saturday night’s Railbelt Conference football game against the Lathrop Malemutes.

A heavy downpour pelted the Lathrop High School stadium in the second quarter, when the Moose scored 21 points to snap a scoreless deadlock and set up a 35-0 victory in the conference opener for both teams.

It was the first loss by shutout for Pat Romans in his four seasons as Lathrop’s head coach. The defeat followed an 8-6 victory over Kenai in a mostly rainy season opener on Aug. 8.

“I hadn’t been shut out before and that’s pretty disappointing at Lathrop,’’ Romans said after Saturday’s game. “I thought we could move the ball better.’’

Saturday’s rain led to the teams fumbling 11 times — six for Lathrop and five for Palmer. Each team lost two fumbles, but the turnovers hurt the Malemutes more, as Palmer’s third touchdown was set up by a recovered fumble.

Practicing during last week’s rains in the Matanuska Valley benefited the Moose, who churned out 282 yards on the ground to Lathrop’s 65.

“I think that was a good experience for us. My feet are soggy,’’ Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said with a smile. “I realized it’s going to happen and I was trying to get us prepared for it.”

Moose quarterback Dustin Silva didn’t attempt a pass, but it wasn’t necessary with a backfield that included Brennan Bohman, who rushed 12 times for 119 yards and three touchdowns. Jim McCall touched the ball twice while rushing for 34 yards, but he scored each time, and Coleman Ahrens gained 74 yards on his 14 carries.

“We’ve got a good line and we’re going to go right behind it,” said Bohman, a 5-foot-6, 142-pound junior.

Palmer, 1-0 Railbelt and 1-1 overall, continually ran off tackle and Romans constantly yelled “dive” at his players to warn that the Moose were going to run off tackle.

Palmer never changed its attack and the scoreboard never changed for Lathrop, which dropped to 0-1 conference and 1-1 overall.

“Once in a while, even if we guess wrong and they run a reverse on us, they’re going to dive off tackle,’’ Romans said. “I kept yelling that they’re going to dive and our kids tended to sit back and wait so long, and let their linemen get into them and push them downfield.’’

Palmer was actually successful on a reverse with 22.5 seconds left before halftime.

Lathrop had second down and 11 from its 23-yard line when running back Sam Warner fumbled after a 1-yard gain and Moose lineman Kevin Priestly recovered at the 25.

On first down for the Moose, Silva handed off to Bohman, who gave the ball to McCall, who swept around the right tackle for his first touchdown.

Before he assisted McCall, Bohman dashed into the end zone from 14 yards out with 53.4 seconds remaining in the half and he provided the game’s first score on a 38-yard run at the 11:50 mark of the quarter.

McCall added a 9-yard touchdown with 8:40 left in the third and Bohman chipped in a 1-yard touchdown plunge at the 9:36 mark of the fourth. Zach Zegzdryn, one of seven running backs Palmer used Saturday, converted all of its point-after kicks.

Lathrop running back AJ Allen rushed for 128 yards last week against Kenai, including a 96-yard touchdown sprint. The Moose held him to 41 yards on 16 carries.

“They just scouted us well,’’ fellow Lathrop senior running back Denzel Crump said of Palmer’s defense.

Christiansen wanted his defense to slow Lathrop’s backs and contain them on the outside.

“They were shutting down the speed, containing the reverse and the cute stuff in the flat,” Christiansen said, “and being able to stop the deep ball. They didn’t test us a lot with it.’’

Lathrop senior quarterback Billy Hoeffel completed eight of 15 passes for 57 yards with two interceptions, both by Palmer senior safety Mitch Swetzof.