Bartlett blitzes Juneau

ANCHORAGE - Singing the praises of the top-ranked Bartlett High School football team is getting easy to do.

• Photos

Hearing the Golden Bears sing, however, is best avoided.

Prior to walloping the unranked Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears 49-0 at Anchorage Football Stadium on Saturday night, Bartlett lined up along the sideline - as teams always do - for the playing of the national anthem. But the Golden Bears don't stand, helmets at their sides, hands over their hearts and stare straight ahead without uttering a word.

These guys belt out the tune.

"We had someone singing before a game (two years ago) who was way off key," Bartlett coach John Jessen said. "I decided to take over (on the sideline) and started singing, and the players joined in. It's become a regular thing for good luck.

But it's not necessarily melodic.

"We don't know if we sound good or not," senior linebacker Jesse Spillman said. "I think it's become a thing of pride for us."

Assuming the Golden Bears (3-0 overall, 2-0 Cook Inlet Football Conference) aren't primed to ditch the rest of their season to cut a record deal, Saturday's performance should go a long way toward convincing folks of how dominant the team can be.

The defeat tied for the second-worst in Juneau's team history, with the last times the Crimson Bears lost this bad coming when they lost their first two games of the 1996 season - 49-0 to West Anchorage and 67-0 to Service. Juneau (1-3 overall, 0-3 CIFC) rebounded from those two losses to finish the 1996 season with a 3-4 record.

Bartlett scored 21 points in each of the first two quarters and gained 324 of its robust 546 rushing yards in the first half. Bartlett's 580 yards of total offense was a vast improvement over the 171 produced in last season's 14-7 loss at Juneau, a setback that put the Golden Bears at 0-2 before they rebounded to win a spot in the state championship game.

"Because of that game, I hope the kids feel a sense of accomplishment," Jessen said. "They stuffed us up last year and kicked our butts. We wanted to come back from that."

Averaging almost 11 yards per carry will certainly improve your spirits. Henry Hellrung certainly had to be happy after his evening. The Golden Bears' bruising junior halfback rang up 192 yards on just seven carries - a 27.4 yards-per-carry average - and scored his team's sixth touchdown.

Hellrung's 45-yard touchdown run, one of his three scampers of 45 yards or longer, was the last score of the first half. And, thankfully for Juneau, it ended a forgettable couple of quarters.

"The second quarter was the worst," said Juneau junior running back Brian Felix, who rushed for 67 yards on 14 carries. "We broke down and then kind of quit on ourselves. In the third and fourth quarters we just tried to have some fun."

The Bartlett defense didn't allow that to happen. The Golden Bears, with Spillman in action from his linebacker position, held the Crimson Bears to 108 yards of total offense. Zack Bowman, who now has 21 interceptions for his high school career, picked off a Chad Dubois pass in the first quarter and ran 57 yards untouched for a touchdown.

Spillman was proud of his defensive mates, but quickly pointed to the offense and its ability to improve from its performance against Juneau in 2001.

Quarterback Pierce Blewett ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, a 21-yard pass to Bowman that opened the scoring. Drew Williams and T.J. Jackson also ran for touchdowns, with Jackson gaining 107 yards on seven carries and Williams rushing for 81 yards on six carries.

"They executed real well," Spillman said. "We were going hard, all out, for them."

And for Spillman, the hits kept coming, which is all he cares about.

"It's hard to say what you learn from a game like this, but all I really want to do is hit," he said. "I really don't care what the score is."

Jessen, with a team primed to make another postseason run, said Bartlett isn't where it wants to be - when it comes to football or singing.

"We're not warmed up yet," Jessen said. "Wait until we get in midseason form."

The Crimson Bears fared somewhat better in the junior varsity game Saturday, holding on to edge Bartlett 29-28 as Seve Candelaria ran for 230 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Pat Kohan ran for a touchdown and threw for another, a 37-yard strike to Angelo Katasse. Naash Richey had an interception that set up Candelaria's final touchdown in the third quarter, and Kohan made the two-point conversion on a fake kick to give Juneau a 29-20 lead. Bartlett could only manage one more score in the fourth quarter.

In other action involving Southeast teams, the Sitka Wolves lost a Greatland Conference road game to the Seward Seahawks 24-18. Ketchikan was in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, to play Terry Fox Secondary School, but a score wasn't available from Friday's game.

Juneau Empire sports editor Charles Bingham contributed to this story.

Saturday's game from Anchorage Football Stadium

JUNEAU-DOUGLAS 0 0 0 0 - 0

BARTLETT 21 21 7 0 - 49

First quarter

Bartlett - Bowman 21 pass from P. Blewett (Green kick), 9:12.

Bartlett - P. Blewett 16 run (Green kick), 4:04.

Bartlett - Bowman 57 interception return (Green kick), 2:19.

Second quarter

Bartlett - P. Blewett 8 run (Green kick), 8:19.

Bartlett - Dr. Williams 2 run (Green kick), 4:58.

Bartlett - Hellrung 45 run (Green kick), 2:52.

Third quarter

Bartlett - Jackson 14 run (Green kick), 4:11.

Fourth quarter

No scoring.

TEAM STATISTICS

JUNEAU BARTLETT

First downs 7 23

Rushes-yards 31-47 50-546

Passing yards 61 34

Return yards 120 72

Comp-att-int 6-10-1 2-3-0

Punts-ave 4-42.5 0-0

Fumbles-lost 2-2 2-0

Penalties-yards 9-75 11-95

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Juneau-Douglas: Felix 17-67, Cameron 3-2, Clair 1-2, Keys 1-0, Dubois 9-(-24). Bartlett: Hellrung 7-192, Jackson 7-107, Dr. Williams 6-81, P. Blewett 4-45, Gionson 8-43, Jo. Williams 5-28, Van Duersen 4-27, Gillespie 7-19, Littles 2-4.

PASSING - Juneau-Douglas: Dubois 6-10-1 - 61. Bartlett: P. Blewett 2-3-0 - 34.

RECEIVING - Juneau-Douglas: Henderson 4-53, N. West 1-5, Cameron 1-3. Bartlett: Bowman 1-21, Jackson 1-13.

MISSED FIELD GOALS - None.