The North Pole High School football team played Friday night with a sense of urgency against the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears.
It showed in the final outcome, a 48-6 win in the Southeast Conference game at James Watson-Patriot Pride Field.
North Pole improved to 1-1 Southeast and 2-5 overall, and put itself in contention for its third straight trip to the medium schools state playoffs.
North Pole needs a win next Friday at home against Ketchikan to secure a postseason berth.
Last week’s 22-20 conference-opening loss to Thunder Mountain in Juneau had an effect on North Pole’s approach to the Crimson Bears (1-1, 3-4).
“Last week was kind of a wake-up call,” Patriots head coach Dennis Diviney said. “We were real disappointed and our kids understand that this (Friday’s game) was our season here. They just came out ready to play and gave it everything, and the result is evident.”
James Bartley showed in his performance how well he comprehended the significance of the contest against Juneau-Douglas.The senior running back rushed eight times for a game-high 84 yards and scored a single-game career high four touchdowns.
“We just had to keep working hard at practice,” Bartley said after high-fiving Patriots fans at the stadium. “It’s been a rough season but we wanted to do what we can with all we’ve got.
“We kept fighting through adversity and all that,” Bartley added.
Bartley put North Pole ahead 12-0 with a 15-yard run along the left sideline with 4:08 left in the first quarter.
A combination of an 11-yard burst by Bartley and a two-point conversion run by Brandon Antesberger made it 20-0 with 43 seconds left in the quarter.
Bartley’s 30-yard scoring dash with 2:02 left in the second quarter helped stretch North Pole’s lead to 41-0.
C.J. Fontana stripped a Crimson Bears ball carier to set up Bartley’s and the Patriots’ last touchdown, a 5-yard jaunt with 11:01 left in the fourth quarter.
“We’ve got to stay focused and keep doing what we know, and keep working hard in practice, and hopefully, we’ll come out on top,” Bartley said of preparing for the regular-season finale against Ketchikan.
Fellow senior running back Lafi Skipps provided the first touchdown of Friday’s game with a 33-yard blazer with 10:44 left in the opening quarter.
Patriots senior wide receiver Jamie Johnson hauled in a 33-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Craig Borba with 9:25 left in the second quarter a 27-0 lead.
North Pole’s defense helped its offense by picking off five Juneau-Douglas passes, one of which led to Dennis Rosa’s 7-yard touchdown run with 5:54 left in the second quarter.
Max Wheat engineered the Crimson Bears scoring drive in the fourth quarter. The junior reserve quarterback rolled out of the pocket and hit streaking junior receiver Koen Schultz near the left corner of the end zone wit 7:10 left in the game.
“It was all heart,” Wheat said of the six-play, 3-minute, 53-second drive.
“You heard us in our chant, all heart,” he continued. “We all put our hands in the middle and we said ‘all heart.’”
• Contact Danny Martin at 459-7586. Follow him on Twitter:@newsminersports.
