All share the same town. On Friday night, they’ll share same football field, too.
The first of two regular season games between the Juneau-Douglas and Thunder Mountain High School football teams is tonight.
It’s been 11 months since the two teams last squared off against one another: a five touchdown Falcons’ blowout of the Crimson Bears. It’s been even longer — almost three years — since JDHS last topped TMHS: a 43-6 October 2014 win on the Falcons’ turf.
JDHS has been the underdog ever since then, twice failing to record as much as a field goal in three head-to-head matchups.
The rise of the Falcons football team matches what TMHS head coach Randy Quinto envisioned for the program four years ago.
“We were the little brother to Juneau-Douglas and none of the kids wanted to come here,” Quinto said earlier this season. “I used to teach at Dzantik’i Heeni, the middle school, and this senior group right now, they were a bunch of eighth graders back then. I was telling them, ‘Go to Thunder, go to Thunder.’ And they were saying, ‘No, no, JD’s the powerhouse.’ And I said, ‘Yes, they are, but that’ll change,’ and now they see.”
While TMHS may be the favored team to win tonight, both teams have a lot left to prove this year. With conference play beginning in two weeks, one is led to wonder: Can TMHS defend its home field all season? Repeat as conference champions? Is North Pole as good as their 3-0 record indicates? Will JDHS’ freshmen and sophomores spoil another season sweep by TMHS?
The question that’s on the minds of all 34 JDHS players is a different one, however: “What just happened in the game against Kenai?”
Senior playmakers Bubba Stults and Lance Galletes-Fenumiai both left Week 3’s loss to the Kardinals with season-ending injuries.
Galletes-Fenumiai was yanked after tearing his medial collateral ligament (MCL) on a punt return in the second quarter. Stults was rushed by Kenai’s defense on the final play of the first half, leading to a separated left shoulder.
When asked about having hope for the rest of the season, Hamrick said unequivocally: “Absolutely.”
“We’ve got a good senior class, we’ve got seniors we can put in to replace (Stults and Galletes-Fenumiai),” he said. “We have some underclassmen I need to get reps too, so it’s just who turns out better on film.”
“I hesitate to put in a lot of time into a senior (Cody Galletes) at quarterback right now because we have to look to the future and Max (Wheat), a junior, and Cooper (Kriegmont), a freshman, they’re doing pretty well,” Hamrick said.
Wheat, who played the second half in Kenai in place of Stults, was sacked four times by the feisty Kardinals.
“He was a little gun shy, but getting all the reps this week will help him quite a bit,” Hamrick said. “He’s got a good ball, a good arm, and he’s tough.”
After this weekend’s game, TMHS travels to Ketchikan for a non-conference game. They then play North Pole (9/15), Ketchikan again (9/22) and JDHS (9/30) in the weeks that follow.
JDHS has a bye week after this weekend, before facing Ketchikan (9/15), North Pole (9/23) and Thunder Mountain (9/30).
Know &Go
What: JDHS (2-1) at TMHS (1-1)
Where: TMHS field
When: 7 p.m.
Cost: $8 adults/$5 students, seniors
Forecast: Scattered showers, mostly cloudy, low around 47
ASBN Division II/III Poll*
1. Soldotna (3-0)
2. North Pole (3-0)
3. Homer (2-1)
4. Eielson (2-1)
5. Kenai (2-1)
*poll released every Monday regular season
• Contact reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
Quarterback Bubba Stults tells a teammate about his injury during Juneau-Douglas High School varsity football practice at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017.
Running back Lance Galletes-Fenumiai watches teammate during Juneau-Douglas High School varsity football practice at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017. Galletes-Fenumiai was injuried last week playing against Kenai.
