The big task facing the Juneau Huskies has gotten even larger as they go into the “Nest on Hillcrest,” the home field of the defending state champion West Anchorage Eagles, for the first round of the ASAA Football State Championships at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
“We need to eat a lot of carbohydrates or something,” Juneau head coach Rich Sjoroos said. “Bulk these guys up by Saturday. West is a tough one for us, not just this year but you can go back 20 years and I think we have only beat them once going back all the way to the turn of the century.”
It takes more than just bulk to work the offensive and defense line.
“People don’t actually know how difficult it is,” junior offensive and defensive lineman Kyle Carter (No. 79) said. “You have to be aggressive, and we don’t get any of the glory. All the skill players are always getting the interviews and everything like that while we are just off to the side.”
Passes aren’t completed, runs don’t materialize and scores don’t come to fruition without the offensive line holding their ground. And all those things are not shut down unless the defensive line takes that ground as theirs.
“Making a tackle means a lot because it is stopping the other team from making plays so that our O-line can get some touchdowns,” senior defensive lineman Stefano Rivera (99) said. “We have to be aggressive.”
Added junior defensive lineman Hyrum Fish (12): “You have to be strong and you have to be big, or you have to play strong and play big.”
Juneau clinched the sixth seed in the playoffs last weekend with a convincing, lineman-led, 42-6 win over Colony, and West secured the third seed with a 28-20 home win over Bartlett.
Bartlett is the fourth seed and will open with fifth-seeded South Anchorage, which finished the regular season with a 34-18 road win at East.
Second seed East will open the playoffs against seventh seed Service, a 31-14 loser to undefeated Dimond, which will open state play against winless Colony.
“West has found a formula that has been working pretty good for them the last half of the season,” Sjoroos said. “They are methodical in how they’ve done it. They have that punishing running game, and then they still have the ability to throw the ball way down the field. And then they rely on what is probably the best defensive line in the state. A lot of seniors on that team.”
Juneau Huskies linemen, front row left-to-right: Junior Walter Haube-Law, senior Ricky Tupou, junior Kyle Carter and junior Hyrum Fish. Back row left-to-right: Senior Gunnar Tarver, junior Jonah Mahle, senior Merrick Hartman and senior Stefano Rivera. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
The Eagles began their season 2-2: defeating Colony 33-0, losing to East 36-29, beating Lathrop 21-20 and losing to Dimond 29-12. They then defeated Juneau 28-27 at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park to start a four-game win streak that included 23-16 over South, 28-7 over Service and last weekend’s win against Bartlett.
Teams have struggled to run the ball against West. Even behemoth-backed Bartlett had a hard go in the trenches.
“We’re just trying to come up with some ideas that we can throw at them,” Sjoroos said. “The game plan you used one week probably isn’t the best game plan for the next week so we are definitely keeping an open mind and strategically looking for a way to get the ball past that front line because it was a challenge the last time we played them. And I know it was a great ball game. We ended up losing by one point and we literally threw everything we had at them, but at the same time we are going to have to develop some new wrinkles to move the ball.”
The Juneau offensive and defensive lines, most of whom are juniors, are a key to playoff victory.
Said Sjoroos: “I told them last week, ‘You are basically seniors now. You are almost at the end of your junior season so you pretty much have three seasons under your belt so it is time to ratchet it up another level.’ Obviously they had a great game last week. This will be a bigger challenge.”
The challenge will be to open holes on offense and close them on defense.
“You just have to throw your body against someone else and stop them from moving,” senior offensive lineman Merrick Hartman (57) said.
Added senior defensive lineman Gunnar Tarver: “You are just having to hit another person with all your energy, every single play of the game.”
West features at least six defensive linemen of high-caliber moves and strength that sheds blocks well. Senior Zephaniah Sailele (6) is a strong safety and all-state running back — in the top three of the state. He was runner-up for defensive lineman of the year last season and was in the top five as a sophomore. Senior Tristan Taamu (8) at 6’3” and 283 pounds is the most physically imposing of the group and, according to Sjoroos, “He was discarding our players handily and pretty much had an advantage.”
Senior defensive end and defensive tackle Leonidas Mata (7) is six-foot, 240 pounds. Senior middle linebacker and wide receiver Christian Faletoi (11), six-foot, 218 pounds, was key in undercutting Juneau’s passing lanes in their previous meetings. Junior cornerback David Sanders (3) is a dangerous wide receiver also, and classmate Talon Copeland has been a productive defensive back. Sophomore middle linebacker Jezekaiah Tufue (25) is solid.
“You go up and down their roster and it is a solid O-line and D-line,” Sjoroos said. “Not the deepest playbook, but they haven’t really needed it. They can kind of overpower you up front, and they have some guys that can stretch the field on the edges, and a quarterback with accuracy short and with distance.”
Now, however, a season can end after one game. Players’ careers can end. Pressure often falls on the better record.
“That first round in particular can be really daunting for those higher seeds,” Sjoroos said. “We’ve been on that side before and know what it feels like. If you get through the first round there is no one that can say your season was not a success.”
Juneau tackled well and played their best defensive game of the year last week and will be looking to build on that.
“One thing you can do is make yourself a really tough team to beat come playoff time,” he said. “I feel like that is our goal every year, and we have hit that checkmark and we are ready to roll on Saturday. Regardless how the game goes I feel we are going to be very competitive and I don’t question for one second how hard these kids are going to go at them.”
At playoff time, barring injury, teams have become more proficient in their blocking, route running, tackling and communication. Coaching staffs have poured over the game film of opponents.
“West has definitely improved,” Sjoroos said. “We’ve just got to figure out how we are going to find some success, especially against that defensive front. It is one of the best I have ever gone up against and we’re going to have our hands full for sure.”
“You can’t reinvent the wheel, right?” he said. “We’re not going to change our whole team identity in four days. You just have to sift through the past and see what worked, find little glimpses of something and see what we can build on…Maybe you sift through other teams that had success against West and try to emulate some of those things…break the game down into two-minute segments, don’t look at it like the full four quarters. Break it up into chunks and if you win enough of those two-minute segments you definitely put yourself in a position to win the game.”
A key will be turnovers. Juneau had none last weekend, were solid on defense and special teams and blocked well. Their O-line protected the backfield and allowed big plays.
“I’m just snapping the ball in different directions and trying to get it perfect every time,” junior offensive lineman Jonah Mahle (54) said.
Their D-line stifled Colony, keeping the home crowd silent by limiting big Knights plays.
Last season Juneau was blown out in week seven at West, 59-7. The Huskies then returned to open the playoffs against the Eagles and held a 7-6 lead in the second quarter before West returned the next kickoff for a score, the next punt for a score and then a fumble return for a score, bringing life to their stadium and eliminating Juneau 49-7.
“We want to keep the energy level confined to what’s on the field, not what is around us,” Sjoroos said. “I’ve seen it when a crowd can get rolling and it is like a tidal wave coming at you. On Saturday, we’ll have to really limit their big plays.”
Juneau opened this season with a 22-6 loss at East, defeated Service 48-6, lost at South 42-0, won 17-6 at Bishop in California, lost to West 28-27, lost at Dimond 45-8, lost to Bartlett 34-20 and won at Colony.
The one-point loss to West stung.
“We’re going up to take back what is ours,” junior offensive/defensive lineman Walter Haube-Law (55) said. “That win got stolen from us by the refs. I’m going back to block them even better than I did before.”
Added senior offensive/defensive lineman Ricky Tupou: “I’m going to use good technique, that’s it.”
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.
