Juneau-Douglas (2-2) High School football faces Hoopa Valley High School (0-1), a Northern California team, for a 6 p.m. Saturday match at Adair-Kennedy Field.
The Crimson Bears enjoyed success on the ground last week in a 26-8 win over Homer with junior running back Liam Van Sickle carrying the ball nine times for 108 yards and two touchdowns.
JDHS continues to play through the pain this year, having found a groove lately by evening their record at Homer despite many of the Crimson Bears’ 25-man roster serving double duty on offense and defense. JDHS will attempt to catch up with Thunder Mountain High School’s 3-1 record with a win against the Warriors, though the Crimson Bears would need a loss from their crosstown rivals this weekend to even the score.
TMHS (3-1) Lathrup (3-1)
The Falcons take on large school Lathrup this Friday at 5 p.m. in Fairbanks. At 3-1, Lathrup is ranked fourth in the state for large school football programs. Having previously risen to the second spot for medium schools, Thunder Mountain dropped out of the rankings after a loss to Kenai two weeks ago.
The Falcons will look to regroup after an odd home win last week that saw Ketchikan High School forfeit in protest of what they saw as unsafe play by their opponents. Ketchikan coach Jim Byron accused TMHS of playing “dirty” in that game, though Thunder Mountain administrators reviewed the film and said they saw no such behavior from the Falcons.
Though the Falcons were afforded only 19 minutes of regulation in their last game, they established a solid run game behind junior Roy Tupou, who has emerged as the Falcons’ number one in the backfield after toting the ball 12 times for 123 yards and a touchdown in less than a half against the Kings. Tupou’s success on the ground should help the Falcons balance their high-flying passing attack and give them more than a puncher’s chance against their large school opponents.
Volleyball: JDHS (1-1; 1-1), Sitka (0-2; 0-0)
After splitting two conference games at Ketchikan High School last weekend, the Juneau-Douglas High School volleyball team hosts Sitka High School this weekend to open their home schedule. The non-conference matchups are scheduled for 6:15 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday at JDHS.
Last weekend, JDHS split matches with Ketchikan High School in their season opener. The Kings swept the Crimson Bears in the first best-of-five match (25-20, 25-17, 25-18) while JDHS eked out a win in five sets in the second match (25-19, 19-25, 25-20, 9-25, 15-17).
Sitka comes to Juneau after being swept by Thunder Mountain High School in three of five games last weekend.
TMHS (2-2; 0-0), Ketchikan (1-1; 1-1)
Thunder Mountain High School volleyball travels to Ketchikan to play two conference matches against the Kings this weekend. The two matches, one at 8 p.m. Friday, the other 7 p.m. Saturday, are the Falcons’ first conference tests of the season.
Opening their season with non-conference matches at Sitka last weekend, the Falcons lost two matches to Mt. Edgecumbe and won two matches against Sitka High School. Mt. Edgecumbe bested TMHS in five sets Friday (21-25, 25-14, 26-24, 25-22, 15-9) but need only four sets Saturday (25-16, 25-23, 17-25, 25-19). Thunder Mountain swept Sitka High School in three sets in both matches (25-19, 25-10 and 25-21 Friday; 25-20, 26-24 and 25-23 Saturday).
With two wins in Ketchikan, the Falcons could take control of the Region V standings at 2-0 with JDHS trailing 1-1 and Ketchikan at 1-3.
Prep tennis
Juneau’s prep tennis team heads to Anchorage for the Anchorage Invitational for matches Friday and Saturday. The school district has merged tennis teams this year, allowing players from TMHS to play with JDHS.
A regional tennis tournament is slated for the team in several weeks time. The tennis state championships are Oct. 7 in Anchorage. Four girls and four boys from Juneau will attend.
Cross country
Both JDHS and TMHS had planned on competing at Skagway this weekend, but ferry schedules prevented both teams from making the trip up Lynn Canal in time for the meet. Instead, the Crimson Bears and Falcons will compete in a dual meet at their home course at Sandy Beach.
Races are at 1 p.m. and 1:45 p.m. Saturday. Both teams will evaluate the meet as official contests.
• Contact Sports and Outdoors reporter Kevin Gullufsen at 523-2228 or kevin.gullufsen@juneauempire.com.
