Eagle River football soars to new heights with blowout win over Kodiak
Eagle River’s Bryson Rollman catches a touchdown pass during the third quarter of Eagle River’s 65-15 Northern Lights Conference football win over Kodiak on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018 at Eagle River High School. (Star photo by Matt Tunseth)
Eagle River’s Kobe Sherman runs for a gain during Eagle River’s 65-15 Northern Lights Conference football win over Kodiak on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018 at Eagle River High School. (Star photo by Matt Tunseth)
Eagle River’s Mason Piper battles Kodiak’s Juho Shin for the ball during Eagle River’s 65-15 Northern Lights Conference football win over Kodiak on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018 at Eagle River High School. (Star photo by Matt Tunseth)
The Eagle River cheerleaders perform during halftime of Eagle River’s 65-15 Northern Lights Conference football win over Kodiak on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018 at Eagle River High School. (Star photo by Matt Tunseth)
Kodiak’s Corbit Brewer makes a catch in front of Eagle River’s Kam Williams during Eagle River’s 65-15 Northern Lights Conference football win over Kodiak on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018 at Eagle River High School. (Star photo by Matt Tunseth)
Eagle River’s Quanard Cox runs for a gain during the Wolves’ 65-15 Cook Inlet Conference football win over Kodiak on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018 at Eagle River High School. (Star photo by Matt Tunseth)
Eagle River’s Ryan Adkins looks upfield during the Wolves’ 65-15 Northern Lights Conference football win over Kodiak on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018 at Eagle River High School. Adkins threw for 259 yards and six touchdowns on 11-for-13 passing. (Star photo by Matt Tunseth)
Eagle River’s Tim Pennington watches Kodiak runner Micah Bartel during Eagle River’s 65-15 Northern Lights Conference football win over Kodiak on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018 at Eagle River High School. (Star photo by Matt Tunseth)
Eagle River’s Mason Piper scores a touchdown during the first quarter of the Wolves’ 65-15 Northern Lights Conference football win over Kodiak on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018 at Eagle River High School. (Star photo by Matt Tunseth)
Ryan Adkins threw for 259 yards and six touchdown passes and Eagle River raced to its best start in program history with a 65-15 Northern Lights Conference win over Kodiak Saturday in Eagle River.
“It means a lot,” said Eagle River’s Quanard Cox, who ran for a touchdown and caught another in front of a large Homecoming Day crowd at The Wolves Den. “Now we’ve got to just keep pushing and pushing.”
Eagle River is 3-0 for the first time in the school’s 13 seasons of varsity play. More importantly, the Wolves improved to 1-0 in the four-team Northern Lights Conference.
“It’s huge,” said Wolves coach Bob Adkins. “We’ve got two more that are just as important.”
The victory was the first over a Division II team for Eagle River, who opened the season with blowout wins over Division III opponents Houston and Barrow.
The Wolves have now won a program best four straight games dating back to a season-ending win over Kodiak last year. Eagle River has a bye week before hosting Soldotna Sept. 8; the Wolves travel to Kenai Central Sept. 15 for a game that will likely determine whether the Wolves make their first playoff appearance.
Adkins was 11-for-13 with no interceptions. His favorite target was Mason Piper, who caught six passes for 125 yards and three scores. Bryson Rollman caught two touchdowns for the Wolves, who also got touchdown runs from Andrew Hamilton and Quintin Jackson. Cox had a team-high 86 yards rushing and caught a 64-yard touchdown from Adkins to give Eagle River a 29-7 halftime lead.
Adkins erupted for four touchdown passes in the third quarter, connecting twice each with Piper and Rollman.
Micah Bartel ran for 129 yards and a touchdown to lead Kodiak, which fell to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the NLC.
Cox said the team is laser-focused on reacing the state playoffs.
“It’s very important, because it’s someone Eagle River’s never done before,” he said.
In order to knock off one of the two Kenai Peninsula heavyweights, he said the team will need to keep that focus over the next few weeks.
“Keep working hard at practice, that’s really about it,” he said.
Coach Adkins said having two weeks to prepare for Soldotna’s Wing-T attack will be a benefit, which relies on quickness and deception. Adkins said the team will be watching plenty of film in the coming weeks, but he admitted the secret to stopping Soldotna isn’t really a secret at all.
“You pretty much just have to tackle everybody,” he said.
Email Star editor Matt Tunseth at [email protected]
WOLVES 65, BEARS 15
Eagle River 14 15 28 8 — 65
Kodiak 0 7 8 0 — 15
1st Quarter
ER - Piper 50 pass from Adkins (A. Hamilton kick), 9:56
ER - A. Hamilton 10 run (A. Hamilton kick), :30
2nd Quarter
Kod - Manivong 12 pass from Barton (Godsey kick), 10:22
ER - Cox 18 run (A. Hamilton kick)
ER - Cox 64 pass from Adkins (Rollman run), 1:22
3rd Quarter
ER - Piper 21 pass from Adkins (A. Hamilton kick), 9:37
ER - Piper 16 pass from Adkins (A. Hamilton kick), 4:20
ER - Rollman 11 pass from Adkins (A. Hamilton kick), 3:48
Kod - Bartel 69 run (Brewer run), 2:23
ER - Rollman 8 pass from Adkins (A. Hamilton kick), 1:22
4th Quarter
ER - Jackson 17 run (Jackson run), 2:14
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Eagle River: Cox 5-86, Sherman 8-74, A. Hamilton 10-62, Williams 4-49, Jackson 2-32, Adkins 5-0. Kodiak: Bartel 17-129, Brewer 6-26, Barton 4-21, Finley 2-10, Juho 2-2.
PASSING — Eagle River: Adkins 11-13-0—259. Kodiak: Barton 5-9-2—84.
RECEIVING — Eagle River: Piper 6-125, Sherman 2-51, Rollman 2-19, Cox 1-64. Kodiak: Brewer 3-69, Manivong 1-26, Bartel 1-9.
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