Eagle River senior wide reciever Max Harvey attempts to escape the tackle of a West player during the Wolves homecoming game Saturday at Anchorage Football Stadium. Photo By DAN SHEPARD

Eagle River's head coach Kevin Bess said Bell was just trying to defend himself, after being driven in the turf during a two-point conversion attempt with 6:17 left in the fourth quarter.

Bell's attempt was unfruitful, Bess said, who witnessed his player being tackled then pinned to a ground by a much-bigger player.

“It is the opinion that (Bell) was just trying to get the guy off him. He assumed a defensive posture,” Bess said, with six other of his coaches in agreement.

The opposing team interpreted that posture differently. The West High bench stormed onto the field, which caused a retaliatory response from the Eagle River sideline.

“But we were able to hold them out of the mayhem,” Bess said.

Aside from the late game theatrics, the third-year Eagle River High varsity coach said the game was a microcosm of their season, with the performances of the few outshining the outcome of the team as a whole.

“We had some players who had great games. Max (Harvey), for one, then Agustin (Ortiz), Paul (Grotelueschen) and Darius (Horton),” he said.

Harvey hauled in nine catches, for 157 yards, to bring his season total to 44 receptions. The league's top receiver finished his three-year varsity career with nine touchdowns among 119 receptions and 1,785 yards.

“He's a great player,” Bess said of Harvey, who has not yet verbally committed to any college as of Monday, but said he was looking at schools in the Pacific Northwest.

The Wolves' sophomore quarterback Agustin Ortiz set a school record, Bess said, with 17 completed passes on 26 attempts, good for 272 yards. Together with pass completions from Horton and Grotelueschen, the team amassed 352 yards in the air — another school record.

But the Wolves could muster few yards on the ground, with nine yards on 18 attempts.

“We probably gave away 50 pounds to West per player on the line,” Bess said. “That was definitely the biggest team we played this year.”

The coach said he saw improvement during the season.

“We did better. But there's still a maturation process that must take place, that the team must go through as a whole - not just for a few. It needs to be a collective process for the team to experience,” he said.

While the victory over Skyview, their only win of season, was valuable, Bess said that respect wouldn't be forthcoming until the Wolves defeat a Cook Inlet Conference foe.

And that didn't happen this year.

But Bess was quick to say that the Eagle River JV team defeated West, 24-6.

“They (West High) didn't have a C team, so we moved some of our C team players to junior varsity, and some of our JV players up for the varsity game,” he said.

With the Wolves eliminated from the playoffs, Bess and his coaching staff collected team equipment Monday, signaling the end of the season.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, October 2, 2008.