By Jason Hickman
MaxPreps.com
Patriots Pay Ultimate Tribute to Nystrom
For high school football teams, coaches, parents, and fans, Friday mornings are usually filled with nervous anticipation for a kickoff rapidly approaching. That feeling was replaced with grief last week in Alaska.
North Pole head coach David "Buck" Nystrom - the winningest football coach in state history - passed away late Thursday night of complications from an earlier heart surgery.
Nystrom compiled a record of 150-88 in 31 seasons at Eielson and North Pole, winning state titles with both schools.
Nystrom's passing occurred as his Patriots were gearing up for a homecoming contest with Palmer Saturday night.
Faced with a difficult decision, North Pole elected to play the game. That's what Buck would want, according to school administrator Walter Armstrong.
"We talked about what Buck would have said and that would have been `Pick it up and move forward,'" Armstrong told The Juneau Empire. "We decided that's what we're going to do."
The Patriots did their part in paying the ultimate tribute to a man who was loved by former and current players, and respected by peers statewide.
Tied at 14-14 against Palmer with 34 seconds remaining, several North Pole players broke through the Mooses' line and recorded a safety to win the game and move to 4-3 on the season.
Nystrom was 64 years old.
Statement Made
Despite having nine Division I-A prospects in its senior class alone, nobody was quite sure what to make of Oaks Christian's (Calif.) football program.
Entering the season, the Lions had won 31-straight games with their best test a year ago coming in a 28-point playoff win over Nordhoff. They featured a quarterback (Jimmy Clausen) headed to Notre Dame, and a running back (Marc Tyler) committed to USC.
Still, skeptics weren't convinced that the tiny private school in Westlake Village was a power at the state, let alone national, level.
They are now.
The Lions blitzed Southern Section juggernaut St. Bonaventure Friday night, 59-13, making a strong - albeit early - case for inclusion in the first-ever California bowl games in December, as well as a possible national title.
"There have been a lot of doubters about this team and we wanted to show everybody who we were," Oaks Christian head coach Bill Redell said. "You do that by playing a great team like St. Bonaventure and we thank them for playing us because a lot of schools wouldn't."
Tyler dominated the game from the outset, tallying 271 yards and five touchdowns on 18 carries. The 6-1, 215-pound senior also recorded six tackles defensively.
Clausen completed 17 of 27 passes for 224 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Seraphs, who had won 98 of their last 101 games before Friday.
Defense Never Rests
Colerain's (5-0) Friday night triumph over fellow unbeaten Lakota West (4-1) ended well after midnight due to lightning delays, but for the Cincinnati school, it's never too late to put the clamps on an opposing offense.
The Cardinals held Lakota West to just seven points in the game (while scoring 21), holding their opponent to 14 points or less for the 30th time in the team's last 32 contests dating back to 2004.
During that span, which included a Division I title two years ago, Colerain has blanked seven teams, and held 12 others without a touchdown.
Head coach Kerry Coombs' 2006 unit already has three shutouts to its credit, including a 28-0 job against Cardinal O'Hara, Pa., in the Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Challenge last week. Ohio State-bound safety Eugene Clifford is the headliner, hoping to improve upon a junior campaign that saw him record 137 tackles and six interceptions.
Team of the Week: Woodland Hills, Pa.
The Wolverines bounced back from an early-season loss to Mt. Lebanon by toppling Pittsburgh's Central Catholic - Pennsylvania's top-ranked Class AAAA team - Friday night.
Running back Marcel Farrish scored from three yards out midway through the final quarter to give Woodland Hills (3-1) the 17-14 victory over the nationally-ranked Vikings (3-1). Farrish finished with 88 yards on 22 carries.
The game was played in front of more than 11,000 fans on Woodland Hills' uniquely-named home field - the Wolvarena.
Central Catholic entered the season ranked No. 17 nationally by MaxPreps, and had reached the No. 7 spot in the USA Today's Super 25.
Max Performer of the Week: Craig Sacha, Quarterback, Harrison (Mich.)
We reward efficiency this week as Harrison High School quarterback Craig Sacha completed eight of 10 pass attempts for 266 yards and five touchdowns in a 56-6 win over Rochester Thursday. At the college level, that would have given the 6-3 junior a pass efficiency rating of 468.4 - 158.3 in the NFL.
Sacha hooked up three times for scores with All-State receiver Mark Dell, who is committed to Michigan State. Dell finished with five catches for 152 yards.
Through five games this season, Sacha has completed 61 percent of his pass attempts for 1,194 yards and 17 touchdowns. The Hawks are 4-1 and have put up 105 points in their last two contests.
Looking Ahead
For the third-straight week, the MaxPreps USA Football Tour will feature a pair of unbeaten teams, as Euless Trinity, Texas (3-0), travels to face District rival South Grand Prairie (3-0).
Revenge will certainly be on the mind of the visiting Trojans, whose lone blemish on the way to a 5A state title a year ago came in week nine against South Grand Prairie, 35-28.
Head coach Steve Lineweaver and his Euless Trinity program were expected to undertake a rebuilding job in 2006, but instead are looking like legitimate threats to repeat as state champions through three games. The Trojans have outscored Tyler Lee, Odessa Permian, and Waco 112-40 despite playing missing key personnel in each game.
South Grand Prairie hasn't won any style points with three-point victories over Plano West and South Garland, but the Warriors are where they want to be at 3-0.
Senior quarterback Denzel Dewberry is one of the state's most dangerous players and has the ability to carry South Grand Prairie, as he did two weeks ago against Mansfield Summit. Out-dueling Texas commitment John Chiles, Dewberry completed 10 of 15 passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for 153 more and another score.
Friday's other big game will take place in Alabama, as Hoover hosts John Curtis of River Ridge, La. Big? Make that huge.
Hoover (4-0) is riding a 14-game winning streak and isn't shying away from national title talk. The Buccaneers opened their season with a 34-7 win at Union, Okla., and would love to add a second out-of-state victim to the resume at home Friday.
John Curtis (3-0), whose 2005 season was nearly wiped out by Hurricane Katrina, is in the midst of a 13-game winning streak of its own. The Patriots feature one of the nation's premier playmakers in utility man Joe McKnight. The 6-1, 200-pound, do-it-all senior has combined for just 13 carries and receptions so far in 2006, but has reached the end zone on seven of those opportunities. McKnight is averaging 27.3 yards per touch.
Hoover head coach Rush Propst has compiled a record of 95-8 during his tenure with the Buccaneers and is accustomed to being the prominent sideline personality in any game. But not against the Patriots and legendary mentor J.T. Curtis, who has more than 430 wins to his credit and 20 state titles.
Bulletin Board
- North Pole High School interim coach Chuck Alkire to The Anchorage Daily News on his team's dramatic victory two days after legendary Alaska coach Buck Nystrom passed away:
"These kids, they were Nystrom's kids today. It was a tough, tough, hard thing to do. They played for (Nystrom), but they played the way he would want them to play."
Photo: Eugene Clifford has been a big part of Colerain's dominating defense over the last 32 games. (By Jim Owens)