Football Preview: West Valley Wolf Pack vs. North Pole Patriots
The West Valley Wolf Pack will head out on the road to square off against the North Pole Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
West Valley is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Alaska's top teams: Chugiak, who was ranked 14th in their home state at the time (West Valley was ranked seventh). The match between West Valley and Chugiak wasn't particularly close, with West Valley falling 33-18. It was the first time this season that the Wolf Pack let down their fans at home.
Meanwhile, North Pole came tearing into Friday's matchup with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 16.4 points) and they left with even more momentum. They walked away with a 26-13 victory over the Moose.
North Pole's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Patrick Melvin, who rushed for 222 yards and a touchdown while picking up 8.2 yards per carry, and Devin Cooper-Jackson, who rushed for 111 yards and two touchdowns. With that strong performance, Melvin is now averaging an impressive 120.2 rushing yards per game.
North Pole was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 370 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
North Pole's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of A.J. Melvin and Quinn Kraus.
West Valley's defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 5-2. As for North Pole, their win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 6-1.
West Valley suffered a grim 46-24 defeat to North Pole in their previous matchup back in October of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of North Pole's Braiden Martin, who threw for 179 yards and four touchdowns while completing 78.6% of his passes, and also rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries. Now that West Valley knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
