Football Game Preview: Lathrop Malemutes vs. West Valley Wolf Pack

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Previous Games

10/12/24 - Away	56-12 W
09/30/23 - Home	71-20 W
09/30/22 - Away	35-0 W
10/02/21 - Home	1-0 W
10/02/20 - Away	21-22 L
+ 5 more games

Lathrop has gone 8-2 against West Valley recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Saturday. The Malemutes will welcome the Wolf Pack at 5:00 p.m.

Lathrop is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Alaska's top teams: Soldotna, who was ranked first at the time (Lathrop was ranked sixth). The Malemutes took a 27-14 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Stars on Friday. The contest was a 14-14 toss-up at halftime, but the Malemutes couldn't quite close it out.

Meanwhile, West Valley was able to grind out a solid victory over North Pole on Friday, taking the game 26-13. That's two games straight that the Wolf Pack have won by exactly 13 points.

This is the second loss in a row for Lathrop and nudges their season record down to 4-3. As for West Valley, their win ended a five-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 3-4.

Saturday's game might be decided on the ground. Lathrop has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 210.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like West Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 240.9 rushing yards. There's a good chance Saturday's matchup turns into a tough fight on the ground.

Everything came up roses for Lathrop against West Valley in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, as the team secured a 56-12 victory. In that contest, the Malemutes amassed a halftime lead of 42-6, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Saturday.