On Saturday, Lathrop faced North Pole in a battle between two of the state's top teams. The Lathrop Malemutes fell 28-19 to the North Pole Patriots. The Malemutes' loss continues a trend for the squad, making it three in a row.
When it comes to explaining why Lathrop lost, don't look at Oschaun Easaw. Despite the final result, he rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Easaw's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fourth straight game with at least 115 rushing yards dating back to last season.
Patrick Melvin was nothing short of spectacular for North Pole: he rushed for 156 yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance gave Melvin a new career-high in rushing yards. Another player making a difference was Braiden Martin, who rushed for 20 yards and a touchdown.
Lathrop's defeat dropped their record down to 1-3. As for North Pole, the win (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 3-1.
Lathrop will square off against Eagle River at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. As for North Pole, they will look to defend their home field on Friday against Chugiak at 7:00 p.m. Chugiak's defense has only allowed 16.8 points per game this season, so North Pole's offense will have their work cut out for them.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
