The first high school football state championships of the 2021 fall season delivered a notable result as
Jarren Littell accounted for six touchdowns in leading
Lathrop (Fairbanks) to a 33-20 victory over
Soldotna in the Alaska Division II title game Saturday in Anchorage.
Littell, a 5-foot-11, 175-pound senior quarterback, rushed for four touchdowns and passed for two, lifting the Malemutes to their second win of the season over the eight-time defending state champions.
Lathrop opened the year with a 27-21 win over the Stars, snapping their 22-game win streak. Most figured the state juggernaut would reverse the score in the rematch. But the Malemutes (8-1) never trailed, taking leads of 21-6 in the first quarter and 27-12 at halftime.
Soldotna, which rebounded from the season-opening loss with seven straights wins including a 73-20 semifinal romp over North Pole, closed to 27-20 with 2:27 left in the third quarter on a 20-yard run by
Brock Wilson, who also added the two-point conversion.
But Littell hit
Dean Silva with a 30-yard pass on fourth down, setting up his fifth touchdown on a 1-yard sneak, making it 33-20. After recovering a Stars' fumble on the ensuing kickoff, Littell put it away with a 2-yard touchdown run, making it 39-20 with 7:07 left.
The Stars weren't quite done, closing to 39-28 on a 2-yard run by
Gehret Medcoff and a two-point conversion with 2:28 left. But Lathrop recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock, setting off a spirited celebration.
Since 2004, Soldotna is 156-15 with 10 unbeaten seasons.
In 2019, Soldotna swept the Malemutes by scores of 51-14 and 69-22. The 2020 postseason was wiped out by the pandemic, so finishing the season alone was quite emotional for all involved.
The first championship completed was earlier in the day when
Redington (Wasilla) won its first title by defeating Houston 46-12 in Division III, also held at Service High School in Anchorage. The ASAA Division I semifinals were played Saturday with the finals scheduled for Friday.
