Soldotna has gone 10-0 against North Pole recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Soldotna Stars will face off against the North Pole Patriots at 7:00 p.m. Soldotna is looking to tack on another W to their eight-game streak on the road dating back to last season.
Soldotna is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Lathrop just ended the team's 18-game winning streak dating back to last season on Saturday. They took a 35-28 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Malemutes. That makes it the first time this season the Stars have let down their home crowd.
Meanwhile, North Pole had already won six in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 15.8 points) and they went ahead and made it seven on Friday. They snuck past the Wolf Pack with a 28-22 victory. With that win, the Patriots brought their scoring average up to 25.9 points per game.
Patrick Melvin was his usual excellent self, rushing for 146 yards and two touchdowns. North Pole also got help from Landon Ritter, who showed off his sure hands for 117 receiving yards.
North Pole wouldn't let West Valley keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. North Pole can thank Jimmy Runnels and Hayden Lewellyn for forcing both of them. Runnels is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last five games he's played dating back to last season.
Having lost for the first time this season, Soldotna fell to 7-1. As for North Pole, their victory bumped their record up to an identical 7-1.
Everything came up roses for Soldotna against North Pole in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, as the squad secured a 69-20 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Soldotna since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
