Sports

Two home football games this weekend in Juneau – the Thunder Mountain Falcons play the Ketchikan Kings and the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears face the North Pole Patriots.

After the Bears shut down Wasilla last week by 39 points, Crimson Bears head coach Rich Sjoross warned players about the Patriots.

“As good of a team as they’ve had probably in the last 10 years,” he said.

The Patriots have a score to settle: They left Juneau last year with no score, while the Bears amassed 67 points. Sjoross says the Patriots will be fired up when they hit Adair-Kennedy field. The Varsity game is 8 p.m. Saturday. The JVs play at 5 o’clock.

Across the Mendenhall Valley, the Thunder Mountain Falcons kick off against Ketchikan at 7 p.m. Falcons JVs are playing Seward at 4 p.m.

An Anchorage softball team won the Little League Junior Softball World Series in Kirkland, Washington over the weekend.

The Nunaka Valley girls won the world championship for 12-to 14-year-olds Saturday with a 6-2 win over Victoria, British Columbia.

The team finished fifth in last year’s World Series.

Both Juneau high school football teams started regular season conference play this weekend with big wins.

The Juneau Douglas Crimson Bears trounced the Wasilla Warriors 69 to 30 on home turf — the first Crimson Bears football game played on the new field at Adair-Kennedy Park in the Mendenhall Valley. The old turf — a victim of age and arson — was replaced this summer.

“I love it,” said Bears quarterback Dorian Izaak. “It’s a lot faster, softer, too,” he said after Saturday’s game.

The new field was paid for by $1.19 million in bonds approved by Juneau voters. It was finished in time for the start of summer football practice.

Meanwhile, the Thunder Mountain Falcons beat the Sitka Wolves 35 to 6. That game was played in Sitka.

Brysen Mitchell turned in the 26.8 pound fish at the Amalga weigh station on Sunday morning, according to the Golden North Salmon Derby’s unofficial results.

Mitchell is eligible for $11,600 in cash and prizes.

The winning fish is in line with the 24- to 26-pounders that have won the derby in recent years.

Andy Markovich turned in a 23.4 pound king, and Dennis Lavigne landed a 23.3 pounder to take third place in the derby. Both fish were also weighed in on Sunday.

The three-day derby wrapped up Sunday evening with proceeds going to the Territorial Sportsman’s scholarship fund.

Prizes will be handed out Thursday night at Centennial Hall.

The Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears scored in the first couple minutes of the game, setting the tone for the pre-season match up, dubbed the annual Glacier Bowl. It’s an appropriate name, since the Mendenhall Glacier can be seen from both the Thunder Mountain field, or Adair-Kennedy, where JDHS plays.

Saturday’s game was played at Thunder Mountain, and despite the home-field advantage, JDHS beat TMHS 45 to 7.

The two teams have met in pre-season since the new Mendenhall Valley high school fielded its first team four years ago. Both Falcons’ head coach Bill Byouer and Crimson Bears’ head coach Rich Sjoross say the game is a good shake down before the regular season begins.

“It was good for these guys to get a full four-quarter game in, with some good hard-hitting and some variety, a new offense for them,” Sjoross said. “We didn’t have a chance to scout them.”

He said Saturday’s game forced the players to make adjustments “by communicating with each other and starting to recognize formations, tendencies and that kind of stuff.”

The Crimson Bears had several adjustments to make early in the game when senior captain and team leader Phillip Fenumiai suffered a knee injury in the first quarter. Fenumiai is not only quarterback this season, he’s also playing safety. He reportedly hyper-extended his knee on a tackle.

Sophomore quarterback Dorian Isaak came in for Fenumiai and completed 6 of 10 passes for 161 yards, all in the second half, highlighted by a 68-yard touchdown pass to Brian Brassfield. Isaak also rushed for a score in the lopsided win.

“It felt good. I just wanted to stay calm, get out there and make plays. Stay in and show the coach I was ready and I was confident,” Isaak said. “I think the team did great. The line did great blocking. I think I need to work on my reads a little bit better; just be smart and stay cool when I’m back there.”

Bears junior running back Demetrius Campos carried the ball 13 times for 149 yards and a touchdown. Campos also returned a kickoff for a score, and senior Gary Speck scored on a 10-yard interception.

The Falcons’ Chris Mack scored in the first quarter on a 65-yard interception return. In fact, Mack forced four turnovers on defense for the Falcons. But the Falcons’ lone touchdown and extra point were the only scoring plays for the game.

“We got beat on some big plays,” Falcon’s coach Byouer said. “And then our numbers. I started getting kids really winded and hurt, and then the next thing I know I’m with 15 to 16 kids and I’m just sitting there trying to piece it together. We still could move the ball, but pretty much the wind was gone.”

Byouer called the game a step in the right direction as the team goes into the regular season, which begins next week with the Falcons at Sitka. The Falcons are in the small Southeast Conference with Sitka and Ketchikan, created two years ago. The Falcons also will play Kodiak and Skyview this fall.

The Crimson Bears compete in the Railbelt Conference against schools in the Fairbanks and Mat-Su areas. The Bears’ first game of the regular season is in Juneau, against Wasilla.

High School football begins this weekend in Juneau.

The Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears and Thunder Mountain Falcons varsity teams kick off Saturday at 7 p.m. at Falcons’ field. The junior varsity squads play at 4 p.m.

The annual Glacier Bowl is the season starter for the two teams. The Crimson Bears handily won the first two meetings.

JDHS has had a football team for more than two decades and Thunder Mountain is beginning its fourth season. During the regular season, which begins next week, the Bears play in the Railbelt conference against teams in Southcentral and the Interior, while the Falcons play against teams in Southeast Alaska.

Pre-season high school football begins tomorrow all over the state – about a month earlier than high schools in the Lower 48.