Alaska's top two reigning division champions kicked off the 2025 season Friday with two very different results.
Defending Division I champion Dimond's [Anchorage] inability to score any points in a 12-0 loss to the Bartlett [Anchorage] Golden Bears felt like a huge surprise. Somehow, Soldotna's 78-point outburst at home against the Palmer Moose didn't.
After all, two years ago Soldotna averaged 63.9 points per game in an 11-0 romp to Alaska's ASAA Division II title. That included a 76-7 blitz of the Moose that year, too, meaning Soldotna's average points per game against Palmer in its last two home games against the Moose is an even 77 points.
Last year, Soldotna's totals were a litte bit more modest, but they still managed 46.5 points per game in their 10-1 jaunt to the Division II title.
Soldotna has regularly topped the 70-point mark since at least 2007. Counting Friday's result, the Stars have now scored 70 in at least one game in 12 of the past 19 seasons, even crossing the 80-point barrier on one occasion. On September 28, 2019, the Stars beat the Eagle River [AK] Wolves in an 81-7 mauling.
While 70-point games are fairly common for the Stars, the 78 points does appear to be the second-highest total for Soldotna since at least 2004. The Alaska School Activities Association doesn't include a record book on its website, but a 2019 story in the September 29 edition of Kenai's Peninsula Clarion, the day after that Soldotna-Eagle River game, shed some more light on Alaska's scoring records.
The Clarion's research of the Anchorage Daily News archives revealed that, in 1988, Soldotna beat the Nikiski Bulldogs, 89-0, in the latter's first season of football. That's the most points known to have been scored by one team in a single game in Alaska history.
Diamond struggles without former star quarterback in lineup
While Soldotna's penchant for scoring big is no surprise, Dimond's inability to generate a single score against Bartlett in a 12-0 loss jumped off the page. The outcome ended the state's longest win streak at 11 games.
The Lynx had Alaska's player of the year last season in quarterback Cayden Pili, but the Anchorage Daily News reported that he's playing his senior season out of state.
Even so, the inability of the Lynx to generate a single score in the 12-0 setback at Bartlett stands out. It was the first time Dimond has been shut out in a game since a 22-0 loss to the West Anchorage [Anchorage] Eagles on September 9, 2022. And it signals that Alaska's Division I ranks are wide open just one week into the 2025 season.
The Golden Bears are one of the early favorites, one year after losing to the Lynx, 36-6, in the ASAA Division I semifinals. And that West Anchorage squad – a 13-8 winner over the South Anchorage [Anchorage] Wolverines on Saturday – should be in the mix as well after finishing as the runner-up to Dimond a year ago.
Homer kicks off defense of Alaska's Division III title
The Homer Mariners finished 5-5 in 2024, earning the fourth and final seed in the ASAA's Division III bracket.
But then the Mariners managed a 6-0 upset at the No. 1 seed Barrow Whalers, and, suddenly, found themselves playing for a state championship against the No. 3 seed Kenai Central Kardinals, who had managed an upset of their own in 27-20 win over the Redington Huskies in the semifinals.
Homer sealed the deal claiming the trophy in a 16-0 win over Redington in the finale, winning the two playoff games without surrendering a single point. The Mariners appear to maybe have an even better team in 2025 after routing the Houston [Big Lake] Hawks, 64-8, in Friday's opener, a team they only beat 16-8 a year ago.
Complete scores from Alaska's Division I ranks
Friday, August 15 – Saturday, August 16, 2025
Bartlett [Anchorage] Golden Bears 12, Dimond [Anchorage] Lynx 0
Service [Anchorage] Cougars 19, Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears 12
Colony [Palmer] Knights 42, Bettye Davis East Anchorage [Anchorage] Thunderbirds 20
West Anchorage [Anchorage] Eagles 13, South Anchorage [Anchorage] Wolverines 8
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