Two consecutive plays decided Saturday’s first conference football tilt between the visiting Ketchikan High School Kings and Juneau-Douglas High School.
With four minutes to go in the game, the Crimson Bears defense came up with a crucial stop on their own 18 yard line, breaking up a shot at the end zone that would have put Kayhi up by two points. One play later, backup quarterback Liam Van Sickle connected with running back Lance Galletes-Fiagatusa for an 82-yard touchdown pass that sucked the air out of Ketchikan’s comeback and all but iced the game.
“Lance is my most trusted guy, he is a clutch guy, he has the heart, you know,” JDHS coach John Hamrick said after the win. “After a back and forth game it again came down to heart in the end.”
Galletes-Fiagatusa and his cousin and teammate Cody Galletes switched jerseys to honor their recently deceased grandmother. Galletes-Fiagatusa scored all four of the Crimson Bears touchdowns on 183 all purpose yards. Hamrik credits the win to the pair’s emotional play.
“Those two cousins, you saw it, they were in that Power I formation and they just got us moving with their emotion,” Hamrick said. “It was fantastic.”
[Slideshow: JDHS football Vs. Kayhi]
Scoring opened in the first quarter when Van Sickle found Galletes-Fiagatusa on a 41-yard touchdown pass. Kayhi answered with a long drive capped by a quarterback sneak into the end zone and a two-point conversion for the 8-6 lead after one quarter.
Before halftime, Galletes-Fiagatusa added a rushing score and Ketchikan countered with a 17-yard beauty of a pass to the corner of the end zone and the third lead change in the first half. Juneau-Douglas scored the only points in the third off another Galletes-Fiagatusa run from the goal line.
After Galletes-Fiagatusa’s 82-yarder, Kayhi’s Trevor Ortiz scored a patient, field-switching 35-yard run in the closing minutes to bring Kayhi within four, but the Crimson Bears stymied the Ortiz’ attempt at the two-point conversion to protect their four point lead and close scoring 24-20.
After a grueling season, the Crimson Bears are 1-0 in the conference, setting up a possible week eight showdown with Thunder Mountain. JDHS will first have to contend with North Pole on their turf next week.
“We’re filling in OK. We lost our quarterback and our center and it would be great if those guys could make a comeback but these kids’ health is more important. We’ll put together the best team we can and go to North Pole and see what happens,” Hamrick said.
JDHS 24, KHS 20
JDHS: 6 6 6 6 — 24
KHS: 8 6 0 6 — 20
1st quarter
JD — Galletes-Fiagatusa 41 pass (kick no good) 8:15
KHS — Wong 3 run (2pt. Malouf) 5:37
2nd quarter
JD — Galletes-Fiagatusa 5 run (kick no good) 11:12
KHS — Malouf 17 pass (kick blocked) :07
3rd quarter
JD — Galletes-Fiagatusa 5 run (2pt. no good) 10:01
4th quarter
JD — Galletes-Fiagatusa 82 pass (kick no good) 4:22
KHS — Ortiz 35 run (2pt. no good) 1:08
TEAM STATS
Rushing: JD 35-134 / KHS 37-146
Passing: JD 128 / KHS 151
Comp-att-int: JD 4-15-2 / KHS 9-28-1
Penalties: JD 12-100 / KHS 5-45
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing — JD: Galletes-Fiagatusa 17-59, Van Sickle 13-53, Galletes 2-10, McCurley 2-9.
KHS: Ortiz 26-128, Tavares 4-11, Wong 5
Passing — JD: Van Sickle 4-15-2—128
KHS: Wong 9-28-1—151
Receiving — JD: Galletes-Fiagatusa 2-124, McCurley 2-4
KHS: Malouf 3-56, Carlson 2-56, Tavares 3-38, Ortiz 1-12.
Juneau-Douglas High School’s Lance Gallestes-Fiagatusa runs against Ketchikan’s Nico Deguzman during their game Saturday at Adair Kennedy Memorial Park. JDHS won 24-20.
Juneau-Douglas High School’s Cristian Batac tackles Ketchikan’s Sean Tavares during their game Saturday at Adair Kennedy Memorial Park. JDHS won 24-20.
