With time winding down on the first half, 11 black jerseys lined up opposite 11 white jerseys on the far 34-yard line of Adair-Kennedy Memorial Field.
Cooper Kriegmont dropped back and, turning to his right, tossed to an open Caleb Traxler, who muscled his way up to the line of scrimmage before being brought down by husky East Anchorage tacklers. It wasn’t a play Juneau fans were used to seeing, at least not between these two players. Kriegmont is a sophomore at Juneau-Douglas High School; Traxler, a senior at Thunder Mountain High School.
Ten months after the Juneau School District announced it would attempt to consolidate its two high school football programs, the joint team of JDHS and TMHS players played before the community for the first time on Saturday.
Like its two previous outings, Juneau looked like a team that was recently assembled, falling to East Anchorage 40-0. Juneau lost its season opener to Palmer by three touchdowns and its next game to West Anchorage by double that. Facing the stronger and quicker Thunderbirds, Juneau relied almost exclusively on the pass, which played into its own demise.
Senior Thomas Willhoite threw two interceptions in the first quarter, and East gave backups Kriegmont and Noah Chambers just as much trouble, leading to multiple three-and-outs.
“They expected us to throw. We have have to establish the run at little bit more, force those guys to come down in the box and then our passing game will open up,” Juneau head coach Randy Quinto said.
Jordan Holland’s interception set up a seven-yard touchdown run by Elijah Mamae and Shamir Staten added a rushing touchdown of his own as East went up 13-0 late in the first quarter. The Thunderbirds scored two more touchdowns in the second and fourth quarters, respectively, including a Colton Herman 55-yard run off a fake punting play.
East head coach Jeff Trotter said it was a special game to be a part of and believes Juneau will rise again to its past high school football heights.
“We felt lucky to be that team because we knew it was an important situation and bringing the two teams together and seeing how that’s going to progress forward,” Trotter said. “As I’ve known it over the 27 years of coaching, Juneau was always a powerhouse and one to watch in the playoffs. I think as this team keeps building and the community gets used to going back to the one team, I think we’re going to see them build pretty quickly and end up right back in the race.”
Juneau drops to 0-3 while East Anchorage improves to 2-1. Juneau heads to Lathrop next weekend for a nonconference game.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twitter at @akempiresports.
Juneau Football’s Hansel Hinckle, left, and Noah Heidersdorf, right, chase East’s Shamir Staten at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Field on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018. East won 40-0. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Juneau Football’s Dawson Kickok tackles East’s Shamir Staten at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Field on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018. East won 40-0. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Juneau Football’s Cooper Kriegmont is sacked by East’s Daryl Delaguion at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Field on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018. East won 40-0. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Juneau Football’s Kurtis Lee, left, punts the ball out of reach of East’s Jordan Holland at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Field on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018. East won 40-0. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
