The Huskies showed there’s no place like home with a big win in their home opener against Bartlett High School on Saturday.
Juneau kept the lead throughout the entire game and for much of the first half it looked like it might be another shut out — Juneau’s defense held Dimond High School scoreless last week — until Bartlett managed to put two scores on the board in the fourth quarter, narrowing the Huskies’ lead to 20-14.
Despite back and forth fumbles, the Huskies managed to maintain their momentum by scoring two more touchdowns, placing them two scores ahead for a final score at 33 to 14. Coach Rich Sjoroos said he was pleased with the team’s ability to maintain composure throughout the game, start to finish.
Jarrell Williams runs toward the sideline late in the Huskies’ home-opener win against Bartlett High School. Bartlett came within 6 points of Juneau in the fourth quarter, but the Huskies were able to tack on a couple of late scores to secure a 33-14 victory. They are now 2-0. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
“That game had some tough momentum swings, we were able to get that score on the first drive, which was great,” Sjoroos said. “We settled in there for a pretty large stretch of the first half, but Bartlett showed why they’re Bartlett, they’re a pretty good football team, and they kept putting the pressure on us to make us keep making plays, and I thought our defense stood up all afternoon, especially after that little stretch there where we had three turnovers in a row and Bartlett was running for touchdowns the other way, it would have been really easy at that point to start hanging our heads. I give the kids credit and the other coaches credit for saying, ‘Hey look, let’s just keep our composure, let’s get a drive,’ and we were able to do that and get that two score lead and that nice reverse on fourth down to get the cushion that pushed us over the finish line.”
Juneau is now 2-0. On Saturday, Aug. 27, the Huskies are set to host West Anchorage High School.
• Contact reporter Jonson Kuhn at jonson.kuhn@juneauempire.com.
