West’s Ariel Misa throws down field. Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report
At 18 years of age, Cook Inlet Conference flag football is technically old enough to vote. You know, if that was a thing high school sports leagues actually did.
Regardless, credit the West Eagles. They certainly used these past few weeks to bolster their candidacy as a CIC championship contender.
West secured its fourth consecutive league victory Thursday night with a wildly-entertaining, offense-heavy 30-22 win over home-standing Chugiak. The teams raced up and down Ed Blahous Field inside Tom Huffer Sr. Stadium to the tune of nearly 600 combined yards of total offense.
The Eagles’ triumph came on the heels of Tuesday’s 8-0 home upset of three-time defending CIC champion Dimond. Not only did it knock the Lynx from the unbeaten ranks, but West snapped Dimond’s 20-game winning streak dating back 378 days.
“We’re just so much more communicative with each other,” West’s NayNay Wyche said of her team’s recent success. “We’re talking to each other more.
“Tuesday night (against Dimond) really was a big moment. I think we definitely wanted it more than them.”
CIC teams now have either two or three conference games remaining before attention turns to the postseason. The 18th league championship tilt is scheduled for Oct. 12.
Thursday’s 52-combined points between West and Chugiak featured a smorgasbord of delicious plays and highlight-reel efforts. Meanwhile, the league’s other six teams managed only 20 points between them:
Bartlett 7, Service 0
Dimond 6, East 0
South 7, Eagle River 0
Quite the oddity. But sports, man.
“Tonight, we definitely showed we can move the ball,” West coach Antonio Wyche said. “But it was also about finishing plays.”
The score-fest opened with West’s Navaeh Toleafoa hitting Fatou Sallah with a 22-yard scoring strike at the 7-minute, 26-second mark of the first quarter. Toleafoa gathered NayNay Wyche’s reverse pitch and found Sallah in the end zone.
Starting Eagles quarterback Ariel Misa scored on a 10-yard run about four minutes later.
West’s NayNay Wyche. Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report
The second quarter featured Chugiak’s Megan Traxinger 1-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Anna Rajek, she of the side-arm delivery. NayNay Wyche and Misa hooked up a 34-yard scoring play that saw Wyche hot-potato the football a few times.
“Bobbled that one a few times,” NayNay said. “I was thinking ‘oh no.’ But I had to get that one for my team.”
The opening half ended when Rajek found Traxinger for five yards before a hook-and-ladder pitch to Raighen Wendler. The junior receiver hustled down the sideline for 60 more yards and a score.
West led 24-12 at the break. The teams didn’t score in the third and traded fourth-quarter touchdowns.
Chugiak’s Anna Rajek had a nice day under center. Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report
Rajek completed 16 of 25 passes for 275 and the two scores. Wendler hauled in six balls for 163 yards and senior River Scott totaled 85 receiving yards on four receptions. Traxinger caught six passes for 27 yards.
Rajek can really throw the rock.
“I just love it so much,” she said. “I always have since I was a little kid. Passing it around makes me happy, the ability to put it on the receivers.”
Rajek also scored on a 2-yard run late.
CIC Flag Football Standings
| TEAM | CONF |
| Dimond | 11-1 |
| South | 10-1 |
| West | 8-4 |
| Service | 5-7 |
| Bartlett | 4-7 |
| Chugiak | 4-8 |
| Eagle River | 4-8 |
| East | 1-11 |
NayNay Wyche combined for 185 yards of offense, including 117 through the air and the memorable touchdown grab. Misa completed half her passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns.
Sallah notched the night’s first touchdown and circus-caught Misa’s conversion pass after West’s second score.
West’s Fatou Sallah makes the grab. Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report
West improved to 8-4 in CIC play while the Mustangs fell to 4-8. The Eagles beat Chugiak 26-6 in their first meeting Aug. 31.
The Eagles now have two more CIC regular-season games before taking another trip to the playoffs. The program has infamously finished second eight times in the first 17 seasons of the sport, having never won that final game.
“We just have to believe,” Antonio Wyche said with a laugh. “We have to get over that hump eventually.”