West’s Aaron Hampton rushed for a career-high 140 yards, including 109 in the third quarter. Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report
As one of the best wide receivers in the state, West’s Aaron Hampton is at his best after the catch.
On Saturday night, the Eagles removed the middleman and went straight to the source.
The Oregon State University-bound playmaker moved to running back and rushed for a career-high 140 yards, hitting the century mark in the third quarter alone, as West beat South 34-21 in the ASAA Division I First National Bowl at Service High School.
The top-ranked Eagles used a torrid third quarter in which they scored 21 points on just 12 plays, getting a touchdown run by Hampton and a pair of TD passes from quarterback Azariah Atonio, who surpassed the 2,400-yard benchmark for the season.
West (10-2) racked up 154 of its 483 yards in the third quarter to help hold off an upset-minded South team that advanced to the state title game as a No. 7 seed.
And even though the Eagles never trailed in the game, they got everything they could handle as three times South rallied to tie the game.
Tied at 21, Atonio hit receiver Ariel Sanchez for a 35-yard TD pass for the pair’s second scoring connection in a span of 4:04.
Atonio threw his third TD pass in the fourth quarter to tie the D1 state title game record shared with East’s Derek Laws (2003) and West’s Sean Duffy (2015).
West’s Azariah Atonio (7) tucks it and runs behind Davis Iloilo. Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report
Atonio finished with 245 yards, the second highest title-game effort. His 66-yard scoring strike to Sanchez was the second-longest TD pass in the final.
Sanchez piled up 101 receiving yards and was one of six receivers to catch a pass from Atonio, who completed 11-of-18 attempts.
With the win, West coach Tim Davis became the third Alaska high school football coach to win four state titles, joining Bruce Shearer and Byron Wilson.
Shearer won titles with East in 1985, 1986 and 1987 in addition to one with Chugiak in 1996. Wilson’s Service teams won in 1994, 1997, 1998 and 1999.
Meanwhile, Davis won championships in 2010, 2013, 2015 and this year.
The game pitted a pair of successful coaches in Davis (106 wins) and South’s John Lewis (86 wins), who beat Davis and the Eagles in the 2014 state title game.
But that was then. Saturday night belonged to West, although the Eagles had to wrestle the Wolverines (5-6) for every yard in a hard-fought game that wasn’t decided until midway through the fourth quarter.
Credit South’s defense for keeping the score close early as the stingy unit held the potent West offense scoreless in the first half, with the Eagles’ only score coming on defense in the form of a scoop and score fumble return by Hampton in the second quarter.
The Wolverines made a goal-line stand in the first quarter and got another stop in the red zone after Brock Skinner’s sack and forced fumble in the second quarter.
South’s Falealili Lefano races down the sideline on his way to a 50-yard TD. Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report
Meanwhile, the South offense did just enough to forge a 7-7 tie at the break. After producing just 57 yards on the first 18 plays, quarterback Cole Yarrington connected with receiver Falealili Lefano for a 50-yard TD pass.
Lefano did all the heavy lifting on the play, taking a short pass and dancing around the defense to create open space that allowed him to sprint untouched down the sideline in front of his team’s bench.
South, which had dropped a 42-21 decision to West in Week 2 of the regular season, has looked like a different team in the playoffs. It’s hard to believe this was the same team that started 0-3 to continue the program’s 16-game losing streak dating back to 2021.
But the Wolverines have been a different beast in the playoffs, upsetting No. 2 East and No. 6 Bartlett to reach the title game and then taking No. 1 West down to the wire.
In the third quarter, South tied it up at 14 on Noah Goodwin’s 1-yard run (his fourth rushing TD of the playoffs) and then pulled even at 21 on Yarrington’s 1-yard sneak.
West responded like champions as Hampton and Atonio highlighted an 80-yard scoring drive on six plays followed by a nine-play 56-yard scoring drive to seal the deal.
The Eagles outgained South 483-202 in total yards. Early on, however, it was a defensive deadlock that fueled a scoreless first quarter.
A memorable play in the first frame came from West’s Zephaniah Sailele, who blitzed his way into the backfield to stuff Goodwin on a tackle for loss.
West’s Zephaniah Sailele stuffs South running back Noah Goodwin. Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report
South also delivered some big hits, especially from Skinner, who combined with Goodwin to tackle West’s Davis Iloilo for a loss at the 1-yard line. Later in the second quarter, Skinner’s strip sack forced a fumble that led to Gabriel Fisher’s recovery.
The offenses got going in the third quarter as West scored on all three possessions and South went 2-for-2.
The Wolverines were keyed offensively by Yarrington’s 93 passing yards and a rushing attack led by Aaron Concepcion (48 yards) and Goodwin (30 yards).
Hampton was the sparkplug for West after moving from receiver to halfback for the first time this season.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder came into the game with just as many 100-yard receiving games as rushing yards (3), and that was a result of a fumble return. He hadn’t lined up in the backfield before Saturday’s big game.
His first run went for nine yards. His second rush went for six, then six again before he went for six points after taking a 48-yard run to the house on his way to rushing for 109 yards in the third quarter.
With the game tied at 21, West turned to Hampton again as he delivered 41 yards on four carries to set up Atonio’s go-ahead TD pass to Sanchez.
Atonio and Hampton came up clutch once more on the final scoring drive that culminated with a 13-yard pass to Mason Tanoa with 7:26 to play, Atonio’s 25th TD pass of the season.
South 0 7 14 0 – 21
West 0 7 21 6 – 34
FIRST QUARTER
No Scoring
SECOND QUARTER
West – Hampton 9 fumble return (Crowley kick)
South – Lefano 50 pass from Yarrington (Hickox kick)
THIRD QUARTER
West – Hampton 48 run (Crowley kick)
South – Goodwin 1 run (Hickox kick)
West – Sanchez 66 pass from Atonio (Crowley kick)
South – Yarrington 1 run (Hickox kick)
West – Sanchez 35 pass from Atonio (Crowley kick)
FOURTH QUARTER
West – Tanoa 13 pass from Atonio (kick blocked)
Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report