A 17-6 victory wasn’t the only prize the Juneau football team claimed on their trip to Bishop, California. Someone in the traveling party also pocketed $197 after winning split the pot.

The Huskies were money in more ways than one Friday night.

Juneau controlled the game on offense, defense and special teams to post a wire-to-wire win over Bishop Union in Inyo County.

Playing near the Sierra Nevada mountains at an elevation 4,150 feet, the boys from sea level went hunting in the high country and bagged the Broncos in convincing fashion.

Juneau racked up 250 rushing yards, forced two turnovers and got a 28-yard field goal inside the final two minutes from Sammy Mazon, who also tacked on a pair of extra points in his first game.

Samuel Sarof and Ethan Van Kirk did most of the heavy hitting in the backfield, with Sarof running the ball 24 times for 80 yards and two touchdowns, and Van Kirk rushing eight times for 78 yards.

The Huskies ran the ball on 56 of 65 plays (86%) as their methodical style melted the clock to help them dominate time of possession and keep a Bishop offense averaging 42 points a game off the field.

Juneau completed only 2-of-9 passes but a few incompletions came on overthrows to open receivers, so the play call was there even if the execution wasn’t. However, it didn’t really matter given how well the Huskies moved the chains behind its run-first approach.

Juneau managed only four runs of 10 yards or more, including a 39-yard sprint by Van Kirk. Other than that, it was 3 or 4 yards and a cloud of dust on the all-grass field. This game came down to physicality and the Huskies answered the bell.

It was the same thing on defense. Juneau (2-2) forced two turnovers – including Daniel Campbell’s third interception in the last two games – to go with two sacks apiece by Gunner Tarver and Hayden Aube.

Juneau took a 7-0 lead 4 seconds into the second quarter after Sarof punched it in from 5 yards to cap an 18-play, 63-yard drive, which saw Sarof convert on 4th-and-1 at the 17 five plays before he scored.

The scoring drive was also aided by three Bishop penalties; roughing the kicker, roughing the passer and offsides after quarterback Caleb Ziegenfuss’ hard count drew the defense to jump across the line of scrimmage.

Bishop (1-1) responded on its next drive, getting a 26-yard kickoff return before marching 44 yards capped by Emory Dondero’s 1-yard plunge on fourth down. On the PAT attempt, the snap went through the holder’s hands and the kicker was tackled trying to make a play.

Juneau answered with another long drive, going 80 drives and 10 plays capped by Sarof’s 1-yard TD run but fueled by Van Kirk’s execution on the slot reverse. Van Kirk ran the play three times, resulting in 39 yards, 8 yards (on 4th-and-5) and 15 yards.

In the third quarter, Campbell picked off a deep throw at the 11-yard line to snuff out a Biship drive. On their next drive, the Broncos used a 58-yard pass play to reach the red zone but fumbled the ball away three plays later.

The game was still a one-possession game entering the fourth quarter and Bishop moved the ball to the 27 before Aube recorded a sack on 4th-and-5.

Juneau then salted the game away with 13 straight running plays to get to the 11, leading to Mazon’s field goal.

Juneau 0 14 0 3 – 17
Bishop 0 6 0 0 – 6
FIRST QUARTER
No Scoring
SECOND QUARTER
Juneau – Sarof 5 run (Mazon kick)
Bishop – Dondero 1 run (PAT failed)
Juneau – Sarof 1 run (Mazon kick)
THIRD QUARTER
No Scoring
FOURTH QUARTER
Juneau – Mazon 28 FG