The West High defense stymied the Cook Inlet Conference’s top-ranked rushing attack Saturday night as the Eagles built an early lead and then hung on for a 28-20 home win over Bartlett.

Defensive lineman Deetroy Tulmavave recorded three tackles for loss while Dylan Sanders and Ariel Sanchez had interceptions, and Zephaniah Sailele registered a sack.

The Eagles held Bartlett to 20 yards or fewer on four of its first six drives by being more physical at the line of scrimmage, clogging running lanes and tackling Bartlett’s much-ballyhooed running backs on first contact.

Andre Jameson produced runs of 48 and 49 yards, and the CIC’s leading rusher Makisi Poleo broke off five runs of 10 yards or more, including a 45-yarder, but West bottled them up for the most part. The Bears came into the game averaging 315 rushing yards and finished with 278, with a large chunk coming in the second half.

Meanwhile, Bartlett’s defense was also up to the task and held West to 52 yards in the first quarter, with 32 coming on a touchdown pass.

Enter King Sailele.

The homecoming hero who rushed for a career-high 261 yards two weeks ago scored on his first touch Saturday and bagged a hat trick of TDs on runs of 1, 1 and 19 yards to help the Eagles secure the No. 3 seed for the upcoming playoffs.

CIC Football Standings

TEAM	CONF	OVERALL
Dimond	7-0	8-0
East	5-2	5-3
West	5-2	6-2
Bartlett	4-3	5-3
South	3-4	4-4
Juneau	2-5	3-5
Service	2-5	3-5
Colony	0-7	0-8

FRIDAY
Juneau 42, Colony 6
SATURDAY
West 28, Bartlett 20
South 34, East 18
Dimond 31, Service 14
END REGULAR SEASON

Sailele didn’t start the game but was instead used as a red-zone finisher and, boy, did he finish.

The 229-pound back’s first carry saw him break five tackles and stretch for the goal line to cap his 19-yard run that put West up 14-7. He later scored on a 1-yard dive with 13 seconds left in the second quarter as the lead swelled to 21-7.

Sailele was in the backfield to start the second half and carried the ball on three of the four plays in the 57-yard scoring drive that included a 38-yard pass play to Talon Copeland and was topped off by another Sailele 1-yard TD.

West quarterback Jethro DeCastro completed five passes for 141 yards, with receivers Copeland and Sanchez each grabbing two balls for 69 yards. Manny Maga posted a team-high 79 yards on 17 carries while Sailele had 10 rushes for 49 yards, bringing him to the doorstep of a 1,000-yard season.

After falling behind 28-7, Bartlett flipped the script and dominated the final 20 minutes. The defense held West to just 10 yards on its final 14 plays from scrimmage while the offense scored the final 13 points of the game.

Poleo produced all 80 yards during a five-play scoring drive midway through the third quarter. Jameson ran for the two-point conversion as the Bears cut the deficit to 28-15.

After forcing a turnover on downs, Bartlett responded with a 14-play drive that nearly covered the length of the field but ended after a fourth-down pass in the end zone was picked off.

West got the ball at the 20 but was forced back to the 14 by fourth down, forcing the punter to kick from his own end zone. A low snap resulted in him scooping up the ball and inadvertently kneeling in the end zone, awarding Bartlett with a safety.

On the ensuing drive, Bartlett QB Tyrell Salvation completed an 8-yard pass and broke off runs of 14 and 11 yards to get the Bears into the red zone, leading to Juan Larrahondo’s 25-yard field goal.

Bartlett got the ball back at midfield with 10 seconds left but two Hail Mary passes were unsuccessful.

Bartlett 7 0 8 5 – 20
West 7 14 7 0 – 28
FIRST QUARTER
West – Sanchez 32 pass from DeCastro (Sandberg kick) 8:52
Bartlett – Jameson 48 run (Larrahondo kick) 6:17
SECOND QUARTER
West – Sailele 19 run (Sandberg kick) 8:48
West – Sailele 1 run (Sandberg kick) 0:13
THIRD QUARTER
West – Sailele 1 run (Sandberg kick) 10:56
Bartlett – Poleo 3 run (Jameson run) 8:56
FOURTH QUARTER
Bartlett – Safety, punter kneeled in end zone 6:04
Bartlett – Larrahondo 25 FG 2:30