After being held in check in the early stages of Friday night’s state title game, the South football team moved some pieces after halftime and declared checkmate.

The Wolverines scored more points in the final 11 minutes than Bartlett had given up in a single game all season as they turned and burned down the stretch to win 37-3 in the ASAA First National Bowl at Colony High School in Palmer.

Ethan Yarrington scored two of his three touchdowns in the fourth quarter and Austin French closed it out with a 75-yard TD run as South capped a 9-2 season by bagging the school’s fifth state championship since opening its doors in 2004.

All but one of those titles have come under coach John Lewis, who also won in 2006, 2012 and 2014. He was South’s inaugural coach from 2004 to 2017 before leaving and coming back in 2022. His four Division I titles are tied with three other coaches for No. 1 in Alaska history.

Yarrington, French and defensive lineman Junior Lefano played key roles in helping hoist the trophy in the customary celebration after a triumph of this magnitude. There were other big-game heroes, too, like Henry Lantz, Zachary Buss and the fab five on the offensive line.

Bartlett (7-3) came into the title tilt riding the coattails of its top-ranked defense, which held opponents to just 6.8 points per game behind game changer Deuce Alailefaleula. But as the game wore on, South won the battle for field position and at the line of scrimmage

Offensive linemen Carter Guerin, Kosetatino Tuu, Julien Jones, Lucas Neacsu and Selefasa Matatule were like bulldozers in the way they cleared running lanes for Yarrington, French and Co., wearing down the Golden Bears in the second half.

Held to just 13 yards in the first half as South clung to a 10-3 lead at the break, Yarrington came alive after halftime to pump life into the Wolverines. He scored three times and produced 111 total yards in the final two quarters, with 64 coming on the ground and another 47 as a receiver.

It was his 28-yard reception early in the third quarter that got him going. Yarrington scored on a 10-yard run on the next play as South’s lead swelled to 16-3 after Bartlett’s Colt Jardine blocked the extra point.

Two drives later, Yarrington caught a short pass in the flat and weaved his way down the sideline for a 19-yard TD. South’s next possession was trademark Yarrington, who racked up 44 yards on his team’s 53-yard scoring drive by running hard between the tackles and dragging tacklers for yards after contact.

He rumbled 19 yards to pick up a first down late in the fourth quarter and two plays later punched it into the end zone from 5 yards to make it 30-3 with 3:31 to play.

Those two late runs clinched the state rushing title for Yarrington, who finished the season with 1,139 yards, just six more than Soldotna’s Andon Wolverton, who was the leader in the clubhouse with 1,133 yards.

South also got a boost from Lantz, who rushed the ball only three times for 20 yards but stepped in for starter Kaiden Coleman Arroyo after he had suffered a leg injury in the third quarter. Early in the fourth, Lantz picked up a huge first down on 3rd-and-10 that set up a South TD to make it 23-3.

French led the team in rushing with 89 yards, thanks to his 75-yard sprint in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. He got the party started for the Wolverines in the first quarter after taking a punt 61 yards to the house for the second-longest punt return TD in state title game history.

HOUSE CALL

Longest Punt Return TDs in State Title Game
65 – Jamal Hale, Bartlett, 2009
61 – Austin French, South, 2025
58 – CJ Keys, Juneau-Douglas, 2003
Source: Alaska Sports Report

Defensively, French and Cody Lindstrom each had interceptions and Lefano anchored the D-line with a sack, QB hurry, tackle for loss and tipped pass.

South’s stout defense forced six punts and never allowed Bartlett to generate momentum, which played a factor for field position. Credit goes to Buss as well as the boot man registered touchbacks on three kickoffs and pinned the Golden Bears on their 6 after a 31-yard punt.

Bartlett’s average field position was the 22-yard line on nine of its first 10 possessions. The only time it was better was when the Golden Bears forced a fumble in South territory in the second quarter and got a 46-yard kickoff return from Simeon Alailefaleula in the fourth quarter..

On the next play, however, Bartlett quarterback Tatum Pogtis threw a pick. It was that kind of night for the Golden Bears, whose most memorable play didn’t even count after a penalty wiped away Deuce Alailefaleula’s acrobatic over-the-shoulder catch along the sideline.

Alailefaleula – the 6-foot-1, 290-pound Boise State bound defensive lineman – played through a previously undisclosed knee injury. Even in a limited capacity, he stood out with two early tackles for loss and forced a fumble after laying out Yarrington with his shoulder.

Bartlett kicker Juan Lorrahando got his team on the board in the second quarter with a 29-yard field goal.

Special teams provided all the scoring in the first half as South got a punt return from French and a 19-yard field goal from Buss, his state-best fifth three-point kick of the season.

South Anchorage 7 3 6 21 – 37
Bartlett 0 3 0 0 – 3
FIRST QUARTER
South – French 61 punt return (Buss kick), 6:08
SECOND QUARTER
South – Buss 19 FG, 11:56
Bartlett – Lorrahando 29 FG, 6:45
THIRD QUARTER
South – Yarrington 10 run (kick blocked), 4:52
FOURTH QUARTER
South – Yarrington 19 pass from Massey (Buss kick), 10:36
South – Yarrington 5 run (Buss kick), 3:31
South – French 75 run (Buss kick), 3:05
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
South – French 8-89, Yarrington 15-77, Coleman Arroyo 8-35, Lantz 3-20, Massey 2-2.
Bartlett – Tyrell 7-18, S. Alailefaleula 4-16, Jardine 9-12, Pogtis 1-6.
PASSING
South – Massey 7-12-75.
Bartlett – Pogtis 11-25-117.
RECEIVING
South – Coleman Arroyo 3-18, Yarrington 2-47, French 2-10.
Bartlett – Tyrell 4-69, S. Alailefaleula 3-17, Moana 2-15, Jardine 1-20, Ezell 1-7.