The Bartlett football team ran the ball down Dimond’s throat for an average of 8.6 yards per carry on Friday night to fuel a 55-22 victory that spoiled Dimond’s homecoming.

Led by the four horsemen – Andreas Albritton, Lion Moana, Sithri Fainuulelei and Jaxon Ezell – the Bears galloped for 326 yards and put the Lynx out for pasture.

Albritton, Moana and Ezell each scored a touchdown, while Fainuulelei had the game’s longest run of 32 yards. Together, behind an awesome offensive line, they chewed up yardage on plays like the jet sweep and inside slot reverse.

Additionally, wideout Elijah Viliamu scored two TDs, Colt Jardine converted four 2-point conversions and the Golden Bears defense scored twice and held Dimond’s rushing attack to just 14 yards on 14 attempts.

Prep Football

Alaska Scores & Schedule
Friday
Bartlett 55, Dimond 22
Lathrop 23, Soldotna 20
Wasilla 41, Eagle River 7
Palmer 21, Chugiak 7
North Pole 8, West Valley 7
Kodiak 68, Valdez 0
Barrow 40, Redington 6
Homer 65, Houston 8
Saturday
Colony at East
Service at Juneau
South at West
Nikiski at SWDP
Seward at Monroe

Jardine finished with 172 all-purpose yards, including a 43.6-yard average on three kickoff returns. He took the opening kick back 69 yards to put Bartlett in business just outside the red zone. The Bears didn’t score on that drive, but a few minutes later they struck for two TDs in a 19-second span.

First, Bartlett scored on Ezell’s 21-yard to cap a 60-yard drive that saw Ezell on 4th-and-2 on the previous snap before his scoring sprint down the right side that included a slick cutback move at the 10. Then, after Bartlett pinned Dimond on its own 10 to start the ensuing drive, the Lynx fumbled inside the 5 and McDellienne Muasau was there for the easy scoop and score.

Meanwhile, Dimond’s offense was stuck in the mud. Quarterback Braden Pili had little time to think and no room to operate as he was forced to run for his life seemingly every snap. In the first quarter, the Lynx ran seven plays across three possessions that resulted in negative 7 yards.

Things would get better for Pili and the Lynx, but early on the Bears used big hits to stick it to ’em.

Bartlett (2-2) extended its lead to 29-0 midway through the second quarter after Livai Ofiu scored on a 61-yard fumble return after the Lynx fumbled a botch handoff attempt on a jet sweep.

Dimond (1-3) finally got on the scoreboard on its final drive of the first half, thanks in large part to Jeremiah Converse’s 45-yard kickoff return. Pili was also money on this drive by twice completing passes on fourth down to move the sticks, including a 12-yard scoring strike to Converse with 2:21 to play.

Bartlett put the ball in the end zone on its first possession of the second half, rumbling 61 yards on six running plays that included runs of 15 yards by Jardine and 27 by Moana before Moana capped it with a 1-yard dive.

The Bears hit paydirt again on their next possession, thanks to a heads-up play by Viliamu, who recovered a fumble in the back of the end zone. Moana looked like he would score before losing control of the ball at the goal line. Rather than losing possession on a touchback, Viliamu pounced on the ball to make it 44-6.

At this point, Dimond’s offense started to find some rhythm behind Pili’s passing. He connected on 12-of-28 targets for 181 yards, but nearly half of those incompletions were off the hands of his receivers. Pili’s got a live arm and showed it off with a 38-yard completion to Konner Adams. Pili capped the drive with a beautiful throw over the top of the defense to DJ Evans on the second-to-last play of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Evans picked off Fainuulelei’s pass to give the ball back to Pili, who engineered a seven-play, 69-yard scoring drive. On 4th-and-10, he connected with Jaeden Leonard on a 34-yard wheel route. The senior signal caller completed his next two passes before hitting Evans for a 30-yard score to pull the Lynx within 44-22.

Bartlett’s only hiccup Friday came in the form of 16 penalties and two missed field goals. However, it didn’t really matter in the end. Both times the Bears had a TD called back because of a penalty, they went on to score on the drive anyway.

It happened in the fourth quarter, but later, quarterback Auauli Tauanuu split the defense with a bullet over the middle to a Viliamu for a 38-yard score. They don’t call the sophomore QB ‘Flash’ for nothing.

With the win, Bartlett improved to 33-29 against Dimond in the Cook Inlet Conference series that dates back to 1970.

Bartlett 16 13 15 8 – 52
Dimond 0 6 8 8 – 22
FIRST QUARTER
Bartlett – Ezell 21 run (Co. Jardine run), 2:20
Bartlett – Muasau 3 fumble return (Co. Jardine run), 2:01
SECOND QUARTER
Bartlett – Albritton 27 run (kick missed), 9:04
Bartlett – Ofiu 61 fumble return (Schmidt kick), 6:01
Dimond – Converse 13 pass from Pili (run failed), 2:21
THIRD QUARTER
Bartlett – Moana 1 run (Schmidt kick), 5:39
Bartlett – Viliamu recovered fumble in end zone (Co. Jardine run), 2:40
Dimond – Evans 23 pass from Pili (Ryder pass from Pili), 0:23.
FOURTH QUARTER
Dimond – Evans 30 pass from Pili (Converse pass from Pili), 4:06
Bartlett – Viliamu 38 pass from Tauanuu (Co. Jardine run), 2:26
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
Bartlett – Albritton 7-88, Moana 10-71, Fainuulelei 5-57, Ezell 5-35, Co. Jardine 3-32, Ca. Jardine 2-28, Tauanuu 4-6, Muasau 1-5, No. 4 1-4. Dimond – Pili 10-21, Evans 1-1, Leonard 2-(-3), Adams 1-(-5).
PASSING
Bartlett – Tauanuu 2-4-47, Fainuulelei 0-2-0. Dimond – Pili 12-28-181.
RECEIVING
Bartlett – Viliamu 1-38, Co. Jardine 1-9. Dimond – Leonard 3-41, Converse 3-22, Evans 2-53, Adams 2-46, Miranda 2-19.