Linebacker Truss Irwin spearheaded a wonderful defensive effort in the fourth quarter and halfback Manny Maga punched in the go-ahead score in the final two minutes as the West football team beat South 21-14 on Saturday night.

Maga racked up 52 yards on his team’s final 69-yard drive, capped by a 3-yard touchdown run that sealed the deal and pulled into a tie for first place in the Cook Inlet Conference.

Trailing 14-7 late in the second half, Alaska’s newly minted No. 1 team scored the tying TD late in the third quarter and went up for good late in the fourth quarter, extending its home-field winning streak to 11 games at the Nest on Hillcrest.

West’s defense played a huge role, holding South to negative 2 yards on nine plays in the fourth quarter and getting two sacks and a forced fumble by Irwin.

Prep Football

Week 4 Scores
Colony 36, East 29, 2OT
West 21, South 14
Juneau 47, Service 12
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
SWDP 74, Nikiski 6
Seward 34, Monroe 6

West was coming off its first loss of the season to Heritage of Littleton, Colo., and came into Saturday’s game as the newly minted top-ranked team in the Massey rankings, taking over for perennial frontrunner Soldotna.

This game pitted two of the CIC’s top running backs in Maga (160 yards, 1 TD) and South’s Ethan Yarrington (123 yards, 1 TD). Both bellwether ballcarriers lived up to expectations, breaking tackles and piling up yards after contact en route to eclipsing the century mark once again.

Yarrington broke off runs of 32, 22 and 13 yards and put the Wolverines ahead 14-7 seconds into the third quarter after West fumbled the second-half kickoff return. Yarrington is a home-run hitter out of the backfield, a guy who can end a drive with one play and that’s what he did here, racing to the left and breaking a tackle at the 7 to get into the end zone ahead of a pack of Wolverines.

Maga had runs of 39, 20, 14 in the second half alone, showcasing speed, toughness and a devastating stiff arm in the fourth quarter that helped turn a 5-yard loss into a 5-yard gain. The bulldozer has a little dragster in him too as he turned on the afterburners on his 39-yard sprint down the right sideline, hitting the hole hard and outrunning second-level defenders.

West’s offense sputtered for most of the evening and leaned on its defense to hold South at bay to give the offense time to warm up.

In the third quarter, West defensive back Jayciano Cabesas tipped away a sure-fire first-down pass from Bryson Jackson to DeShaun Davis. Jackson plays for a run-first offense and doesn’t throw much, but this toss was right on the money and would have gone for a big yardage had Cabesas not knocked the ball away at the last moment, forcing a punt.

The Eagles (3-1) forced fumbles on each of South’s next two possessions, including a sack and strip by Irwin, who got to Jackson before he was able to pitch to Yarrington, knocking the ball loose and having it recovered by Rambo Tito.

West tied the game 14-14 late in the third quarter on a 8-yard run by backup quarterback Tatum Pogtis. There were times on Saturday when the Eagles alternated Parker Grimm and Pogtis under center, but and this drive was no different. West moved the ball 50 yards on seven plays to reach the 8-yard line. Then the Eagles called a timeout and put Pogtis into the game. Next snap, the quick QB zigzagged through the defense for the tying TD.

In the fourth quarter, West forced a South punt thanks in large part to Irwin’s second sack to get the ball back and put it into the hands of Maga. The burly back did most of the heavy lifting on the drive, but Grimm hit wideout J’moe Moemoemaletuiga for two passes that helped move the sticks.

From the 3, Maga hit the hole and evaded tacklers with a killer cutback move nearly the goal line and then powered his way into the end zone to put West ahead with 2:04 to play.

With the win, West improved to 17-11 all-time against South dating back to 2004.

South Anchorage 0 7 7 0 – 14
West Anchorage 7 0 7 7 – 21
FIRST QUARTER
West – Chanhtaseng 24 pass from Grimm (A. Sandberg kick), 1:14
SECOND QUARTER
South – Lefano 9 run (Jackson kick), 0:34
THIRD QUARTER
South – Yarrington 22 run (Jackson kick), 11:47
West – Pogtis 8 run (A. Sandberg kick), 1:25
FOURTH QUARTER
West – Maga 3 run (A. Sandberg kick), 2:04
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
South – Yarrington 16-123, Jackson 12-39, Souhala-Tuinei 3-13, Lefano 1-9, Drumm 2-9, Lealaisalanoa 3-6, Edmondson 1-4. West – Maga 17-160, Faaea 2-7, Pogtis 5-5, Grimm 8-(-5).
PASSING
South – Jackson 1-6-4. West – Grimm 10-21-97.
RECEIVING
South – Drumm 1-4. West – Moemoemaletuiga 3-23, Irwin 2-28, Sosa-Carpenter 2-22, Chanhtaseng 1-24, Reaves 1-2, Maga 1-(-2).