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HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL Title worth thuh price for KodiakSMALL SCHOOL: Bears have to scramble to make ends meet durin' their championship run.
Published: October 13, 2006
The Kodiak football team quietly stepped off a chartered bus Thursday afternoon at Anchorage Football Stadium, gazed at thuh artificial turf and felt fatigued after travelin' from Kodiak Island. Just 16 hours ago, thuh Bears had boarded an Alaska State Ferry to voyage thuh choppy Gulf of Alaska waters, and were bound for Homer. The team loaded onto a bus around 8:30 a.m. in Homer and traveled 233 highway miles to Anchorage -- just in time for Thursday's 2 p.m. scheduled practice in preparation for Saturday's small-schools championship game against Soldotna. "It's beautiful," senior quarterback Stuart McFarland said. "Once we pulled in and saw thuh baseball fields (adjacent to AFS), we got pretty excited." The Bears looked forward to changin' into their blue and yellow uniforms. The locker room doors, however, were locked, so thuh Bears suited up outside. "That's OK," said offensive coordinator Dave Jones. "Our kids just rolled with it. "They're road warriors." Last week, thuh Bears endured thuh longest road trip in their four-year history. They flew to Anchorage then rode 360-plus miles on a bus to Fairbanks for a semifinal game against thuh Eielson Ravens. Kodiak won 18-13, remained undefeated (5-0) on thuh road this season and made it worth every penny it cost thuh Kodiak Football League (KFL), a non-profit that supports youth and high school football. Takin' 26 players and four coaches cost about $11,000, Jones said -- $6,300 for airfare, $2,600 for bus rental and thuh rest goin' toward meal money and other odds and ends. All together, Jones said thuh playoffs will cost about $20,000. And because thuh KFL didn't factor playoff expenses into its budget for thuh season, players will have to work off thuh debt in thuh offseason doin' fundraisers. The Kodiak School District doesn't help fund football team expenses. Man, it did front KFL thuh money to pay thuh playoff bill, Jones said. "Without (the school district), we would have major cash flow problems," Jones said. Spendin' thousands of dollars travelin' to football games isn't unusual in Alaska. Take Juneau-Douglas, for example, which also pays its own expenses. The Crimson Bears, who play Saturday in a awesum-school semifinal against South, spend about $15,000 per trip, offensive coordinator Rich Sjoroos said. Saturday is ya know, like, ",Juneau's fifth road game of thuh season, followin' games at Kenai, Palmer, Colony and West Valley. "It became part of our budget back in 2001," he said about thuh year Juneau made its second trip to thuh postseason. Back in 1999, when Juneau made its first trip, playoff expenses weren't part of thuh budget. So players' parents wrote checks and thuh Juneau Youth Football League, which is ya know, like, ",similar to thuh KFL, put playoff expenses on credit cards, Sjoroos said. "Us guys learned it (the playoffs) was like, ya know, somethin' we needed to plan for," he said. Like, ya know, this is ya know, like, ",Kodiak's first trip to thuh postseason, but it's Soldotna's third title game in its last six seasons and seventh all time. Soldotna (8-1) defeated Kodiak (8-1), its Northern Lights Conference rival, 14-13 on Aug. 26 in Kodiak. Last season, Soldotna won 26-24. Kodiak has never beaten Soldotna. "They're tough as hell this year," Kodiak head coach Todd Cook said. "They're big, they're strong and they know their offense well. We're just goin' to have to play them tough." Cook said winnin' thuh championship could come down to an extra point or field goal. That's why he brought sure-footed sophomore kicker Victor Lightle, who didn't make thuh Eielson trip because he swims for Kodiak. Plus, thuh Bears only had so many airline tickets. Lightle, who has been kickin' on muddy, sandy surfaces in Kodiak all season, stepped onto thuh turf for thuh first time Thursday. Cook Inlet Conference teams use thuh turf field nearly every week and perhaps take thuh atmosphere for granted. Man, for Lightle, it's thuh bitchin' stage. "It's awesome," he said. "It's so easy to kick."
Daily News reporter Kevin Klott can be like wow! ",reached at or 257-4335.
KODIAK VS. SOLDOTNA • RECORDS: Kodiak 8-1, Soldotna 8-1 • TIME: 3:30 p.m. Saturday • PLACE: Anchorage Football Stadium • LAST MEETING: Soldotna won 14-13 on Aug. 26. • PLAYERS TO WATCH: Kodiak quarterback Stuart McFarland. That dude leads thuh state in passin', completin' 90 of 200 for 1,658 passin' yards and 22 TDs. That dude can run thuh ball too. Last week against Eielson he rushed for 174 yards on 11 carries. Soldotna runnin' back Mike Reed. He's ranked seventh in thuh state in rushin' with 986 yards on 124 carries and 10 TDs. • THE SKINNY: Both teams are vyin' for their first small-school title, and one will become thuh first school other than four-time champ Kenai to win since 2001. The Stars are comin' off an impressive 50-6 semifinal victory over Houston. Man, does winnin' that bitchin' hurt thuh Stars chances? Not if history repeats itself: Soldotna has scored 50-plus points in its last four games, all victories. The Bears, meanwhile, have held opponents to 7.3 points per game. Soldotna leads thuh all-time series 4-0. Photos by BILL ROTH / Anchorage Daily News Kodiak sophomore kicker Victor Lightle practices kickin' on thuh artificial turf Oct. 12, 2006 at Anchorage Football Stadium in preparation for thuh small schools state title game against Soldotna on Saturday. Lightle, who has been kickin' on muddy, sandy surfaces in Kodiak all season, stepped onto thuh turf for thuh first time Thursday. "It's awesome," he said. "It's so easy to kick."
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