"Sometimes, you just have a really bad day," Blake said in a diplomatic understatement. "We definitely had one."
The Mariners worked hard all week perfecting new blocking schemes and looking at ways to penetrate the Stars' offensive line. They blitzed, crossed, switched and got particularly creative with ways to develop their game against SoHi's speed and hard-hitting action.
Coach Blake had his team pumped up, fired up and chomping at the bit when the Mariners took the field and the game got underway. It was all downhill after that.
The Mariners' opening kickoff found its way right into the hands of Soldotna senior running back Dan Ghormley, who returned the ball 87 yards for the Stars' first touchdown.
"Something like that happens, and it just takes all the wind out of your sails," Blake said. "I'm not sure if we ever really recovered from that. I know my guys never gave up, but it really just sucked any momentum right out of us."
Ghormley added two more touchdowns for the day, helping his team to another Northern Lights conference win and boosting the Stars to 3-3 and 2-0 in conference play.
Neil Gardner scored the fourth touchdown for Soldotna on a 10-yard run in the third quarter.
Homer's limited offensive attack saw a few bright spots for the day, including an 80-yard touchdown pass from senior Jake Fraley to junior receiver Brandon Moffet. Moffett won the ensuing footrace to the end zone after beating the Stars' safety to the ball, and the Mariners were able to get on the scoreboard.
Homer's defense actually did prove to be quite effective against the Soldotna offensive attack. The Mariners held the Stars to three quick, ineffective plays on their first possession, and forced Soldotna to punt early.
Soldotna coach Sarge Truesdell said he was happy with the team's win, but not thrilled by his offense's execution.
"The score looks good, but it doesn't say much about our offensive effort," Truesdell said. "We returned the opening kickoff and then had another one gift-wrapped for us. That's not really executing an offense."
The Mariners continued to struggle with penalties, losing another 105 yards on 13 infractions.
"We've got some young guys out there, and at times we're inconsistent," Blake said. "We've got to find a way to reduce our mental mistakes on the field. We're just negating everything positive we work for on the field."
In junior varsity play, the Mariners opened with a strong offensive drive and got on the board first to take a 6-0 lead into the second quarter. Homer's defense shut down the Star's offensive drive early on, and then appeared to collapse.
Soldotna steamrolled the Mariners, picking up eight unanswered touchdowns over the remainder of the game, and pummeling Homer 54-6.
Homer's varsity and JV travel to Kenai Saturday to face the top-ranked Kardinals at their homecoming, before returning for their own homecoming against the Skyview Panthers next weekend.
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