"I'll tell you, the Mariner literally played like championship football. It was spectacular," said Mariners Head Coach Camron Wyatt. "And having 300 fans was over the top, to have that many make it to Anchorage."

When the Mariners took the field, Wyatt looked at the stands and saw a few Homer fans. By kick-off, however, the "crowd was wild, there was a big flag strung across the stands, there was a festive environment, the support was outrageous," he said.

Homer started the scoring less than two minutes into the game. Soldotna began the contest on its own 9-yard line. A fumble on the first play from scrimmage was pounced on by the Mariners.

Inside the 10-yard line, a muffed pitch put Homer back to the 19-yard line. On the ensuing play, Jeremiah Carr caught a touchdown pass from Cole Jacobsen with 10:21 to play in the first.

Less than 20 seconds later, the Stars answered back when Chris Nolden scorched the Mariners defense with a 60-yard touchdown run.

"Homer played a great football game," said Stars Head Coach Galen Brantley Jr. "They're an extremely well-coached football team."

Much like the first quarter, the Mariners started off the second with a quick score. Homer's Anthony Resetarits' 32-yard gain put his team on the 2-yard line. The following play, Jacobsen ran up the middle for the score. A blocked point-after-touchdown resulted in a 13-7 Mariners lead with 10:58 to play in the half.

Late in the quarter, the Stars found themselves pinned deep in their own zone. After Homer stopped Soldotna on a third-down-and-short situation, Brantley Jr. gambled on fourth down -- a gamble that paid off.

On fourth-and-two, SoHi's Philip Bennett exploded up the middle of the field, breaking tackles and running for a 67-yard touchdown with 1:56 to play. A Daniel Koch extra point gave the Stars a 14-13 lead at the end of the first half.

"Both coaching staffs were shocked," said Wyatt. "I even called (Brantley) and asked him what he saw. What we have is a young man who got kicked out of the game for an alleged punch. I say alleged because we haven't seen it on any of the two game films."

Wyatt's belief is that the game official witnessed Swanson attempting to punch the ball out of an opponent's hand, trying to cause a fumble. It is a technique used by every program, according to Wyatt.

"It was just a misinterpretation by officials," Wyatt said.

However, it took Swanson out of the game.

"Rather you agree with the call or not, you owe it to the program, to the fans and yourself to have the integrity to respect what's going on," Wyatt said. "(Swanson) did. He went to the trailer, took off his uniform and went into the stands and cheered for the team."

The Stars added to their one-point lead just over two minutes into the third quarter when Braden Price returned a fumble for a 56-yard touchdown. The score came with 9:49 left in the quarter. Five minutes later, Soldotna crossed the goal line again as Tanner Fowler scored on a 20-yard run with 4:02 to play in the third quarter. A missed extra point resulted in a 27-13 SoHi lead.

On the kickoff, SoHi attempted and recovered an onside kick; however, the ball touched a Stars player before traveling the necessary 10 yards, giving Homer possession near midfield. On the ensuing play, Resetarits broke for a 49-yard touchdown run, cutting SoHi's lead to seven with 3:52 on the clock. That would prove to be Homer's final score of the night.

Late in the third quarter, the Stars marched down the field and got inside the red zone. Calling his own number, Fowler eluded Mariners defenders for a touchdown. However, an inadvertent whistle blown by one of the refs brought his gain back to the 18-yard line. SoHi's Bennett made up a large portion of the error, bringing the ball down to the 5-yard line to end the third quarter of play. On next play to open the final quarter, Fowler punched in a 5-yard run for the score. With just five ticks off the clock, the Stars held a 34-20 lead.

Late in the game, SoHi was threatening again as they were inside the red zone. But Homer's defense held strong, forcing fourth down. Brantley Jr. opted for the field-goal attempt, and Koch split the uprights with 3:01 to play.

The final score of the night was added when Tate Syverson intercepted a pass and ran it back for a 29-yard touchdown with 1:15 on the clock. The extra point brought the final score to 44-20 in favor of the Stars.

This was the final game for the Mariners' 16 seniors.

"It's the largest group of seniors ever to come through the program in the 12 years I've been here," Wyatt said. "They started with 22 strong as freshman, and made a commitment to themselves and their teammates for four years. The reward was they made it to state playoffs and almost to the championships."

Next year, Wyatt is anticipating eight returning varsity players and the need to recruit more. With that in mind, he is already strategizing for the future.

"This is a critical time for the program in that we need to take this momentum and apply it to next year by making sure kids understand that to get to the competitive level there's no off-season," he said. "They need to take care of their bodies, eat correctly, participate in basketball, be part of Homer High School, go out and try something else. Explore. Exercise."

Seeing football as part of a bigger picture, Wyatt said, "Competition has gotten a bad rap in society. It's not that you're so focused you don't enjoy the rest of your life. This is something that should enrich your life, keep you healthy, around people that have positive outlooks on life, spill over into the classroom, spill over into your personal life, your family life, make you a better person.

"That's what our goal is."