Warriors outlast Moose to win their first Potato Bowl since 2022

What you need to know:

• Wasilla reclaimed the Mayor’s Cup Friday with a 41-33 win over rival Palmer, giving the Warriors their first Potato Bowl victory since 2022.
• Brandon Wadleigh led the Warriors’ offense, rushing for 201 yards and three touchdowns as Wasilla piled up 389 yards of total offense.
• The win continued Wasilla’s turnaround season. After going 0-8 last year, the Warriors improved to 6-2 and secured their first winning season since 2020 as they prepare for the Division II state playoffs.
• Short on time but need the local news scoop? Get free weekly news in your inbox for Mat-Su, from Mat-Su.

PALMER — The members of the Wasilla football senior class have celebrated quite a few firsts in their high school varsity careers during the 2026 season. First conference victory. First winning record. First playoff berth. 

Now the Warrior seniors can add another first to the list: Their first win over Palmer in the annual Potato Bowl.

Senior Brandon Wadleigh rushed for 201 yards and three touchdowns to lead Wasilla to a 41-33 victory over rival Palmer in front of a standing-room-only crowd Friday night at Machetanz Field in Palmer.

“It’s amazing,” Wadleigh said after the win. “In my career I’ve lost every time to Palmer. It feels so uplifting to beat Palmer.”

The Moose blanked Wasilla 33-0 last season and beat the Warriors 54-19 the year before. The 2023 Potato Bowl was much closer, with Palmer winning 14-7. 

But Friday marked the first time the Warriors have been able to hoist the Mayor’s Cup, the traveling trophy awarded to the Potato Bowl winner each year, since 2022.

“We’ve always strived for that, but it feels good to have it now,” Wadleigh said.

The Wadleigh-led Warriors finished with 389 yards of total offense, including 251 on the ground.

“Just trust the run game,” Wasilla head coach Matt Jaronik said. “Our offensive line coaches have done a great job with those guys. Then you put athletes behind it and good things happen.”

Wadleigh had two long touchdown runs in the first half. The senior broke free for a 64-yard score to tie the game at 7 late in the first. Midway through the second, Wadleigh added a 44-yard run to push Wasilla’s lead to 21-13. His third touchdown, an 8-yarder, came with less than three minutes left in regulation.

Wasilla junior quarterback Bo Hale enjoyed a big night as the new starter behind center. Hale completed 8 of 10 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns.

“Bo came on late and he’s been a stay-ready kid,” Jaronik said. “We used him sparingly in the last two weeks and this week we kind of fully committed to it.”

Senior John Devine started the season as Wasilla’s quarterback. Devine lined up at wide receiver Friday and snagged a key 12-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter that gave his team its first lead of the night.

“You can’t teach 6-foot-5 and athleticism,” Jaronik said of Devine. “We worked on some things with him this week. He’s just the heart and soul of this team, the guy everybody cheers for. He needed to see the field and it paid off.”

Hale also connected with Dylan Redick on a 26-yard touchdown pass during the final seconds of the first half.

Brayden Sparrs added 78 yards and a touchdown on the ground for Wasilla.

Palmer also moved the ball on offense, finishing with 299 yards rushing.

“We expected Palmer to control the clock and just be dominant in the run game. It’s what they’ve done all year,” Jaronik said.

Palmer had a pair of backs eclipse the 100-yard mark. Titus Lance rushed for 172 yards and three scores. Nollege Price added 118 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns.

Price gave Palmer the early lead with a 7-yard score with just less than four minutes left in the first quarter and had a 1-yard run in the third. Lance also helped keep the Moose in the game. He had touchdown runs of 46 and 40 yards in the second quarter. Late in the fourth, Lance used a 4-yard score to cut the deficit to 35-33.

With Wasilla clinging to a two-point lead, Sparrs broke away on a 47-yard run to help set up Wadleigh’s third touchdown of the game. Palmer blocked the extra-point attempt to keep Wasilla’s lead at eight points and make it a one-score game, with a potential touchdown and two-point conversion, but the Warriors defense was able to make the final stop.

Wasilla is now 6-2 overall and 5-2 in the Railbelt Conference. This fall, the Warriors notched their first winning season since 2020 and first conference win since 2023. Wasilla finished 0-8 last year.

“We are a completely different team,” Wadleigh said.

The Potato Bowl is another reason to celebrate.

“They deserve it,” Jaronik said. “They’re doing the right things as far as on the field in practice, how they treat each other, how they act with each other, the way they support each other. Camaraderie is our superpower.”

Wasilla now looks ahead to a trip south to face three-time defending Division II state champion Soldotna in the state playoffs.

Palmer, now 5-3 overall and 4-3 in conference play, is also postseason-bound. The Moose have the fourth seed in the Division II bracket and will head north to meet undefeated Lathrop.

With its win Friday, Wasilla now has a 14-34 record in the 48-year history of the Potato Bowl.

Spectators received free admission to the game, courtesy of Edward Jones Mat-Su Financial Advisors, and were treated to a postgame fireworks display sponsored by Gorilla Fireworks and the Houston Lions Club.

Jeremiah Bartz is a longtime local journalist based in Palmer and has been a sportswriter in Alaska for nearly three decades. He writes about student activities for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, where he works full time as a community relations coordinator.