AOTW: Kade Russell leads Wasilla to victory in inaugural Midnight Sun Bowl vs. Barrow
UTQIAGVIK, Alaska (KTUU) - Weather delays are a sports fans worst nightmare. They can be tiresome, never-ending, and even cause outright cancelations of the matchups fans paid to witness live.
But what about when games are forced to move forward? How do players adjust to conditions that would make any coordinator rewrite a game plan with haste?
For Kade Russell and the Wasilla Warriors, that was the scenario last weekend in Utqiagvik. Welcomed by the Barrow Whalers, Wasilla arrived to Cathy Parker field Friday for the inaugural Midnight Sun Bowl.
It was the first Friday night game in the town sitting 350 miles above the Arctic Circle since Sept. 1, 2006. As kickoff drew closer, fans could start to see why.
Temperatures dropped into the mid-30s, while wind speeds of 20 mph and gusts of 35 mph blew a constant slurry from an oncoming rain shower onto the field throughout — not exactly ideal conditions if your job on the field is to throw or catch a football.
And yet, Russell was undeterred.
“It affected our play a little bit, but at the same time, it really didn’t,” Russell said.
Early in the first quarter, it was apparent the junior was correct.
Wasilla received the game’s opening kickoff and marched down the field to score with a mix of running back handoffs.
The next Warriors possession would also result in six points. Russell, it seemed, would be limited to what is usually seen in these situations; handoffs and short passes.
That was until drive number three.
Still 60-plus yards from the endzone, Russell saw an opening to his left and took it.
“I broke free, looked up and saw my receivers on the outside still blocking,” he recalled.
Russell took off towards the left side of the field, stiff-arming a Barrow defender before turning back inside and scampering untouched into the endzone, a play that electrified the Warriors sideline.
“It’s pretty awesome to see the guys on the sideline hyped up,” he said.
Russell would finish the day with over 100 yards on the ground, as well as another trip to pay dirt later in the game, leading the Warriors to their first victory of the 2024 campaign with a 31-14 win over the Whalers.
“The kid’s got a burst,” Wasilla defensive coordinator Danny O’Neill said. “He’s not your traditional pocket passer. Sometimes he tries to be, but he doesn’t need to be.
“At the end of the day, we want to run the ball and he can run the ball. I think he’s the fastest kid on the team, if I’m not mistaken. You can see when he gets loose, he’s tough to catch.”
In many ways, Russell seems to share the same athleticism that propped another member of the family to gridiron greatness. Kade himself has taken some tips and tricks by watching his father’s college tapes.
“He’s probably one of the biggest motivators in my life,” Kade said.
Russell’s father David currently works for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, a career taken up after becoming a hall of fame inductee with Div. III Linfield University. In three seasons with the Wildcats, Russell was named a Div. III All-American while setting multiple Linfield school records, including the team’s all-time leading scorer in rushing touchdowns with 34.
Fresh off their first addition to the win column, Wasilla will now shift its focus to South Anchorage, their week 4 opponent.
“It’s gonna be a crazy game, there’s gonna be a of of people. We just gotta execute our stuff, play for each other and I think we’ll be fine,” Russell said.
Wasilla takes on the Wolverines at home Friday at 7 p.m.
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