Lathrop flag football tops Hutch for first win of season

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - On August 19, the Lathrop Malemutes fell 6-0 to the West Valley Wolfpack in the 2021 Fairbanks North Star Borough School District Flag Football season-opener.

Nearly three weeks later, the Malemutes still had not returned to the field as COVID protocols and rescheduling kept them sidelined until Tuesday.

It was hard to tell that Lathrop missed that much time on the field, as it was the Purple & Gold show in a 30-0 win over Hutchison.

Ruby Scanlon found the end zone in each the first and fourth quarter, while Ellie Lovely punched in a 7-yard score in the second quarter. Hannah Aemisegger, the star keeper for Lathrop soccer, scored on both sides of the ball with a 44-yard touchdown reception and a 15-yard interception return for six.

Celebrating a victory - and a birthday - Torrin Johnson-Oates, who expressed the eagerness to get back out on the field.

“I think we were [eager] because all last week we were just sitting in school, sitting at home so we were like, ‘we’re ready to play, we’re ready to go’.” the senior said. “I mean we just pulled together, after that nonconference game with west valley, we just really wanted to fight back and win a game and we were like, this has to be done.”

On the other sideline, Hutchison is still searching for their first win of the season, but have shown plenty of flashes through the first few games of the season. Senior co-captain Paityn Taylor - who is a leader for the Hawks in multiple sports - expressed the message she shared with her team following the loss.

I told them that this game was just a lack of practice and that we haven’t practiced in at least five days,” she said. “Also we were one of the only teams to score against North Pole and we also scored against West Valley, which Lathrop did not do.”

Hutchison will return to the field on Thursday when they visit the Wolfpack, while Lathrop will host the Patriots on September 16.

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