PALMER — After starting the 2008 season 0-2, the Colony Knights knew a pair of early season losses didn’t mean the end of any hope of postseason success.

Too see that, all the Knights had to do was look at their crosstown rival, the Palmer Moose.

In 2007, the Moose started the season with a 1-3 mark, but used the momentum created by a week five win over 3-1 Colony to plow their way into the state title game. Now, Colony is hoping a week five win over the Moose will do the same thing.

“Absolutely,” Colony head coach Jamie Mayo said after Colony’s 27-6 win over Palmer last week. “That’s one of the things we’ve played up all week long.”

Colony will look to extend its winning streak to four when the Knights travel to Wasilla to face the Warriors tonight at 7 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Field.

Colony scored 20 points in the second half and improved to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in Railbelt Conference play with the win. The Knights won their third straight after suffering early season losses to North Pole and the two-time defending state champion Soldotna Stars.

“At the beginning of the year, we thought we were one of, if not the best team in the conference,” Mayo said. “Well, we had a little humility in the first two games. It angered our kids, caused them to refocus and commit themselves.”

Colony senior quarterback Collin Murphy, who accounted for all four of the Knights’ scores against the Moose, felt the pivotal point in the Knights’ season actually came during their win over East Anchorage in week four.

“Ever since that win, we’ve really been flying high,” Murphy said. “Our morale is up a lot more. The guys are really starting to believe.”

After trailing East 7-0 at half-time, the Knights scored 28 unanswered points to score the nonconfernece win over the Thunderbirds.

In the win over Palmer, Murphy rushed for a team-high 127 yards and two touchdowns. The senior also posted 128 yards passing and threw two touchdowns.

The Colony win created a jam at the top of the Railbelt standings. North Pole (3-0) is the lone Railbelt team still undefeated in conference play, Palmer is second in the conference at 3-1, and Colony and Juneau-Douglas are each tied at 2-1.

North Pole travels to Juneau-Douglas to face the Bears tonight at 8 p.m. Juneau is the defending large-schools state champion, but the Bears have lost three straight.

Palmer hosts Kodiak, the small-schools runner-up, in nonconfernece action at Machetanz Field, Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Knights face a Wasilla team that’s fighting for their playoff lives. The Warriors improved to 1-3 in conference play with a 65-0 win over Lathrop and will need conference wins over Colony and Palmer in the next three weeks to stay alive in the playoff hunt.

Junior quarterback Cody Pfeifer, Wasilla’s second-string signal caller, enjoyed a career day in replace of injured starter Adrese LaVern.

Pfeifer completed 11-of-17 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns.

LaVern did play sparingly at wide receiver — catching two balls for 16 yards — and Wasilla head coach Jim Shetter said once the senior is 100 percent, LaVern will return to his spot behind center.

“(Cody Pfeifer’s) in there because Adrese is banged up a bit,” Shetter said after the Warriors’ win last week. “Cody’s doing a great job. It’s good to know we have two quarterback’s who can play.”

The Warriors also gained nearly 300 yards on the ground with an attack led by senior Chris Crane, who posted 146 yards and three touchdowns. Crane was one of four Warrior running backs to reach the end zone. Senior fullback Jake Worden scored twice, and seniors Casey Katchinska and Chris Gross also ran for scores.

Kenai at Houston

The Houston Hawks host the Kenai Central Kardinals in a key Northern Lights Conference match at Terry Shurtleff Field Saturday at 1 p.m.

Houston, who is expected to capture one of the NLC’s four postseason berths, could climb the NLC ladder with a win over the Kardinals.

The Hawks (4-1 overall, 2-1 in NLC play) suffered their first conference defeat of the season with a 65-6 loss to the two-time defending state champion Soldotna Stars.

Senior Kyle Sumner posted Houston’s lone score in the loss, a 12-yard run in the third quarter, and led the Hawks with 87 yards on 33 carries.

Kenai (3-2, 1-1) earned its first conference win of the season with a 7-6 victory over Skyview last week.

The Kardinals used a Billy Kiefer 5-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to come from behind and score the slim win over the Panthers.

Kiefer led the Kards with 160 yards on 40 carries.

Houston beat Skyview 28-20 earlier in the season.

Kodiak at Palmer

The Palmer Moose (3-2, 3-1) will take a break from their Railbelt schedule and host Kodiak in a nonconfernce game at Machetanz Field Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Moose snapped a three-game winning streak with a 27-6 loss to Colony last week. Despite the loss, Palmer remains in second place in the Railbelt, behind first-place North Pole (3-0). The Moose travel north next week to face the Patriots.

Coleman Ahrens topped the 100-yard mark for the second straight week and led the Moose with 108 yards in the loss.

Injuries have continued to hurt the Moose. Sophomore Jim McCall, a two-way starter, suffered a foot injury before the game, and seven minutes into action, senior defensive lineman John Church was injured during a play near the Colony sideline and left the field in an ambulance after a 35-minute delay.

Palmer was also missing senior standout Mitch Swetzof, who was lost due to injury during the win over Juneau.

Kodiak (4-0) is one of two undefeated teams at the small-schools level. The Bears, who have finished second to Soldotna in each of the last two small-schools state championships, did not play last week.

Two weeks ago, Kodiak improved to 4-0 with a 19-14 win over NLC rival Kenai. Kodiak also has wins over Seward, Homer and Skyview this season.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Mat-Su Valley leaders

Rushing

Player-Team        Att.    Yds.    Avg.    TD

Chris Crane- Was        99    573        5.8    5

Collin Murphy- Col    62    437        7.0    7

Brennan Bohman- Pal    82    420        5.1    3

Kyle Sumner- Hou        76    405        5.3    5

Coleman Ahrens- Pal    59    382        6.5    3

Gino Paoletti- Col        38    284        7.5    0

Chris Kreig- Col        51    259        5.1    4

Matt Jaronik- Col        45    235        4.6    2

Ryan Contreras- Hou    19    189        9.4    1

Brandon Dukes- Hou    42    187        4.5    2

Micah Ranum- Hou    34    184        5.4    4

Johnny Daly- Pal        26    182        7.0    1

Passing

Player-team        A-C            Yards    T-I

Jordan Webb- Hou    35-75    491    7-3

Collin Murphy- Col    37-64    421    6-4

Cody Pfeifer- Was        24-58    400    4-5

Adrese LaVern- Was    28-72    298    1-2

Dustin Silva- Pal        3-16        23    0-1

Receiving

Player-team        Rec.    Yards    Avg.    TD

Tim Orr- Was        22    308        14.0    2

Bryan Mason- Hou        16    236        14.8    4

Matt Jaronik- Col        15    161        10.7    2

Tim Jaronik- Col        13    168        12.9    2

Chris Crane- Was        12    133        11.1    1

Total scoring

Player- school        TD    2-pt        PAT    FG    Total

Collin Murphy- Col    7    1        0    0    44

Kyle Sumner- Hou        7    0        0    0    42

Chris Crane- Was        6    1        0    0    38

Chris Kreig- Col        5    0        0    0    30

Tim Jaronik- Col        3    0        11    0    29

Bryan Mason- Hou        4    2        0    0    28

Matt Jaronik- Col        4    1        0    0    26

Zach Zegzdryn- Pal    0    0        12    4    24

Micah Ranum- Hou    4    0        0    0    24

Brennan Bohman- Pal    3    0        0    0    18

Coleman Ahrens- Pal    3    0        0    0    18