The senior signal caller rushed for 272 yards and five touchdowns during the lopsided victory.
But even though Murphy may have been the MVP, the Knights are tabbing senior Chris Krieg as most inspirational during the Railbelt Conference win.
 ROBERT DeBERRY/Frontiersman Colony senior Collin Murphy runs the ball on a quarterback keeper during Friday'€™s 53-24 win over the Wasilla Warriors. Murphy ran for 272 yards in the game. |
“You don’t ever want to say one guy makes up the whole team, but the emotional lift he gave these guys coming back on to the field,” Colony head coach Jamie Mayo said of the senior defensive end and running back. “He’s and animal.”
While on defense, Krieg went down with the injury after getting tangled up in the Wasilla backfield.
“It bent the wrong way and I heard a crack,” Krieg said after the game. “My sophomore year I had a compound fracture in the same leg, so I was freaked out. It hurt really bad, it still hurts. I probably shouldn’t have gone back into the game, but it was a huge game and I really wanted to play.”
Mayo said he needed clearance, not only from Colony’s team doctor, but Krieg’s father before he let the senior back in. And after both cleared him to play, Krieg scored a 29-yard touchdown on his first play back in the action.
“I was pretty excited,” Krieg said. “They just wanted me to go get the first down, but there was this huge hole and my fullback Gino (Paoletti) was right there, and I followed right behind him.”
Krieg’s score gave the Knights the 40-17 advantage.
Colony broke open the game with 27 third-quarter points after Wasilla kept it close for much of the first half.
“We know we’re a good team, but we were making mistakes,” Paoletti said of Colony’s play during the first two quarters. “We knew we could do it if we were clicking and stopped making the mental mistakes.”
Wasilla struck first, scoring just 22 seconds into regulation. After Corey Mock used a long return on the opening kickoff to bring the ball to the Colony 21-yard line, Wasilla senior Chris Crane scored the first of his two touchdowns on Wasilla’s first play from scrimmage.
Colony was able to steal back some of the momentum created by the Crane score when CHS junior Shane Duque recovered a fumble after a botched Wasilla snap on the first play of the Warriors’ second offensive series of the game. Three plays later, Paoletti scored on a 19-yard run.
“It would have been really easy for a lot of teams to not respond they way our kids did,” Mayo said.
Colony took the lead late in the first quarter when Murphy plunged into the end zone from 1 yard out to score the first of his five touchdowns.
Murphy, who now has more than 700 yards rushing and has accounted for nearly 1,200 yards in total offense in six games this season, rushed for a stupefying 189 yards in the first half.
After Crane gave the Warriors the temporary 14-13 lead with a 5-yard score in the second quarter, Murphy answered with an 81-yard touchdown run on Colony’s third play of the ensuing drive.
While Mayo couldn’t find an answer for why Murphy is able to have so much success running the ball and directing the potent Colony offense, he just watched with amazement just like the remainder of the standing room only crowd at Veterans Memorial Field.
“He’s a competitor, he just hates to lose,” Mayo said. “And even more than that, he hates to not compete.”
Murphy capped the second quarter with a 29-yard run with 46 seconds left in the first half, a score that was greatly aided by a devastating Matt Swan block in the Wasilla defensive backfield.
In the third quarter, Murphy scored on runs of 51 and 30 yards.
“He’s unbelievable,” Paoletti said. “He can run like no other.”
Murphy also connected with Swan on a 4-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, and now has 12 touchdown runs and seven touchdown passes this season.
The win not only knocked Wasilla (2-4 overall, 1-4 in Railbelt play) from postseason consideration, but the Warriors also lost a pair of all-conference standouts in the game.
Wasilla quarterback Adrese LaVern suffered a broken upper arm when he was sacked in the third quarter and had to be taken off the field in an ambulance. Wasilla head coach Jim Shetter said LaVern had surgery on Saturday to repair the arm which was broken in three places, and is facing a recovery of six to eight weeks.
Just a minute later, Wasilla all-conference wide receiver Tim Orr suffered a concussion when he was hit while trying to make a catch on a slant pattern. Orr could also be done for the year.
Colony improved to 3-1 in conference play and 4-2 overall with the win. The Knights close the season with consecutive conference games at home. Colony hosts West Valley on Friday and defending state champion Juneau-Douglas during the final week of the regular season.
Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.
Colony 53, Wasilla 24
Friday, Veterans Memorial Field
First quarter
Wasilla — Crane 21 run (Kroon kick) 11:38.
Colony — Paoletti 19 run (kick blocked) 7:39.
Colony — Murphy 1 run (T. Jaronik kick) 2:25.
Second quarter
Wasilla — Crane 5 run (Kroon kick) 9:37.
Colony — Murphy 81 run (kick failed) 8:06.
Wasilla — Kroon 33 field goal 6:26.
Colony — Murphy 29 run (Murphy kick) 00:46.
Third quarter
Colony — Murphy 51 run (Murphy kick) 9:48.
Colony — Krieg 29 run (Murphy kick) 5:17.
Colony — Swan 4 pass from Murphy (T. Jaronik kick) 4:03.
Colony — Murphy 30 run (kick failed) 2:49.
Fourth quarter
Wasilla — Kroon 9 pass from Pfeifer (Kroon kick) 0:55.
Individual statistics
RUSHING — Colony: M. Jaronik 14-45, Murphy 13-272, Paoletti 8-83, Krieg 3-38, Slater 1-3, Babcock 1-1, Jimenez 1-(-1); Wasilla: Crane 9-36, Mock 5-44, Worden 4-22, Katchinska 4-19, LaVern 3-(-28), Hite 2-29, Kroon 1-16, Gross 1-0.
PASSING — Colony: Murphy 4-7-0—27; Wasilla: LaVern 3-8-2—39, Pfeifer 3-7-0—44.
RECEIVING — Colony: M. Jaronik 2-16, Summers 1-8, Swan 1-4; Wasilla: Kroon 2-37, Orr 2-18, Crane 1-20, Schirack 1-7.
Comments
22 comment(s)ubs wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:53 PM:
David wrote on Sep 19, 2008 10:04 AM:
Chris Gross wrote on Sep 17, 2008 1:06 PM:
Agree with dsdad wrote on Sep 16, 2008 8:15 AM:
king wrote on Sep 15, 2008 11:02 PM:
dsdad wrote on Sep 15, 2008 10:54 PM:
Coach wrote on Sep 15, 2008 8:49 AM:
After a full review of both plays I as well as any other coach would say they were both clean and done so with good form and technique. Just to put this out there, no part of the defensive player’s helmet or unsafe extra curricular activity caused the injuries. Both tackles were clean and could be used as training examples on both sides of the ball of play, how to make a tackle and situational awareness by the offense. "
Coach Farber wrote on Sep 15, 2008 1:33 AM:
you have enough heart for all the athletes in the valley. We know what really was going on, don't worry about the critics out there, just observations. Good Job! Oh, step it up this week, if you are able. See you Monday. "
Mayo coach of the year wrote on Sep 15, 2008 12:46 AM:
Vallyplayer wrote on Sep 14, 2008 10:30 PM:
valleyjock wrote on Sep 14, 2008 8:46 PM:
valleyjock wrote on Sep 14, 2008 8:41 PM:
Chris Krieg wrote on Sep 14, 2008 8:39 PM:
Love Wasilla and Ak wrote on Sep 14, 2008 7:12 PM:
Same Game wrote on Sep 14, 2008 4:33 PM:
Len Schwartz wrote on Sep 14, 2008 3:42 PM:
would never let him back into a game with another injury. It almost cost my stepson his leg. For a DOCTOR, let alone a Father? to let him continue is crazy!!! Football is a GAME !!!!!! Good luck Chris!! Hope you walk and are pain free later in life? "
Coach of the Year wrote on Sep 14, 2008 2:31 PM:
tjhogan wrote on Sep 14, 2008 10:05 AM:
Disgusted wrote on Sep 14, 2008 9:42 AM:
valleyparent wrote on Sep 14, 2008 8:38 AM:
Could it be wrote on Sep 14, 2008 7:42 AM:
valleyjock wrote on Sep 14, 2008 12:19 AM: