Bartlett runs past Colony

PALMER — The Bartlett Golden Bears ran past the Colony Knights 36-8 at Pride Field at Colony High School on Friday.

Bartlett running back Elijah Lilio ran for two scores and caught another, accounting for 188 total yards on offense. The Knights struck first at home on a 4-yard run from Xander Freeman, but weren’t able to generate any scoring after that.

“At first they were kind of jumping all over us, they really had the advantage I think in the first quarter but all our guys are going one way so I think we wore them down later,” said Bartlett co-head coach John Jessen.

Bartlett punted on its first three drives, but began a trend midway through the second quarter. Golden Bears quarterback Reason Timberlake broke to the sideline on a designed run and scampered 60 yards, setting up a 2-yard touchdown by Elijah Lilio. With less than a minute left in the first half, Timberlake and the Golden Bears faced third down with 18 yards to go. Timberlake dropped back and delivered a pass just as he was being mauled by Knight defensive linemen. Lilio cut inside the Colony defender to catch the ball at his shoelaces in the middle of the field and and tip-toe into the end zone for his second score.

Trailing by only one score, the Knights got the ball back with 39 seconds left and charged down the field. Colony junior quarterback Ben Alley completed a short pass to Michael Bradley who shook his defender and raced against the clock and the Bartlett defensive backs before being pushed out of bounds inside the Bartlett 20-yard line. The Knights were unable to score before the end of the half, and went into the locker room trailing 12-8.

“We actually had some success to the outside set up so we can get to something so we could get Ben to start airing it out,” said Colony head coach Robbie Nash. “The guys played phenomenal in the first quarter.”

Bartlett dominated the Knights on offense, defense, and special teams, recovering two fumbles and an interception by Carl Colavecchio. The Golden Bears scored on their first three drives to start the second half, and Timberlake did not throw an incomplete pass until his final attempt of the game. Demario Moore added a pair of long rushing touchdowns and Lilio rumbled in for his third, giving Bartlett the 36-8 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

“I’m really, really proud of our kids. We were 0-4 and for us to just stick with it and come out and play this well, I’m really excited,” said Jessen.

Lilio ran 23 times for 158 yards, scoring three times. Moore added 105 yards on 15 carries and two rushing touchdowns of his own. Senior running back Xander Freeman led the Knights with 65 yards on 11 carries and Ridge Raval added 54 yards on 11 carries.

“We’ve got a big game coming up this week. It’s pretty personal to all of us and these guys are pretty much going to have to play for pride,” said Nash.