Colony gets another shot at Dimond

PALMER — Colony will be five weeks into its season before the Knights face their first Railbelt Conference opponent. That means a month worth of nonconference football. But that doesn’t mean the Knights don’t have anything to play for.

In Week 3, the Knights saw Palmer, arguably their biggest rival. Friday, Colony draws Dimond, the team that knocked the Knights out of playoffs last season.

How important is this game to the Knights? Colony senior Cade Havel summed it up in just one word.

“Redemption,” Havel said.

Colony (2-1) will host Dimond (2-1) tonight at 7 p.m. at Colony High School.

Last season, Colony rolled through the final six weeks of the regular season, winning six straight while outscoring opponents by a combined total of 97-28. But Dimond knocked that speeding train off its tracks, handing Colony a 36-24 defeat in the first round of the playoffs.

The majority of the players who were on the Colony defense that surrendered those 36 points are back this season.

“We’ve still got a little bit of a bitter taste in our mouth,” Colony head coach Rhett Magner said.

The Knights would love to get some redemption, and beat the team that ended their 2015 season. But having success Friday is also about the team’s potential for more later in the season. For the third time in four weeks, the Knights are playing a Cook Inlet Conference team that advanced to the postseason last year.

“We get a chance to play all of these Anchorage schools, who eventually we would need to beat if we’re going to accomplish our goal of a state championship,” Magner said of his team’s nonconference schedule. “We’re going to have to beat some of those teams. It’s good to see them now, see where

we match up.”

So far, the Knights have split with a pair of Anchorage squads. Colony opened the season with a 46-6 drubbing of Bartlett, but followed with a 22-7 loss to East Anchorage in Week 2.

“Hopefully we can come out and execute,” Magner said.

Magner said the difference between Colony’s 16-point loss to East and the 43-point victory was simple.

Execution.

“[Against East] we didn’t execute very well. We got back to ground zero and got better at what we needed to get better at,” Magner said.

Colony finished with 103 yards of total offense in the loss to East, while allowing 249. The Knights amassed 436 total yards against Palmer.

Palmer at Kodiak

Like Colony, Palmer spent the first three weeks of its season playing nonconference opponents. Now the Moose (0-3) move in Northern Lights Conference play. Palmer starts its NLC season at Kodiak tonight at 6 p.m.

Palmer, which lost a large number of starters from its 2015 team to graduation, has struggled early in the season. But the medium schools Moose have faced three teams — East, Bartlett and Colony — that advanced to the large-schools playoffs last year.

Larry Cutsforth currently leads the Moose with 133 yards rushing and a touchdown. Quarterback Clayton Southwick has thrown for 153 yards and a score.

Kodiak is off to a 3-0 start with wins over Houston, Juneau-Douglas and Homer.

Wasilla at West Valley

Wasilla also begins conference play with its first Railbelt game of the season tonight at 7 p.m. at West Valley High School in Fairbanks.

Wasilla dropped to 1-2 with a 44-0 loss to Soldotna, which extended its state-record winning streak to 42 games against the Stars. The Warriors opened the season with a win over Eagle River, and fell at Dimond in Week 2.

Aeron Milliron leads the Warriors with 316 yards and three touchdowns. Sean McDermott has 225 yards on the ground, and a score.

West Valley is off to a 2-1 start. After opening the year with a 55-39 loss to Service, the Wolfpack followed with a 40-15 victory over Eielson and 42-21 win at South Anchorage last week.

Houston at Monroe Catholic

Wasilla is one of a pair of Valley teams in Fairbanks tonight. Houston (2-1) faces Monroe Catholic (2-1) at 7 p.m.

After dropping its opener 14-0 at Kodiak, the Hawks have won two straight. Both were lopsided victories. After beating Eagle River 34-0 at home, the Hawks beat Voznesenka 40-6 on the road.

Ben Pelesasa leads the Hawks with 195 yards rushing and four touchdowns. Vanu Mose has 130 yards and a score. Quarterbacks Robert Ritter and Paul Sanderlin have combined for 239 yards and three touchdowns.

Monroe suffered its first loss of the season last week. Nikiski defeated the Rams 43-34. Monroe opened the year with big wins over Redington (59-6) and Voznesenka (49-0).

The Houston-Monroe contest is the Aurora Conference opener for both teams.

Redington at Seward

The Redington Huskies will try to use their 30-point night against Valdez when they head into Seward to face the Seahawks Saturday at 1 p.m.

Redington suffered a 65-30 loss to Valdez last week, but did score more points than it did during its first two weeks combined. Redington scored just six points during losses to Monroe and Redington.

Seward is also 0-3 after losses to Ketchikan, Valdez and Eielson.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.